We have had some problems here in a small Ga. city where the Kennesaw PD exceeded their remit in dealing with a Citizen who was filming one of their traffic stops.
Perhaps readers here would be interested in looking at the video that the KPD thought they had deleted, also below you will find a link to a DOJ document which you might wish to copy for your files. Happy reading!
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My follow up email to Kennesaw Mayor, Manager and City Council:
Further to my email yesterday regarding the seized Video of KPD dealing with a Citizen filming police activity:
In determining whether the KPD conduct shown in the video seizure was correct, you might wish to take a look at what the USDOJ Civil Rights Division has published last May 14th regarding Citizens video taping police activity and how this relates to the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
The information runs 11 pages with various cites. Available at: http://static.photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/USDOJ-on-recording-cops.pdf
A general summary is that such activity is entirely protected by various sections of the Constitution and later Court rulings and that individual Citizens are just as protected in such filming activities as are members of the Press.
B H, Kennesaw
Video in question:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2013/07/02/georgia-cop-snatches-phone-deletes-video-only-for-video-to-be-salvaged-through-qik/
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July 2nd, 2013
By Carlos Miller
Link to article is: http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2013/07/02/georgia-cop-snatches-p...
A Georgia cop who didn’t appreciate being recorded during a traffic stop snatched a man’s phone before handcuffing him and deleting his video.
Fortunately, the man was using the Qik app on his smartphone, which salvaged the video.
The video was posted on May 23, 2013 but has received less than 500 views as of this writing.
That is probably because the man didn’t bother listing the name of the agency nor even the state it took place.
I had to watch the video several times to determine the cop was from the Kennesaw Police Department, but that is an important detail that should always be included in the Youtube descriptions of these types of videos.
And if you’re going to do this, please hold the phone horizontally, which is the number one rule in my Ten Rules for Recording Cops guidelines.
Nevertheless, the man who goes by Peace Adams on Youtube gave a decent description of what took place.
I was simply filming law enforcement while they conducted a stop. I was on a public sidewalk 40 yards away when a Sergeant pulled up and that was my interaction with him. He took the phone from me turned it off threw me in hand cuffs. In the end he gave me a unlawful order to provide information, unlawfully searched me, he made me delete the videos luckily I was using Qik Video and it uploaded a copy to a secure server. Him and another officer proceeded to tell me that the sidewalk was private property and that my camera was filming towards private property and was a violation of unlawful surveillance. It was my first police film encounter and I will get better at it. We as citizens must hold our law enforcement accountable for all of their actions. My attorney is going to request their video and see if they in fact lied as I described to him and determine whether or not I have grounds to a formal complaint.
Whether he was on private property or not, they have no right to delete your footage. That’s grounds for a lawsuit.
******
Here are some links that can further help you understand your rights as a citizen journalist.
The U.S. Department of Justice last year drafted a set of guidelinesthat police departments are expected to abide by when dealing with citizens who record them in public. It would be worth printing out and carrying in your camera bag in case you come across police officers who are unaware of the law.
The National Press Photographers Association regularly comes to the defense of citizens arrested for recording in public, even if they are not members. At $110 a year for membership ($65 for students), they have a lot to offer.
The Digital Media Law Project, founded by Harvard University, also provides legal guidance and education to citizen journalists.
The Photographer’s Right is a set of legal guidelines compiled by Oregon attorney Bert Krages, who also wrote a book called the Legal Handbook for Photographers.
The ACLU published Know Your Rights: Photographers, which is also a good guide.
"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." A.J. Liebling
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Carlos Miller.
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