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The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is taking on the Philadephia Police department and placing other Pennsylvania law officers on notice that it is illegal to arrest citizens simply for snapping cellphone pictures or other recordings of officers performing their duties in public.

(A photo of Philly police on social media)

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is taking on the Philadelphia Police Department and placing other Pennsylvania law officers on notice that it is illegal to arrest citizens simply for snapping cellphone pictures or other recordings of officers performing their duties in public.

The story comes from the Philly City Paper, which writes that federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Temple University student Rick Fields, who was detained and cited for disorderly conduct in 2013 after he took an iPhone photo as a large group of officers stood outside a party, which they were apparently dispersing:

"I was shocked when this happened to me, and more upset when I learned that this has happened to many other people," said Fields, now a junior, in a statement released by the ACLU and quoted by City Paper.

"I think it is important that all officers of the law keep in mind that their duty to the citizens is to serve and protect, not harass innocent bystanders."

ACLU of Pennsylvania executive director Reggie Shuford added that "rank-and-file officers clearly have not gotten the message that arresting innocent people simply for photographing or recording police is unconstitutional and unacceptable," City Paper wrote.

"This is a failure of police leadership, which has known about this problem for years but refused to take serious steps to stop this practice," he said.

Background: Officers confiscated Fields' iPhone on the spot and, according to the ACLU, "opened multiple photo and recording apps, apparently in an attempt to find the recordings he had made that evening."

Charges against Fields were later dropped.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania also announced that it had launched a #copwatch campaign on social media, and called on civilians to report instances of police harassment over their recording and photographing of officers.

So have you encountered a cop who threatened arrest simply for snapping a photo of police performing their public duty?

Tell us.