Free Talk Live

In Federal Hill, citizens allowed to record police - but then there's loitering..

"Police Officers Don't Check Their Civil Rights at the Station House Door"

Three law enforcement officials defend the arrest of citizens who record on-duty cops.

Recording the Police: Is Citizen Journalism against the Law?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Noon -EST

Featuring Neill Franklin, Executive Director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; Joseph I. Cassilly, State's Attorney, Harford County, Maryland; and David Rittgers , Legal Policy Analyst, Cato Institute; moderated by Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute.

Become a video activist: www.freedomcam.net

As police continue to blatantly steal and destroy cameras from citizens without any legal authority whatsoever, it is essential to store our video footage online so it can accessed regardless of what happens to our cameras.

Unlawful and deceptive police officers,and other governments are perpetuating an organized "racket" to harass local law abiding citizens through traffic enforcement. How these entities use traffic enforcement as a means to unlawfully "tax" citizens and generate revenue through traffic citations to make up for failing budgets. This is even more important now than ever because of the failing economy. I am a former police officer and police instructor and have been on the show before. What I know and talk about I know from the inside, first hand.

For a long time I wanted to offer a video camera for citizens to record their police encounters and then upload the video to my website for expert analysis and review of the incident. It's like having me as a passenger every time you are pulled over by the kops. You can imagine how excited I am to announce my new high-quality and very affordable BarryCams car video cameras!

The US Justice Department has notified the Boston PD that citizens have an absolute right to record the police.

About 100 video cameras were handed out to volunteers who committed to record all police encounters they come across.

Peaceful Streets Project organizer Antonio Buehler said he hopes the project and summit will help a culture shift.

"One where the people don't have to live afraid of the police and they don't have to be afraid to stand up for their rights. One where bad cops get run out of their organizations by the good cops, and one where the chain of command and internal affairs and the system doesn't cover up the crimes of these criminal cops," Buehler said.

Connecticut State Sen. Martin Looney (D-New Haven) has introduced a short bill (PDF) that not only acknowledges the right of citizens to record on-duty police officers, it also provides for a civil action against police officers who violate that right.