Only the Guilty Need Fear
Via Julian Sanchez at Reason Hit&Run. There's been a lot of furor in the libertarian blogosphere about the possibility of being arrested for being drunk on your own property. But here's what really got my attention:
Members of Copwatch have experienced similar police reactions to being videotaped, sometimes being charged with "obstructing police work."
Which makes me wonder: why would cops have such a problem with being videotaped? After all, if they've done nothing wrong, they've got nothing to hide. At least, that's what they tell us every time they wipe their asses on another part of the Fourth Amendment, or claim that our "reasonable expectations of privacy" don't extend to warrantless dog-sniffing or infrared surveillance in our own homes.
When the partygoers denied throwing bottles, Laverriere said, the officers became angry, prompting him to pick up a friend's camera and start videotaping. Laverriere told the Globe that Officer Jorge Orta ripped the camera from his hands and threw him to the floor, injuring his shoulder.
Members of Copwatch have experienced similar police reactions to being videotaped, sometimes being charged with "obstructing police work."
Which makes me wonder: why would cops have such a problem with being videotaped? After all, if they've done nothing wrong, they've got nothing to hide. At least, that's what they tell us every time they wipe their asses on another part of the Fourth Amendment, or claim that our "reasonable expectations of privacy" don't extend to warrantless dog-sniffing or infrared surveillance in our own homes.
posted by Kevin Carson | 8:00 PM
2 Comments:
Kevin--
I work as a public defender. The local police department has installed video cameras on all the cop cars, and the way they work they are supposed to start taping as soon as they start with their sirens/lights. I think their orriginal reason for this practice was the fear of accusations of misconduct. Interestingly enough, every time I think the video tape exhonerates my cliet they can never locate it, and usually claim some sort of malfunction.
What Kevin said hit close to home as a friend of mine had that issue in a recent court case. He works late (gets off at about 2 am) and drives home. He swerved to avoid a pothole and a 'peace' officer pulled him over. The officer said he smelled alcohol, did all the field tests and even breathalyzed him twice (.000 each time) and charged him with a DUI. He spent some time in jail and for some reason the camera did not work on the police vehicle. Luckily, he got his boss to testify and and we got a picture of the pothole. The charges were dropped without one apology about the jail time.
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