When Cameras Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Cameras!
If you witness police misconduct and record it as a video on your phone or camera, you won’t be welcomed as a hero. In several U.S. states, you could be subject to a long prison sentence.
In recent years, dozens of videos documenting police misconduct have been posted on YouTube. But prosecutors haven’t generally punished the offending cops. Increasingly, they’re arresting the individuals who posted the videos.
The charge? Illegal wiretapping. Yes, wiretapping – what the NSA does with impunity and without a warrant is illegal for us to do when we witness police abuse.
At least two states – Massachusetts and Illinois – make it illegal to record any on-duty police officer in any situation. It doesn’t matter if the officer is in the process of beating someone to death. It doesn’t matter if the recording is in your own home, and the police have just busted down your door in an illegal search. If you record the interaction, you can go to prison.
In ten other states, “all parties” must consent in order for a private person to make a recording of a conversation or personal encounter. Since a police officer acting abusively isn’t likely to give you permission to record the event, if you do so, you could be violating the wiretap statute – and be subject to a long prison sentence.
And now… the rest of the story. …..
Harold
