Karen from NY sent me a link to what the AELE has to say for themselves as a result of research on the topic of
Officer Privacy and a Citizen’s Right to Video-Record Police Activity
http://www.aele.org/law/2009all05/2009-05MLJ201.pdf
Conclusions the AELE arrived at:
While no citizen has a right to impede police actions or to expose an officer to danger, the First Amendment generally protects the right to photograph or video-record the activities of law enforcement personnel while engaged in their duties.
...
Although First Amendment rights are always subject to reasonable time, manner and place restrictions, a uniformed police officer does not have a right to privacy while performing his duties.
Also, see the COPWATCH Handbook
http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/resources/Handbook_06.pdf
COPWATCH is a group of community residents and students who have become outraged by the escalation of police misconduct, harassment and brutality in recent years. We have joined together to fight for our rights and the rights of our community by taking on the task of directly monitoring police conduct.
The home page of COPWATCH is http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/
Another information source is the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
A Practical Guide to Taping Phone Calls and In-Person Conversations in the 50 States and DC.
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/index.html
Tape recording laws at a glance:
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/quick.html
State by state summaries:
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/states.html
