Police

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department over its written policy designating photography in certain public places as suspicious activity.

The suit comes after three separate incidents where photographers on public property were detained by the sheriff's deputies, which the suit says violated the photographers' First Amendment rights to free expression and their Fourth Amendment rights to be free of unlawful searches and seizures.

Members of the local Washington, D.C., news media say they are pushing back against the city police department's new policy to encrypt radio communications, which prevents them from learning about breaking news as it unfolds.

On Wednesday, city officials met with members of the media, including news directors from local television and radio stations, the Associated Press and The Washington Post to discuss the encryption policy, which took effect Sept. 15.

An Illinois judge ruled the state’s eavesdropping law unconstitutional as applied to a man who faced up to to 75 years in prison for secretly recording his encounters with police officers and a judge.

“A statute intended to prevent unwarranted intrusions into a citizen’s privacy cannot be used as a shield for public officials who cannot assert a comparable right of privacy in their public duties,” the judge wrote in his decision dismissing the five counts of eavesdropping charges against defendant Michael Allison.

Just weeks after the arrest of a freelance videographer by a Suffolk County police officer was recorded and posted on YouTube, yet another cameraman’s confrontation with authorities over filming in a public place was caught on video in the same Long Island town.

The right to film police in the performance of their public duties in a public space is a “basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment,” a federal appellate court held last week, marking a major victory in a time when arrests for such activities have been on the rise.

The Miami Beach Police Department issued new guidelines earlier this month prohibiting officers from searching or seizing video footage or pictures taken by the general public or members of the media who capture images of police officers doing their job in areas open to the general public, except under special circumstances.

A New York police officer arrested a freelance photojournalist Friday after he attempted to film a police scene on a public street, outraging First Amendment and civil liberties advocates. The department has since said it plans to drop the charge.

Miami Beach police allegedly confiscated video-recording equipment from at least one member of the public and a TV photojournalist after both witnessed officers shooting and killing a suspect on a public street.

The Pennsylvania State Police must release records sought by the Associated Press about work its employees perform while off duty, but social security numbers, home addresses, and the times and places of the off-duty work could be redacted from the released records, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled this week.

Connecticut is considering a bill that would make any police officer "who interferes with a person taking a photographic or digital still or video image" of a police officer performing his or her duties liable for damages, provided the citizen did not obstruct or hinder the police officer's performance. It appears to be the first time such a bill has been considered by a state legislature.