Arrested for... public photography??

Yep, police are now arresting people for using video cameras in public if you happen to catch some footage of a police officer in action. "The Freeman - Ideas on Liberty" wrote an article titled "Are Cameras the New Guns?" which gives some disturbing examples of people arrested and criminally charged for catching a police officer on duty.

A recent arrest in Maryland is both typical and disturbing.

On March 5, 24-year-old Anthony John Graber III’s motorcycle was pulled over for speeding. He is currently facing criminal charges for a video he recorded on his helmet-mounted camera during the traffic stop.

These people are getting charged with violating the rule that all parties must consent to being recorded and also a felony charge of wiretapping and/or eavesdropping!

I think the real issue is that police are afraid of being caught doing something wrong (i.e. over extending their authority) and then having a video as evidence against them. Or that somehow being recorded diminishes their authority.

When the police act as though cameras were the equivalent of guns pointed at them, there is a sense in which they are correct. Cameras have become the most effective weapon that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse. And the police want it to stop.

One comment on that news article breaks down the sequence of events like this:

1. Bad cops broke the law, and hurt people.
2. We know this BECAUSE we have video that depicts it.
3. No more filming police on the street.