By Noel Brinkerhoff
United States - Recording police officers while making arrests has resulted in numerous other arrests … of those daring to tape such actions.
In October 2007 attorney Simon Glik was arrested by Boston police
after he used his cell phone to capture the arrest of young man who was
punched by an officer. Claiming the audio recording of the arrest
violated the law, police took Glik to jail. On January 5 of this
year—more than four years later—the Boston Police Department finally
sent Glik a letter admitting that its officers are acted unlawfully when they arrested him.
In Rochester, New York, last year, Emily Good was arrested after videotaping—from
her own front yard—the arrest of a man at a traffic stop. The arresting
officer, Mario Masic, accused Good of being “anti-police” after she
refused to stop recording the arrest. The charge against Good was later
dropped.
In Illinois, a 1960s-era law is coming under scrutiny as Chicago
prepares to host the G8 and NATO summits, which are expected to attract
large numbers of protesters and journalists. As currently written, the
state law allows police to arrest any citizen on felony charges for
recording the conversations of police without their consent.
The ACLU argues that the Illinois Eavesdropping Act is out of date and over the top.
One state lawmaker, Democratic Representative Elaine Nekritz, has proposed an amendment that would allow for the recording of police on duty in public places.
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