Should videotaping the Police be a crime?

[tehcloser]

That Anthony Graber broke the law in early March is indisputable. He raced his Honda motorcycle down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, popping a wheelie, roaring past cars and swerving across traffic lanes.

Anthony Graber was arrested for posting a video of his traffic stop on YouTube.But it wasn't his daredevil stunt that has the 25-year-old staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard facing the possibility of 16 years in prison. For that, he was issued a speeding ticket. It was the video that Graber posted on YouTube one week later -- taken with his helmet camera -- of a plainclothes state trooper cutting him off and drawing a gun during the traffic stop near Baltimore.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/videotaping-cops-arrest/story?id=11179076


16 years? Wow. I can see the problem if you filmed an undercover op, but other than that, I think this is wayyyyyy overboard.

 

[Disguiseduser0308]

Wow, I had no idea some states had laws regarding the filming of LE, traffic stops etc. 16 years seems way too much to me. We've seen murders get off with less.

 

[tehcloser]

Exactly....and what about the tapes that would help an officer? I don't like this at all.

 

[PorcineGranny]

considering the danger of their job, I don't see anything wrong with recording a stop. As for those who think drawing their gun is overkill, I don't. These officers are faced with all types and danger is always present, no matter how something looks. If the officer is performing withing his perimeters filming should be no problem.

 

[~greeneyedgirl~]

What are they afraid of if it is against the law to record a stop? If they are following procedure I don't see an issue with recording.

I see alot of video's on tv and internet that come from LE cameras in their cars...wth

 

[tehcloser]

I have no problem with the gun, just the fact that now they want to charge people for videotaping.

 

[Soulmagent]

What I had no idea you couldnt do that? Every company in the world can video tape employees as they work? If they dont want to be video tape then why they should be allowed to use it on us.

 

[Rindicella]

It's pretty terrifying to think that any American would say "yes" to that question.

As a child, I lived in the Eastern Soviet bloc. I assure you: videotaping (to be accurate in this case; reel to reel filming of ) the police was against the law. heck, CRIME itself was against the law, but trying to prosecute police for THEIR crimes was ESPECIALLY against the law. "Leningrad" was a pretty quiet town back then. It's hard to have a crime rate when most of the able-bodied (and able-minded) populace is in prison, salt mines and gulags.
Just thought I would remind everyone to count their blessings.

 

[Melanie]

I think this says a lot:

"The police have cameras in their cars. I watch cops on TV," Ford said. "I'm very hurt by what happened. A lot of people are being abused by police in the same way."

Yet citizens are being sued, arrested, sentenced to prison for filiming police officers?

Not to sound archaic, but this is nothing short of the gustapo:

The secret police organization in Nazi Germany; created to eliminate political opposition. Terror, arrest, and torture were main methods used.

So sad in this day and age...

MOO

Mel

 

[Nova]

I'd expect a conviction in this case will certainly end up before a higher court, if not SCOTUS itself.

Then we can watch Scalia explain why a police officer has a right to privacy the rest of us shouldn't have even in our own bedrooms. /sarcasm

 

[Trino]

I think this says a lot:

"The police have cameras in their cars. I watch cops on TV," Ford said. "I'm very hurt by what happened. A lot of people are being abused by police in the same way."

Yet citizens are being sued, arrested, sentenced to prison for filiming police officers?

Not to sound archaic, but this is nothing short of the gustapo:

The secret police organization in Nazi Germany; created to eliminate political opposition. Terror, arrest, and torture were main methods used.

So sad in this day and age...

MOO

Mel

Little by little Americans are losing their rights. The loss of this one is over-the-top.

 

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

a police officer pulled a gun on me for calling my husband and requesting him picking up our son from daycare. I had no idea you couldn't use a phone during a traffic stop. Needless to say once my heart started beating again I started crying and hung up the phone which caused my husband to call repeatedly and worry.

I understand that they are two different situations, going back on topic now!

16 years is ridiculous! So it's worse to do this than abuse a child? Duly noted Mr. Prosecutor....

 

[Rindicella]

a police officer pulled a gun on me for calling my husband and requesting him picking up our son from daycare. I had no idea you couldn't use a phone during a traffic stop. Needless to say once my heart started beating again I started crying and hung up the phone which caused my husband to call repeatedly and worry.

I understand that they are two different situations, going back on topic now!

16 years is ridiculous! So it's worse to do this than abuse a child? Duly noted Mr. Prosecutor....

That is bloody awful....you must have been terrified....
I think sometimes cops don't mean to over-react but they just do because the "world" is so freakin' awful these days. Glad you made it out of that situation intact....

 

[Soulmagent]

a police officer pulled a gun on me for calling my husband and requesting him picking up our son from daycare. I had no idea you couldn't use a phone during a traffic stop. Needless to say once my heart started beating again I started crying and hung up the phone which caused my husband to call repeatedly and worry.

I understand that they are two different situations, going back on topic now!

16 years is ridiculous! So it's worse to do this than abuse a child? Duly noted Mr. Prosecutor....

You should have filed a complaint on that officer.

 

[MLE]

I'm glad you put this on here letting us know it's illegal. I'll upload any footage of cops from a public computer instead of a home computer.

Last fall, I was at a college football game and the whole crowd was standing, including a couple of guys in my row a few seats down from where I was. My seat was the end seat right beside the aisle. These guys were maybe five seats further into the interior of the section. Anyway, they were standing because everyone, including the people in front of them, was standing so they needed to stand in order to watch the game.

There were a couple of drunk guys in the row behind them who kept physically pushing these guys down in their seats. The guys being pushed down were soooooooooooooo polite and were trying to explain that they had to stand in order to see.

I don't know how the police became aware of the situation, but a few minutes later, I noticed a cop to my right and he told the two guys who were getting bullied, "You two! Come here." One of the guys asked why and the cop entered into the row and knocked me backwards into my seat and did the same thing to my father who is 70 and has chronic health issues. The cop grabbed the guy who asked "Why?" and started dragging him out of the row. The victim was very surprised, but still maintained his politeness and asked, "Why is this happening? What did I do?" The cop said, "Shut the f--k up!" and continued dragging him. He used that language even though children, women, and elderly people were present and our tax dollars pay his salary.

I didn't dare say anything to the cop about his unprofessionalism since I didn't want to get arrested too, but I've been thinking about getting a hidden camera to wear to football games because of stuff like this. I think the thought of getting exposed on YouTube would make cops conduct themselves in a more professional manner.

 

[carbuff]

Wow. That's scary.

 

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

You should have filed a complaint on that officer.

I thought about it, I honestly did. But I also realize that everyday cops are faced with situations that, as noted by the wonderful poster above, they never know how they will end. He apologized, explained it to me after I put the phone down. By then 3 more cops came up, ugh. But yes, from now on, I will NOT be touching a cell phone, or i'll notify the policeman when he comes to the window that it's a childcare emergency.

 

[Nova]

I thought about it, I honestly did. But I also realize that everyday cops are faced with situations that, as noted by the wonderful poster above, they never know how they will end. He apologized, explained it to me after I put the phone down. By then 3 more cops came up, ugh. But yes, from now on, I will NOT be touching a cell phone, or i'll notify the policeman when he comes to the window that it's a childcare emergency.

(Emphasis added.)

Good for him and good for you. Shows how reasonable people should resolve a misunderstanding. But I'm sorry you had to face down a gun in the first place.