Illegal to Video-Tape Arrest
 

In the state of Maryland, you are not allowed to video-tape an arrest and they can arrest you for doing it. Not only can they arrest you but it's a felony. They can do this under the guise that you are not allowed to record something without the permission of all the participants. That should be unconstitutional. I hope this law gets challenged.

http://wjz.com/local/preakness.fight...2.1708562.html

I agree and believe that there is a legitimate argument that it violates the First Amendment. Hopefully that statute is rendered unconstitutional. In theory if you videotape a loved one on the street and there are people in the background you are violating the Maryland recording law. The rule in NY is that only one person who is part of a conversation needs to know it is being taped and the First Amendment should protect that right for every US citizen.

I agree with you. We're not talking about eavesdropping or something like that. If you hid a tape-recorder in someone's booth at a restaurant and recorded their conversation, that should be illegal.

But an arrest is a public event that should be recorded to make sure that everything is done correctly. There is often a discrepancy between the officer's side of the story and the suspect's side of the story. A video-tape of an arrest actually protects everyone involved.

But aren't the police cars outfitted with video?

In the New York metropolitan area none are outfitted with video. It is not because of budgetary issues. Some even had them and their unions forced removal of them. Other unions have fought to keep them out. This is despite the fact that video in police car can help in police officer safety particularly at cars stops gone wrong, it tapes the license plate of the stopped vehicle and often the person stopped themself. It shows a driver's true condition at the time of a DWI stop.

The real reason they don't want them is to hide what often really happens. It is easy to conduct an illegal stop of a motor vehicle and then make up a legal version later, hapeens all the time.

There is also no reason why confessions are not taped. The costs are relatively low compared to the benefits. Video is having an affect on law enforcement as more and more cameras are popping up all over the place that catch events where the police are not suspecting. Such video supports the good police officers and traps the bad.

Two recent NY cases highlight how technology can hurt a liar. Recently a biker was assaulted by a police officer while riding. The officer lied and claimed the biker tried to ride right at him and attempt to assault him. A person taking video caught the incident showing the cop went out of his way to assault the biker and knock him down.

A 14 year old kid was arrested and had questioned in violation of law. The kid taped it on his ipod without the cop knowing and the cop was caught lying on the stand. In Maryland, the kid would have been charged with a crime.