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Little Canada Man Video Confiscated by Police

04/23/2013 avforensic
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Twincities.com just published an article about Andrew Henderson, a Little Canada, MN. resident who recorded two Ramsey County police deputies as they were assisting a bloody-faced man outside of his apartment. Henderson states that he was thirty feet away, not causing any harm when deputy Jacqueline Muellner snatched the camera out of his hands and closed the video portion of the recording (the audio was left on).

The audio footage recorded Henderson calmly stating that he was not doing anything illegal, and that it’s completely legal to record video in public space. In fact, he says it was illegal for the policewoman to take his camera from him.

Nevertheless, Henderson is being charged with obstruction of legal process and disorderly conduct. It should be an interesting case to follow, and may have implications on the larger conversation about video recording police in public spaces.


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Ilinois Eavesdropping Law

04/23/2013 avforensic
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In Illinois it is no longer a felony to record audio footage of on duty police officers. It had previously been illegal, until the supreme court voted to not revive the law.

The law prohibiting audio recording was initially challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU). They were fighting for a “police accountability program” that required audio and video recordings.

Laws vary from state to state when it comes to recording police officers – whether audio or video. It should, however, be uniform across the nation. The truth is that police officers are recorded daily, on surveillance cameras, on their cop car cams, on the digital audio recording devices. It is legal record people in public, why should it be illegal to record police officers?

The interesting case is Alvarez v. Connell et al, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-318.


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Man Arrested for Recording Police

02/06/2013 avforensic
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Twincities.com recently published a news story about Andrew Henderson, a Little Canada citizen who is being charged with obstruction of legal process and disorderly conduct.

Henderson video recorded police outside of his apartment as they were dealing with a bloody-face man. The Ramsey County deputy Jacqueline Muellner quickly took possession of Henderson’s camera, even though he was thirty feet away from the incident, and calmly reciting his legal right to be recording in a public space.

As of late, courts have been siding with the public in cases like Henderson’s, especially when dealing with police. It should be interesting to see how this one turns out, seeing as Henderson was completely within his right to record.


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Business Allows Police to Access Security Cameras

02/06/2013 avforensic
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ABC News recently published an article about the increasing amount of crimes caught on private surveillance cameras, and police interest in connecting to these cameras. In Philadelphia and Washington DC (as well as other states), police are putting together maps of private surveillance cameras. This allows them to quickly search for video evidence at businesses close to where a crime took place.

This is a great opportunity for police departments in any state. If they are relying on private cameras, at least the police won’t have to pay upkeep costs for those devices. The only cost is the cost of retrieving footage from private security cameras, and the cost for investigating the evidence.

However, there are fourth amendment rights at risk here. The news has been full of cases involving audio and video evidence – it’s a topic of discussion that varies by state, because a/v recording laws can be so different. One side of the argument says our privacy is being violated, the other says it’s okay to record if there’s a chance to increase security. What are your thoughts?


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