CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If a bystander to a police arrest whips out his cellphone and begins filming the confrontation, he's generally within his rights to do so.

That's the basic conclusion of a legal review requested by Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath.

McGrath recently sent a memo to his officers stating people can photograph, audiotape or videotape police activity in public places as long as they do not obstruct the officers' ability to carry out their duties.

Cleveland Safety Director Martin Flask said police in other parts of the country have had high-profile confrontations with people taping their actions and that the memo from McGrath was to provide clarification of what is allowed by law in Ohio.

Flask said he's not aware of any such confrontations in Cleveland over the past five years.

"Certainly our goal was to be proactive as possible," he said.

The memo states further that the act of filming a police officer on duty is protected by the First Amendment, "and an arrest or destruction of the video recording merely because it is offensive to the officer is not going to survive constitutional challenges and false-arrest lawsuits."

In prosecuting an obstruction charge against someone taping officers on duty, "it must be evident that the person intended to obstruct official business and it must, in fact, hamper or impede the law enforcement officers in performance of their duties," the memo states, referencing state law.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: pkrouse@plaind.com, 216-999-4154