Clashes and curses

According to the organization’s website, Buehler witnessed a drunken driving investigation near downtown, objected to the treatment of a passenger and started recording. Minutes later, he and officers had a heated exchange about his actions, Buehler said, resulting in his arrest on a felony charge. Buehler was acquitted .

But the most notable group is Peaceful Streets, which emerged in 2012 after an encounter between Buehler and Austin police officers.

“Police officers — not all, but generally — do not like being recorded,” Turner told the Statesman at the time. “In this case, my film helped them get a guy off the streets.”

Other groups have worked more collaboratively and calmly, officials say. That was the case, for instance, in March when a photographer for the accountability news site Photography is Not a Crime was filming police. The photographer, Phillip Turner, used his footage to direct police toward a man he saw grip what appeared to be a handgun during a fight downtown on the final night of the South by Southwest Music Festival.

In Austin, Peaceful Streets isn’t the only group filming the police, but it is the most well-known and controversial.

Over the past several years, the organization has posted videos that went viral.

“The primary reason we cop-watch is to deter police abuse, crime and violence while we are on the scene,” Buehler said. “The only escalation comes from police.

“Some people are upset that we curse at the police,” he said. “That is constitutionally protected and legal to curse at the police in response to the police committing crimes right in front of us.”

In the past few years, the clashes have resulted in more than shouting matches. They also have led to the arrest of photographers as well as allegations and discipline against police officers.

According to Austin police policy, officers aren’t allowed to tell a citizen that filming isn’t allowed “as long as the photographing or recording takes place in a setting … at which the individual has a legal right to be present” and the citizen “does not interfere with the officer’s safety or lawful duties.” Officers also are prohibited from “intentionally blocking or obstructing” cameras or threatening or intimidating photographers.

However, police say it often is necessarily to establish a perimeter with officers to create working space and to prevent a scuffle from spreading. Filmers say that line of officers is also used to block their view.

A review of documents from the Austin police monitor’s office shows that videos were used in three complaints by the public in 2013 and 2014 but that the number went up to 11 in 2015. Those complaints have resulted in eight disciplinary actions against officers since 2013.

One of the most severe punishments was three years ago against Detective Ricky Jones. A disciplinary memo said he refused to identify himself and made statements that could be perceived as threats toward a citizen. “Detective Jones admitted that the citizen had a legal right to stand on public property and film him,” the memo stated.

Police have arrested several filmers, but none of those cases has resulted in a conviction.

Most recently, officers arrested Peaceful Streets member Kenneth Holmes on a charge of interference after, they said, he refused to stand back as officers responded to two separate fights. An arrest affidavit said he was in the space police needed to control the fight and keep officers safe.

Assistant County Attorney Dan Hamre said that when prosecutors review cases in which a suspect was arrested and accused of interfering with officers, they consider whether the defendant got involved physically in a confrontation and the number of times the person was warned to stop.

“It’s legal to do, up until a certain point,” he said. “The question is where is that point? We have to look at the facts of each case. The bar is high in most of these cases.”