DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THEM!
1: A Police Officer’s “Peace” cannot be disturbed!
It is a fact, which cannot be disputed. A Police Officer’s Peace cannot be disturbed. This is called an axiom of law and a matter of stare decisis, in legal circles. The laws for “Disturbing the Peace” simply do not contemplate a “Police Officer” as a “person” defined under those laws. Technically speaking, you could walk up to a Police Officer, load up on vituperative, venomous, expletive, epithets, unload them flat in his face, and, considering no other person was within ear shot except another Police Officer, then there’s not a damn thing he could “lawfully” do about it. However, I would not advise this. If you do, don’t forget to get it on camera though, just in case he really gets mad.
If you ever do decide to cuss out a Cop, don’t think he won’t search far and wide for some eager victim who will swear under oath that your profanity was highly offensive to them. The Police are not beyond alleging that “there were numerous persons in the vicinity” that overheard your profane language and “gasped” at the sound of your vulgarities still resonating in their ears, even if you’re in the middle of a corn field in Kansas. The Police are great report writers. They love painting a picture of young mothers covering their newborn’s tender little ears in shock and awe protecting them from your vile expletives, while simultaneously doing the “duck and cover” maneuver performed in response to a nuclear detonation.
In reality, it’s really good to know that an Officer’s peace can’t be disturbed, especially after he threatens to incarcerate you because you lipped off to him. The more you know about their weaknesses and limitations, the more empowered you become in a Police Encounter. That’s, right, you can yell at them, curse them out and tell them to get a day job without getting arrested. “Lawfully arrested” that is. If you do this however, you do it at your own peril. Don’t forget, they will look under every rock to find a “non cop” victim so they can arrest you. Just make sure to cover all your bases before you go off halfcocked. Just don’t ever, ever gesture in their face, touch them, clinch your fists like you’re going to hit them, or make any aggressive moves toward them.
In that vein, do keep you cell phone “halfcocked” and fully charged as well. In this day and age the cell phone you carry is also your video and audio recorder. It’s your best weapon! You already carry it everywhere you go, so make sure that you can video or audio record a conversation with the push of a “single” button. For example, make sure that you don’t have to push a bunch of buttons to turn it on. Have those “macros” in full force and effect at all times. One last point, make sure your recorder is on before the encounter if possible. There are only a few States that prohibit the recording of Police Officer’s while on duty. Check your own State Laws to be sure. I will discuss more on recording the Police later on.
Here are a couple of quotes from two actual police blogs I found on the internet, which accurately reflect most Police Officer’s attitudes regarding their “peace being disturbed”. (Names and Blogs omitted to protect the Galactically Stupid.)
Here’s a quote from a Police Officer in Kentucky blogging to another Officer:
“In KY, police can't be the complainant in a Disorderly Conduct arrest. However, 80% of such jack@$$es have usually partaken of alcoholic libations, so we scoop 'em up for Alcohol Intoxication. In order to be arrested for AI [Alcohol Intoxication], you basically have to look drunk, smell drunk, act drunk, and be outside. And, yes, you can sucker some drunk out on his porch and hook 'em up for AI. Wouldn't do it in a gated community or condominium, but trailer parks and the 'hood... hey, I'm just "the man" doing my sworn duty to further disenfranchise our underclass, enabling the machinery of capitalism to be oiled with the blood of the workers.”
Here’s a quote from a Police Officer in Louisiana blogging to another Officer:
“In my department we just had a meeting about that. A Police officers peace can Not be disturbed. But there is a way around it. If this clown is really ******ing [pissing] you off and you wanna do something about it, there is always a dudley do-right who would be more than happy to give a voluntary statement saying that the cussing disturbed his peace!”
Do you really think the Police Officer is your friend? Don’t bet on it.
2: A Police Officer is more afraid of citizen’s complaints to his Department’s Internal Affairs Unit than he is of a citizen’s threat to sue him.
Police Officers routinely get the ole, “I’ll see you in Court” or, “I’ll sue you and your whole Department”. The standard reply from most Officers is, “Stand in line Pal!” It doesn’t bother them a bit, because they know that most people don’t have the financial resources to hire an attorney. The Police also have what is termed, “qualified immunity” from civil law suits. This simply means that as long as they were acting within the scope of their authority and with something called “probable cause”, most law suits will wither on the vine because they can’t pass the ”qualified immunity” legal threshold.
Personally, a citizen’s threat to formally complain to my Supervisor, or my Internal Affairs Unit used to scare the holy crap outta me. I would be waiting for weeks for the other shoe to drop or to be called on the carpet by my boss and handed the bad news. Being investigated by Internal Affairs is not a small thing to a Police Officer, believe me. As a matter of fact, it’s huge.
The reason Police Officers aren’t afraid of being sued is because, except for a few people, most are going to whine, complain, threaten to sue and then take it up the tail pipe. However, if you wanna really get their goats, make a formal complaint to the Internal Affairs Department. I had two or three Internal Affairs Complaints myself during my tenure as a Police Officer and Detective. Believe me I was nervous as all hell. Even though I really had nothing to be concerned about, the process itself was devastatingly humiliating. I had to take lie detector tests, or if I didn’t, I would be suspicious in the eyes of my investigators.
Also, I had to give sworn statements under oath about the accusations against me. Those sworn statements came with the possibility of criminal perjury charges against me, would I have given false testimony. The worst of them all was… I had my Miranda Rights read to me by the lead Detective while another Police Officer was present as a witness in the same room. OUCH! That’s scary stuff for a Cop who is used to being on the other side of a Miranda Right’s reading.
Now I give you fair warning, if you make “deliberately false” accusations against an Officer you can be held accountable, both civilly and criminally. But remember, the Officer’s conduct does not have to rise to the level of “criminal activity” for you to make a formal complaint against him. All Law Enforcement Departments have a plethora of rules and regulations, to which the Officers must closely adhere. One last thing about formal complaints, they stay on file with the Police Department in the Officer’s permanent record forever.
3: A Police Officer will rarely, if ever, give you a break if you “cooperate with his investigation”.
I am sure that many of you have heard those old time worn adages like, “things will go a lot better for you if you cooperate, sir” or, “if you lie to me you’re going to be in a lot worse trouble, buddy” or, “just tell me the truth and we’ll get this mess straightened out”, and so on. What you probably don’t realize is that the Officer who is making those remarks is desperately searching for a short cut to arrest you. He is not your friend; he is not concerned for you, your family, nor where your next meal is coming from. The Officer is a shark in the water and you’re the bloody bait. Your “admissions and confessions” are all he needs to go into an arrest frenzy. I am not overstating this point. Police don’t get brownie points for the most “citizen cuddles” given in a month; they get those points for hard nasty, low down and dirty arrests. The bigger the better; the longer your loss of liberty and the more of your property they can seize, the better.
Now I don’t want to offend anyone’s sensitivities, but truth be told, most Cops are Big Pricks! There really isn’t any other way to couch it. Oh yes, I’m one too… I just happened to be a Recovering Prick. [Oh, that just gave me an idea, if this book doesn’t sell, maybe I could start a National Foundation for Recovering Pricks, perhaps something similar to the “Alcoholics Anonymous” Organization. I don’t know what I should call it though, maybe “NRPA.” Just a thought, I’ll be sure to let you know how that turns out. On that note, if anyone happens to have a more fitting suggestion please drop me a line, I’ll be sure to give you an honorable mention.]
Consider this logic when considering “cooperating with a Police Investigation”. If an Officer personally sees you commit a crime, steal a bicycle for example, he’s going to announce that you’re under arrest, have you assume the position, handcuff you and take you off to jail. Case closed! The Officer isn’t going to try to find out why you went bad, or call your parents and let them handle your punishment, he is going to “click-click in the clink”. On the other hand, if he did not see you commit a crime, but has third party information or a suspicion that you committed a crime, guess what he is going to say to you? “Things will go a lot better for you if cooperate” or, “if you lie to me you’re going to be in a lot more trouble” or, “just tell me the truth and we’ll get this mess straightened out”, etc.
The moral of the story is… if he has enough evidence to arrest you, you will be in cuffs quicker than you can say “Bad Cop, no doughnut!”
4: A common tactic used by many Police Officers to overcome their duty to read a suspect his rights… is to read him his rights, and then act like that conversation never took place.
Now here’s a tactic that I have personally used many times. Quite effectively I might add. The trick is to read the suspect their rights in the heat of his emotional state and then pause for a bit or walk away and tend to another detail. Later, start asking him about his name, address, where he works, and so forth, to get him used to answering questions. Then just simply segue into asking him for admissions and confessions to the crime he is alleged to have committed. Oh yeah, and he won’t forget to throw in - “things will go a lot better for you if you cooperate”.
Watch the television show “Cops” and you will see them work their magic with an almost imperceptible transition from harmless questioning to the really big ones, those that land you behind bars. They know exactly what they are doing and they are doing it deliberately. Almost like the “good cop - bad cop” scenario, it looks stupid, simple, and obvious, looking at it from the outside, but works most every time working it from the inside.
Practice makes perfect. Kind of like the salesman who hones his skills to close the deal. Cops are no different. They have a job to do and it just so happens that - that job is to relieve you of both your liberty and property simultaneously. So, like the salesman, instead of selling you a product or service, the Police sell you a time share unit at the local “Sheriff Hilton” and believe me, if there are no rooms available, they will be happy to double bunk the overflow. They have a couple of ‘little known’ mottos at the Sheriff Hilton: “Our customer’s pain equals our monetary gain!” and, “An informed consumer is our worst customer!”
While I’m on the subject of the “Cops” television show, this should become one of your “go to” television venues. You will learn more in an evening of viewing these reruns than you would from graduating law school. While you’re watching “Cops” think of the Police as simply a person doing a job like any other such as a car salesman, or a referee in a game of football. You will be way ahead of the curve if you understand this concept. So remember, in the face of Police Questioning, it’s the real deal for you, your scared out of your wits; while the Police on the other hand, are just doing what they do every other day… “taking out the trash”.
At first blush, one might get the impression that being a Police Officer is comprised of complicated intellectual feats beyond the understanding of common man. However, just like me, most of them have never had an original thought in their lives. “Practice makes it look perfect.”
5: When a police officer asks you if “you know how fast you were going”, or if “you know why he stopped you”, he is looking for an admission or confession from you.
The questioner, or interrogator, always has the advantage and is in control of the conversation. After a simple question and answer bout, an experienced Officer can get most anyone to agree to his major premise and thus make them give him the admission or confession he is looking for. Questions like, “Do you know why I stopped you? Do you know how fast you were going? Oh, so you think I stopped you because I don’t like the color of your car? Your skin? Your hair? Do you think I’m blind, stupid, or that I just stop any car at random with no idea why, for no reason?” are leading questions designed to be answered by the motorist at his own peril and lead him to the answer the Officer wants to hear.
Let’s presume that you answered the first two questions in the negative. Then the Officer follows up by asking you if you think he stopped you because maybe he didn’t like the color of your car, your skin, or hair, etc. The Officer is deliberately attempting to lead your responses with his questions, which if answered yes, would sound like you are accusing him of improper conduct, or stupidity. Think about it for a minute, in these types of “parent - child” relationships, where Government is the parent and we are its children, daddy is in charge. Daddy won’t stop asking you questions until he gets the answer he wants, now will he? All the time, daddy knows full well what he is doing and that his children want to keep him on their good side and try not to offend him. Instead of reversing the roles like we should, most of us sit there and “goo goo, gaa gaa”, cry, or bite our lips and try real hard not to make daddy upset.
You will never improve your position by making an admission or confession to a crime or traffic infraction. At the same time the reality is, you really don’t want to offend the Officer and you’re right for feeling that way. If you do offend him, he might very well do additional damage. This is a dilemma for the motorists and I can only advise you to treat each Officer/Encounter on a case by case basis. There is no “bright line rule” applicable in every circumstance. However, by process of elimination you can arrive at a reasonable conclusion every time. Number one, you never want to make an admission or confession to the traffic infraction. Number two, do your best not to offend the Officer, unless you really don’t care and you are going to fight your ticket anyway. For most of us, the object, I believe, is to get out of the ticket if we can.
You have to pierce the veil of the Officer’s armor if you want to get out of the ticket. That simply means, you have to connect with him/her in a personal non-offensive manner and disarm him emotionally. Police have thick armor plating, metaphorically speaking, which is exceedingly hard to penetrate. If you can pierce it however, you will most assuredly be given a warning and released. My connection or “disarmer” is that I was a Police Detective. Ninety Nine percent of the time this works for me. You will have to find your own connection, or “disarmer”, for yourself. Other than being an ex-cop I know of only one sure way to disarm an Officer. That is to know your rights and his limitations. This book will go far in helping you with that endeavor. Pay attention to “secret number nine” below for additional suggestions on disarming a Police Officer. (Metaphorically speaking)
6: There are two distinct types of police encounters, which if you knew the difference, could drastically turn the tables in your favor during a Police Officer Encounter; those types are the “consensual encounter” and the “non-consensual encounter”. If you already know the difference between the two, then you are among the one percentile.
This information is extremely important. Court cases abound on this subject matter and cases are won and lost based on these two circumstances alone. As simple and obvious as these two concepts may appear to be, their applications are a constant animating contest in the Courts throughout this country.
A consensual encounter with Police is one where you are free to go at any time you please and free to refuse the encounter in its entirety. To be consensual however, you must actually feel that you are free to leave or not to participate. This standard is measured by the Courts under the “reasonable and prudent man” doctrine. In other words, would a reasonable and prudent man, under the same circumstances as yours, believe he was free to leave?
By way of example, let’s say that you’re stopped by a Police Officer because he thinks your tag is expired. Now, you know full well that your tag is not expired and that the Officer is unquestionably mistaken. In this scenario, would you feel free to leave, or even not to stop for that Officer? The answer is a resounding, No! You must stop! The Officer may be completely wrong for stopping you, but you do not have a choice but to stop for him, because he has ordered you to do so by exhibiting his Lights and Siren. You do not have the right to resist an unlawful arrest in this day and age. According to court cases, the reason we can’t resist arrest is because there are ample remedies available to us for a false arrest, other than resisting that arrest. For example, law suits and formal complaints. This type of scenario would be classified as a “non-consensual encounter”. You were not free to leave even though the Officer was completely mistaken about your tag being expired.
For another example, let’s say that “seven” Police Officers with batons in hand and body armor galore remarked, “Sir, would you mind stepping over here please?” At first blush you might think that this is a trick scenario and that the encounter would be consensual, because the Officers ask you if you would mind stepping over to them. There was no “order”. However, would a “reasonable and prudent man” under the same circumstances, think that he had any other choice but to go over to the Officers, who were brandishing batons and body armor? I would think not. In any event, the Courts will always give the tie to the runner, so to speak. In other words, if it’s a close call, then the encounter is non-consensual. Again this scenario would be classified as a “non-consensual encounter”.
In this final example, let’s say that a plain clothes Detective approaches you, badge and identification card in hand and announces, “Excuse me sir, my name is Detective Ingram from the Hollywood Police Department and I am conducting a criminal investigation about an incident that just occurred here in the mall, would you mind if I took a few minutes of your time for a couple of questions? In this scenario, you don’t have any reason to believe that you are a suspect in a crime and the Detective has asked for some of your time. Since you also do not feel any urgency on the part of the Detective you decline to speak with him, or in the alternative, you do speak with him. The choice in this scenario is yours, not his. This is a consensual encounter.
When a Police Officer gets your attention and indicates that he is interested in speaking with you, a number of factors come into play. Some of those factors are the place, the Officer’s demeanor, the circumstances, and the time. One might feel much more inclined to consider the encounter just mentioned above with the Detective in the mall as consensual, than that same scenario in a dark alley at two in the morning. The best thing to do if in doubt is always ask the Officer if you are free to go. Or you may want to sound like you know what you’re talking about say, “Officer is this a consensual encounter?”
Knowing the difference between a consensual and non-consensual encounter is paramount when encountering a Police Officer. The difference between the two, are night and day. During a consensual encounter, since you have no legal obligation to speak with the Officer, anything you do say which would incriminate you is not constitutionally protected. After all, you might as well be talking to the Officer during church services. It’s a consensual conversation and you’re not being forced to participate. During the non-consensual encounter though, it is an entirely different ball game. This type encounter must meet the dictates of federally protected rights. In other words, during a non-consensual encounter, you are indeed under arrest and you cannot leave. That arrest however, must be a “reasonable” seizure of your person, or to marginalize it like many legal sorts like to call it, a “reasonable detention”. Make no bones about it, “detained” is “arrested”. Yes, even a traffic stop is an arrest and a seizure of your person, but because that detention is reasonable in order to enforce traffic laws, it is not illegal.
While we are on the subject of being detained for a traffic stop, just how long can you be detained for such a stop? Well, the answer to that is… it’s “on a case by case basis”. For example, how many of you would say that a traffic stop lasting three days was unreasonable? I’ll bet both people who bought this book raised their hands. Now how many of you would say that one hour was too long? Well there you have it. There is no question that three days is out of the question and perhaps one hour might be reasonable. It all depends on the circumstances on a case by case basis. Generally speaking however, under normal circumstances and based upon personal experience, a reasonable traffic stop would last between five minutes and perhaps as much as forty five minutes. Any longer than that, the constitutional clock begins to tick.
7: When a Police Officer questions a suspect, eye contact alone can be a deciding factor.
The first thing most Officers do in an encounter is to notice whether or not you are willing to make eye contact. Now, not all eye contact is going to get the Officer off your trail, or off the “hassle”. Many other factors come into play as well. For instance, clothes, age, sex, race, etc. Most people are not aware that Police “key in” on eye contact and the kind of eye contact made as a deciding factor of your character, your social class and if you’re a suspicious person.
Police Officers are generally fairly good at reading body language, like the eyes. Considering that they are almost always the cause of stress during their encounters with the citizenry, it makes a certain sense that they would use that to their advantage in weeding out the “bad guys”.
The eyes reveal a lot about a person. The eyes express many emotions including, fear, confidence, anxiety, state of sobriety, subservience, anger, threat, and much more. These signs can tell an Officer a lot about the person with which he is engaged within mere seconds. If you’re looking to avoid Police confrontations, make confident eye contact briefly, and then look away. (Like the ‘alpha dog’ thing) Staring at a Police Officer is only going to make him curious and put you directly in his sights. (No pun intended)
From a distance, if you don’t want to be recognized, stick your finger up your nose and dig for gold, or pick your buttocks. No Joke. These behaviors exhibit socially unacceptable behavior and most people automatically look the other way. Grabbing your junk may not be a good idea though, as it incites anger in many male Officers. Female Officers may look away.
8: A Police Officer cannot arrest you for a misdemeanor not committed in his presence.
There are basically two levels of crime which Police deal with in their work, the “Misdemeanor” and the “Felony”. Now each level of crime has different classifications, for example first degree, second degree and third degree, or class A, B or C. But I won’t get into the different classifications and instead I will address only the two levels of crime in this book.
It is important to understand the difference between the two, because the rules governing how Police act and what power they have depend in large part upon which one of the two levels of crime they are faced with. When an Officer arrives at the scene of an alleged crime, one of the very first things he does is to determine what level of crime he is confronting… felony or misdemeanor.
A Misdemeanor is a called a petit (pronounced ‘petty’) crime which can be punishable by confinement in a Local Jail Facility for up to one year. No one goes to a “Prison” if they are solely charged with a misdemeanor. Prisons are for Felons only. Felonies are crimes punishable for more than one year and up to life or even death in some states. Jails and Prisons are two different and distinct animals.
Anyone who is arrested, (not convicted) for spitting on the sidewalk or serial murder, for example, are first housed in a local Jail. Even though they are not as yet convicted, everyone goes to “jail” first. Jails are generally locally located near the crime committed, generally run by the county sheriff, and house both misdemeanants and felons. But the felons are on their way to “Prison” after they have been convicted and processed through the county system.
So to recap, “Jails” house all persons who have been arrested and not yet convicted, both Felons and Misdemeanants. Jail is where you go in the first place after any arrest. If you are convicted of a misdemeanor, then you spend your sentence in a “Jail” with the Sheriff. “Prisons” on the other hand, only house convicts that have been sentenced to more than one year of incarceration up to life or death. Those convicts go to a State Facility designed for long term confinement. Jail is for short term confinement and Prison is for long termers.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the difference between a misdemeanor and felony, here are some examples of a misdemeanor: simple assault; simple battery; petit (petty) shoplifting; disorderly conduct; driving while intoxicated (first offense); trespassing (generally); disorderly conduct; drunk and disorderly; and the like.
So now you know, if you have been involved in a fist fight for example (simple assault), where the results are only cuts and bruises, even if you admit to the Officer that you started the fight and the other guy didn’t even fight back, your conduct is a misdemeanor. Even if there are 10 witnesses against you, if that conduct was not committed in the Officer’s presence and full view, he cannot lawfully arrest you, then and there. If he wants you arrested, the guy you punched has to go down to the State Prosecutor’s Office and swear out a warrant for you. Then, the Policeman can come and arrest you, with Arrest Warrant in hand. The same thing with Driving While Intoxicated, if you admit to a Police Officer that you drove drunk last week, there is nothing he can do about it, because it was misdemeanor not committed in his presence.
9: Dropping an important name to a Police Officer “WILL” greatly increase your chances of getting a break in a Police Encounter.
If you know another Police Officer personally, or a family member, it does indeed bode well for you to drop their name during your Police encounter. Police Officer’s don’t like it when you drop names to them, but it definitely has a positive bearing on the outcome of your encounter, even if the Officer you’re trying to impress doesn’t like the person whose name you just dropped.
A Police Officer is also very much affected by dropping his Chief’s name. Do yourself a huge favor and attend the next function where your local Chief of Police is to be present. Get his attention by paying him some sort of compliment, or other such suck up tactic, and try to weasel a business card out of him. Then shake his hand. Tell him you’re with your local community activist pro police group, that you love the job he is doing with the Department and that you are sure the Mayor appreciates him as well. After this type of interaction I usually have to gargle with a battery acid based cola, but you get the idea.
Once you’ve shaken his hand and have his business card, aren’t you now personal friends? Huh? I know I would be (wink). This has a tremendous impact on the local Officer on the beat. Keep the Chief’s business card handy, right next to your license so you can retrieve it at the same time you do when asked for your identification by the Officer. Remarks like, “I was just speaking with Chief “Jones” the other day about our upcoming meeting next month on public relations”, can get you far. Keep in mind though, that the Officer may want to talk to you about how long you have known the Chief and some other small details, so be prepared to field those questions. Responses like, “Oh we go way back” will do nicely. Or, “he has known my dad (uncle, brother, wife) for years”. And since your dad, uncle, brother, or wife are not there for him to question, the Officer pretty much has to take your word for it. The Officer may have a hunch you’re B.S.’ing him, but I can assure you he isn’t going to bet the farm that you may be embellishing the truth. In other words, the Officer will err on the side of least blow back to him. Every Cop wants to be the Chief’s fair haired boy.
10: Can you legally record the Police while they are on duty? Police Officers HATE! to be recorded, both by video and audio means.
When God was passing out “Egos”, the Police Officer thought he said “Egg – O’s”, and said “I’ll take the biggest one you have, with double ham and bacon on the side.”
Police Officers are not so much afraid of being recorded because they are in fear that their improper behavior will be uncovered, but because they lose the “superiority card”. Do yourself a favor and look up “Superiority Complex” on the internet, or some encyclopedia. You will see a clear picture of pretty much every Law Enforcement Agent in America today.
Police don’t like playing second fiddle to a citizen. Even worse, they hate (way too soft a word) to be wrong and having to back down. I have seen Police Officers that would outright lie and make an unlawful arrest all in the name of being right.
So, can you record a Police Officer while he is on duty? “You bet you can!”
The United States First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on April 26, 2011, that even though the State of Massachusetts has a law that its citizens cannot record the Police while there are on duty without their permission, in fact you certainly can record them. Although the First Circuit’s ruling is actually only binding on the Northeast States within its jurisdiction, in its ruling it refers to many United States Supreme Court Decisions which are completely in line with the First Circuits decision. Although a very few states continue to attempt to enforce the “wiretap” laws against recording the Police while they are on duty, those State Laws are just waiting to be overturned as “Unconstitutional”. In all likelihood, those few remaining states will cease to enforce those laws.
The First Circuit Court stated that the right of citizens to record the police doing their job is a no brainer. See, Glik v. Cunniffe. In that case, passerby Simon Glik caught sight of three police officers arresting a young man. Hearing an onlooker shout that the officers were hurting the man, Glik turned on his cellphone and began capturing video. The police officers objected to being recorded, arresting Glik and charging him with violating the state's “wiretap” law by recording them without their consent, seizing his camera and memory chip as evidence.
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals held that the right to record police officers in public is a “clearly established” part of the First Amendment's protections, and held the officers were thus not entitled to qualified immunity. That just means that they can be sued for false arrest. The decision partially rectifies a situation in which for ordinary citizens, ignorance of the law is no excuse, but for police officers and other government officials, it’s an excuse that used to protect them from being sued.
In these cases, the courts (and juries) stood up for what should be an obvious proposition: “Police officers, doing their jobs on the public dime, don’t have any sort of privacy right against the citizens who pay their salaries.” Those who feel otherwise -- mostly police officers and those connected with them -- need to rethink the relationship of government to the citizenry, and perhaps reread the Constitution’s prohibition on “titles of nobility.”
The law in 38 states plainly allows citizens to record police, as long as the citizen doesn’t physically interfere with their work. Police might still unfairly harass you, detain you, or confiscate your camera. They might even arrest you for some catchall misdemeanor such as obstruction of justice or disorderly conduct. But you will not be charged for illegally recording police.
Twelve states—California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington—require the consent of all parties for you to record a conversation.
However, all but 2 of these states—Massachusetts and Illinois—have an “expectation of privacy provision” to their all-party laws that courts have ruled does not apply to on-duty police (or anyone in public). In other words, it’s technically legal in those 48 states to openly record on-duty police. Since the recent Massachusetts case in 2012 ruled that police can legally be recorded while they are working on the public’s dime - that only leaves Illinois left. The “expectation of privacy” provision simply means this: Does the person you are recording have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” when you were recording him? The media records the police all the time. How about the “Rodney King” case? Wasn’t that a private citizen recording the police in an overt act of police brutality? Don’t the police record us from their “dash cams” on their police cruisers and many intersections around the country?
In an era when the Police feel free to record citizens whenever they’re out in public, the Police need to recognize that this recording business works both ways. Hey Mr. Policeman! Want a surveillance society? Then, be prepared to live in it!
They really do love the hell outta doughnuts. So, dump a truck load at your local police headquarters, and then go rob a bank. (For all you government censors out there, “that was a joke”. You all know we live in a Police State, right?)