I'll swear it's getting even worse here in the U.S. I have a friend who was
involved in one of those automobile "accidents" where a bunch of people
forced him into a rear-end collision so they could rip off his insurance.
Since then he installed a video system in his car-- it's the EXACT type that
many police agencies use in their patrol cars. He has cameras front and back
and sides.
He got pulled over by a cop, and as the cop was talking to him, he warned
the police officer that he was being videotaped and recorded. The cop went
ballistic, and ordered my friend to turn it off. My friend refused. He was
arrested, and his car was impounded. Seems there is a law in his county that
forbids anyone from videotaping police officers in a manner in which the
officer believes will interfere with his actions, and anyone MUST cease
videotaping a police officer when so ordered. The case hasn't been to court
yet. My guess is that my friend will win, but it will cost him mucho in
legal fees. In the meantime they have also impounded the recordings as
evidence-- not the content of the recordings, but the recordings themselves
(there's a fine legal difference between those two things). They did it in a
manner that tries to keep him from using what's on the recordings in his
defense.
It seems that the government can videotape you anytime and anywhere they
want, but the citizenry better not try it the other way around. -BC-
- more on photographers rights MARGARET CORNETT
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