The Right to Record Police Doesn’t Disappear When You Put Your Phone in Your Pocket

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The Right to Record Police Doesn’t Disappear When You Put Your Phone in Your Pocket

ACLU
December 14, 2018, 3:45 PM
In Massachusetts, a federal court affirmed that the First Amendment protects secret recording of police performing their duties in public.

The First Amendment right to record the police is a critical check and balance for people living in a free, open, and democratic society. It promotes the free discussion of governmental affairs as well as protects the democratic process. And for some communities, it’s a vital tool for uncovering, if not deterring, police misconduct.

But Boston-based civil rights activists Eric Martin and René Pérez were afraid to record the police. Under a state wiretap law passed in 1968, known as Section 99, it is a crime to secretly record private individuals and government workers, even those on duty like police officers. Since 2011, the Boston Police Department has applied for a criminal complaint against at least nine people for secretly recording police officers performing their duties in public, and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has opened numerous case files based on this felony charge as well.

Because of this fact, although Martin and Pérez often feared for their safety when openly recording police officers in public, they also knew recording secretly could subject them to arrest and prosecution. Caught between safety concerns and fear of punishment, they often chose not to record at all.

But that’s about to change. Continue reading…

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