Nothing Changes: Cops Still Threatening Citizens, Breaking Laws To Shut Down Recordings

from the low-level-thuggery dept

The NYPD should know better. In August, it handed a $125,000 settlement to a man it arrested for recording officers performing a stop-and-frisk. A month earlier, the ACLU sued the NYPD in federal court to prevent the NYPD from arresting the people recording them. It's even clearly stated in the NYPD policy manual that "bystanders are allowed to film [officers] as long as they're not interfering with the officers' duties and/or police operations."



And yet, the message hasn't gotten through. A man was harassed and had his cellphone battery stolen by an officer who claimed he was interfering with an arrest occurring 30 feet away. NYPD officers have tried other tactics as well, such as laughably claiming a cellphone could be a gun. A man is choked to death by an NYPD officer -- with the whole incident being recorded -- and police officers claim the citizens who record cops are to blame.



But the message hasn't gotten through. And why should it? As some have openly stated, respecting this right has no upside for police officers. So, they continue to harass and threaten members of the public who try to exercise this right. The incident captured here is particularly chilling. As Reason's Ed Krayewski points out, the officer caught on tape here delivers an implicit threat of violence to the person wielding the camera. (The confrontation begins about 2:30 into the video.)



The European cop tells me that I am making him nervous by simply speaking and not to make him fear for his safety.

From the photographer:The phrase "fear for my safety" has been used by cops to justify heinous actions, like the killing of unarmed members of the public, or the vindictive deployment of excessive force. A cop saying, "Don't make me fear for my safety," is a cop telling you he's ready to beat you, shoot you or otherwise do you harm. It's the baring of fangs. The rattle of snake's tail. It's a phrase no cop should deliver, especially to a person who's doing nothing illegal and poses zero threat to anyone.This next incident, coming our way via Ex-Cop Law Student, shows multiple violations of the law, all of it by the officer in the recording The setup is this: an open-carry advocate is standing on a street corner carrying an AR-15 and some signs while handing out pamphlets containing open-carry law information. That's when two cops roll up and shut him down.

Not only does the officer express irritation with the open-carry law (and the person openly carrying a weapon), but he throws his sign to the ground and begins demanding that the person show him some ID. The cop can demand this all he wants, but he actually has to make an arrest before this demand carries any legal weight. Ex-Cop Law Student breaks down every legal violation the law enforcement officer performs during this 4-minute video.

[T]he arrest at 1:43 for Failure to ID because officer 4771 is “tired of you idiots coming out here.” OK. So now we know that 4771 is completely ignorant of § 38.02, Tex. Pen. Code. Not having an ID on one’s person is not an element of the offense. For that matter, refusing to identify at all is not an offense, unless you have arrested him on another charge, which you have not.



Now we get to the good part, which shows 4771 is a complete idiot. If you are going to commit a felony, don’t do it on camera.



At 1:53, idiot 4771 says that we taking the phone off and “we’re going to erase it.” Guys, there’s your felony by the officer. Texas law states that Tampering With or Fabricating Physical Evidence is:



“(a) A person commits an offense if, knowing that an investigation or official proceeding is pending or in progress, he:



(1) alters, destroys, or conceals any record, document, or thing with intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as evidence in the investigation or official proceeding; . . .”



Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 37.09 (Vernon).

So from now on, at each and every court appearance made by officer 4771, the defense attorney should be informed of this information. That means that the cross-examination would not be very pleasant, if it comes to that. It likely won’t because most District Attorney’s will not touch a case where one of the police witnesses is tarnished like that. So now officer 4771 is useless as a witness.

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Fortunately for the cop (I suppose…), he couldn't actually manage to erase the recording. If he had done so, it would be a third-degree felony carrying a prison sentence of 2-10 years. But because the technology outwitted him, he's only on the hook for a second-degree felony (6 months-2 years). Of course, he likely won't be on the hook forof this once the IA investigation is over. Cops who do this sort of thing rarely find themselves behind bars.But, as Ex-Cop Law Student points out, this recording should be enough to damage Badge #4771's credibility in any case he's involved with.You can argue about whereopen-carry advocates fall on the thin line between clever and stupid but the bottom line is this: those enforcing laws should know the laws they're enforcing. They should also know that the right to record police officers is guaranteed. There is no state law that preempts the Constitution. The US government itself has handed down guidance on this very issue.That's bad enough, but in each situation, officers went further, threatening citizens with violence and breaking laws themselves. Citizens aren't given the leeway cops are, nor are they provided with any sort of immunity for their stupid actions. Cops have both their departments and legal protection on their side and that's what leads to -- and encourages -- this sort of behavior.

Filed Under: filming police, police