Your Man Mitt
2012-07-24 13:14:01 UTC
“A bystander has the right under the First Amendment to observe and
record members in the public discharge of their duties.”
=================
"D.C. officers are directed to leave citizen photographers alone"
By Peter Hermann
July 23, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. police cannot interfere with citizens as they
photograph or videotape officers performing their jobs in public,
according to a new directive issued by Chief Cathy L. Lanier as part
of settlement in a civil lawsuit.
The six-page general order, similar to one published by police in
Baltimore in November, warns officers that “a bystander has the right
under the First Amendment to observe and record members in the public
discharge of their duties.”
On Monday, the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union dropped a federal lawsuit filed against D.C. police by Jerome
Vorus, a freelance photojournalist who was detained while shooting a
traffic stop in Georgetown in June 2010.
Arthur B. Spitzer, the ACLU chapter’s legal director, said Vorus
obtained an undisclosed monetary settlement and agreed to the new
general order, which was published June 19.
“It tells police to leave people alone,” Spitzer said. “It makes it
clear that if a person is in a place that interferes with police
operations, the officer can ask or tell them to move to another
location, but they can’t tell them to stop taking pictures.”
Gwendolyn Crump, chief spokeswoman for D.C. police, said the new
policy is in addition to existing rules governing how officers
interact with the news media. “The new general order reaffirms the
Metropolitan Police Department’s recognition of the First Amendment
rights enjoyed by not only members of the media but the general public
as well,” Crump said in a statement.
The issue of police officers seizing cameras and ordering people to
stop taking pictures has been a source of conflict for years,
especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The new
policies recognize that cameras are ubiquitous, and that anyone
carrying a cellphone is also most likely equipped with a camera.
In 2010, a Maryland judge threw out criminal charges filed under the
wiretapping statute against a motorcyclist who recorded his own
traffic stop with a helmet-mounted camera and posted it on YouTube.
That same year, Baltimore police seized a cellphone that recorded a
disorderly-conduct arrest at the Pimlico Race Course during the
Preakness Stakes.
The general order in D.C. makes it clear that citizens with cameras
are not permitted to cross police lines, stand in areas not already
accessible by the public and cannot interfere with officers doing
their jobs.
But it also emphasizes that taking pictures “by itself does not
constitute suspicious conduct.” Lanier’s order says that images cannot
be deleted “under any circumstances.”
If an officer thinks a citizen has captured images that could be used
as evidence, police can ask the person to e-mail such images to the
department. If the person refuses, the officer can call a supervisor
and seek a warrant to seize the camera or images.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-officers-are-directed-to-leave-citizen-photographers-alone/2012/07/23/gJQAYKcI5W_story.html
record members in the public discharge of their duties.”
=================
"D.C. officers are directed to leave citizen photographers alone"
By Peter Hermann
July 23, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. police cannot interfere with citizens as they
photograph or videotape officers performing their jobs in public,
according to a new directive issued by Chief Cathy L. Lanier as part
of settlement in a civil lawsuit.
The six-page general order, similar to one published by police in
Baltimore in November, warns officers that “a bystander has the right
under the First Amendment to observe and record members in the public
discharge of their duties.”
On Monday, the Washington chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union dropped a federal lawsuit filed against D.C. police by Jerome
Vorus, a freelance photojournalist who was detained while shooting a
traffic stop in Georgetown in June 2010.
Arthur B. Spitzer, the ACLU chapter’s legal director, said Vorus
obtained an undisclosed monetary settlement and agreed to the new
general order, which was published June 19.
“It tells police to leave people alone,” Spitzer said. “It makes it
clear that if a person is in a place that interferes with police
operations, the officer can ask or tell them to move to another
location, but they can’t tell them to stop taking pictures.”
Gwendolyn Crump, chief spokeswoman for D.C. police, said the new
policy is in addition to existing rules governing how officers
interact with the news media. “The new general order reaffirms the
Metropolitan Police Department’s recognition of the First Amendment
rights enjoyed by not only members of the media but the general public
as well,” Crump said in a statement.
The issue of police officers seizing cameras and ordering people to
stop taking pictures has been a source of conflict for years,
especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The new
policies recognize that cameras are ubiquitous, and that anyone
carrying a cellphone is also most likely equipped with a camera.
In 2010, a Maryland judge threw out criminal charges filed under the
wiretapping statute against a motorcyclist who recorded his own
traffic stop with a helmet-mounted camera and posted it on YouTube.
That same year, Baltimore police seized a cellphone that recorded a
disorderly-conduct arrest at the Pimlico Race Course during the
Preakness Stakes.
The general order in D.C. makes it clear that citizens with cameras
are not permitted to cross police lines, stand in areas not already
accessible by the public and cannot interfere with officers doing
their jobs.
But it also emphasizes that taking pictures “by itself does not
constitute suspicious conduct.” Lanier’s order says that images cannot
be deleted “under any circumstances.”
If an officer thinks a citizen has captured images that could be used
as evidence, police can ask the person to e-mail such images to the
department. If the person refuses, the officer can call a supervisor
and seek a warrant to seize the camera or images.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-officers-are-directed-to-leave-citizen-photographers-alone/2012/07/23/gJQAYKcI5W_story.html