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Is it Legal to Record a Police Officer

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  • 02-16-2013, 11:01 PM
    BearLair
    Is it Legal to Record a Police Officer
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

    Is it illegal to record the actions of a police officer?
  • 02-17-2013, 07:19 AM
    flyingron
    Re: Recording a Police Officer
    If you are talking about in public and in course of their duties, the general feeling is that it is not barred. There's no law in Florida specifically about recording police (despite some prominent arrests there). Florida is an all-party consent state, so you can't record conversations that there is an expectation of privacy without all parties' consent. There is an decision in the 1st circuit (not direclty binding on Florida) that puts the actions of a police officer in public in the "no expectation of privacy" category and that's what the general sense that the law provides.
  • 02-19-2013, 02:27 AM
    PTPD22
    Re: Recording a Police Officer
    Ron is absolutely correct. In most states, if an officer is performing their public duties, in a public place, it is perfectly legal to video record the incident.

    While there have been some widely publicized incidents where cops have overstepped their authority regarding someone videotaping them, there can be legitimate legal issues regarding HOW the person making the recording goes about it. For example, even if they are on duty, it would be illegal in some states (don’t know about FL) to follow a cop around and record their every move. That could be considered stalking. Likewise, it is not legal for a “citizen journalist” to interfere with an officer’s duties…like refusing to move a safe distance away (he/she doesn’t know you or what your intentions are so is forced to divide attention between the subject they are dealing with and you – compromising their safety), yelling for bystanders to intervene because “he didn’t do nothing!” (that’s called inciting a riot), or telling the person being detained/arrest to not comply because “you don’t have to do any $hit they tellin’ you to do!” (obstructing a public servant). So, while it is legal to record the cops (and, remember, in many jurisdictions the cops are recording the incident, too!), don’t get jammed up by taking it too far.
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