Re:RateOurCops – Like Yelp, but for Cops
by perihelions on Friday July 02, 2021 @05:24PM
(#27717072)
It's perfectly legal to post videos of any of those things.
It is illegal to post a whole lot of videos you might find pretty innocuous. A not insignificant portion of America has two party consent laws[1] that really restrict what you're able to record when it comes to private individuals. It has been pretty clearly decided highlighted that police do not enjoy this commonly held right[2] due to the sensitivity of their role but I really don't know if that same restriction extends to other public offices when acting in a non-public manner (i.e. the JCS) - I am really not familiar with the specific exceptions the above comment laid out so I won't comment on them... but it is illegal to post a whole bunch of different sorts of videos.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_call_recording_laws#...
2. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/06/you-have-first-amendme...
It’s illegal to record without consent in some states. Posting such a recording is problematic because it’s evidence of a crime, not a crime in and of itself. If it were, there would be cases of journalists posting transcripts from illegally recorded conversations, which isn’t happening.
Just to be clear, you're not allowed to post videos of plenty of things (Area-51, a meeting between the Joint Chiefs, closed sessions in Congress, etc.). But you're right that you're allowed to record videos of cops in public[1]. I think the law in question is about personally-identifiable information.
[1] https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1578557.html