On January 9th Joseph Demary of Lenox, MA, one of our followers on Facebook, was arrested for recording a police officer issuing him a traffic citation.
In his own words,
“I was arrested for “unlawful secret recording” for having my phones camera on as it sat on the passenger seat of my car as I received a speeding ticket. I informed the officer I was just protecting myself and my rights. I was quickly arrested and charged with a felony “unlawful secret recording”, my vehicle was towed, I was booked, fingerprinted and thrown in a jail cell for 3hrs for nothing more than exercising my constitutional rights.
The first Amendment includes the freedom to observe and document the conduct of governent officials, which is crucial to democracy and a free society.
Laws governing recording government officials vary depending on jurisdiction, but the first amendment applies across all of America. We should not have to fear our government and certainly should be able to take reasonable action to accurately record events when we interact with officials. If you think Mr. Demary’s arrest seems unjust, Share this to spread the word and help raise awareness! Mr. Demary goes on to say:
Citizens should have the right to record police during arrests, either of their own arrest or someone else’s, to ensure that they are PROTECTING and SERVING rather than acting as Tyrants. This is not the first time someone has been arrested for simply recording Police officers, and I feel that all people should have the right to film Police Officers, especially during their own arrest to make sure the Officers in question are being fair and not abusing their power.This is a blatant violation of civil rights and a injustice. Currently this is just a state issue but I believe that this should be a federal Constitutional Right.
If you would like to support Mr. Demary, here is a link to a petition to help him out.
Photo: Change.org
That does not apply here in Maine. Anyone one can record a conversation that they are part of with only one party knowing they are being recorded. You can’t however record other peoples conversation without a warrant. State Police have a recorder in there pockets when they stop and question you and you do not even know it is there. I was told to record interviews on Animal Complaints and it was totally legal as long as I knew the conversation was being recorded. That is the law. The police do not need to know they are being recorded here in Maine, you can record them without there knowledge as long as you are part of the conversation and not recording others…………….
The cops dont like being recorded in case they wanna do something unlawful
thanks for info
Any decent cop is pretty good about it because he is most likely recording you too. 🙂
If they have a problem being recorded, then there may be an issue on there part. You do not have to tell them that they are being recorded either.
What kinda of c**p is that law enforcement use and carry recording devices on them all the time so they are better then a normal citizen?
Isn’t it legal to record / tape someone in a public place / forum? We can be recorded in our place of work so why not a police officer? What are they afraid of?
fire the cop
All law enforcement personnel should have to wear an audio/video recording device for all the hours they are on the clock. Citizen recordings should be a “non issue”…
$#%&!@* them cops we have our $#%&!@*ing rights!!! Its We The People not We The Government!