Refuting false claims against cops is just as legitimate a reason for body cameras as validating accurate claims. “The NYPD hasn’t decided whether it will allow the cops to use the footage in lawsuits, according to Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins, who believes the footage is fair game for criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against people who file false claims.” [New York Daily News]
The other half of the matter: citizens have a right to record police, too. [Jonathan Blanks, Cato] And in strongly worded decision that cites a Cato Institute amicus on pp. 12 and 13, the Third Circuit joins several other circuits in recognizing a constitutional right to record police. [Fields v. City of Philadelphia]
One Comment
The QI seems bogus with respect to the First Amendment. Cops don’t have the right to put their hands on a person who is recording and who is not interfering–whether that’s a Fourth Amendment issue or a First Amendment issue should not really matter–what matters is that a police officer used force in both cases and destroyed property in another.
What should have happened–the local prosecutors should have prosecuted the cops for armed robbery.