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In July, the state's Republican governor, Doug Ducey, signed into law a measure making it illegal to record video within eight feet of where “law enforcement activity is occurring.” In other words, the law allows police to arrest you for taking video of them, even if you're videoing them as they break the law.
Link: Arizona Deletes the Right to Record the Police - The Atlantic
Arizona Deletes the Right to Record the Police - The Atlantic
I heard about this! It’s a very worrisome law, especially since it violates the first amendment. Even more so if other states copy this, since public trust in police isn’t very high. An Eight foot radius seems reasonable, though it’s almost certainly going to be abused.
Wow! I did not hear about this. I can see how it would help with safety but there definitely should make it of for the person being arrested to be able to record. It would be very unjust to stop that from happening.
Unless there is a carve out for the person being arrested i think this law will be used in unconstitutional ways against individual citizens being arrested. Eg. if you are the only person around during your arrest, and the cops, (as usual) have the opportunity to turn off their own cameras, how is anyone supposed to protect their own rights when the cop lies about what happened? Otherwise the 8 foot rule is reasonable-ish? because cops in high stress situations can't guarantee that pretending to film is not a cover to get close enough to do them harm while they are concentrating on a high stress situation.
In law enforcement training it is told and then proven that even when you are paying someone 100% attention they can do you serious harm or kill you with a hidden weapon if they get inside x distance from you. This includes situations where you are already pointing a gun at someone, but trying to be safe about trigger control. eg. someone with a knife that is inside 10 feet can stab you and get in behind you before you can discharge a shot. etc.