As a LE you don’t let anyone, bystander or not take control of the situation and in this case, based on the video, Mr Striped Shirt was trying to do that. Why do you think backup was arriving as Mr. SS continued with his BS. Answer, he was inflaming the situation and MPD was not about to loose control.
The camcorder, in NH use of recording devices of an individual or individuals, in an area where one would expect not to be recorded, is illegal unless permission is given by the subjects being recorded. Walking down the street with 3 of your friends, and someone comes up to you with a CC 5 feet away and begins recording you is a crime, recording a group people at a ball game is not. Based on the video, Mr. SS and the guy carrying gave their permission since they were doing recording. So the cop objects to the CC, not outside his authority to object.
The idea that a LEO can object to a public videotaping of his actions, and make it stick legally, is one that none of us should accept. They are public servants, not civil masters.
Which is exactly why some parts of some cities have become no travel zones for just about everyone. The people in those areas no longer cede control to the bluster of someone with a badge. And it will only get worse from here on out.
This Officer initiated a confrontation with a pedestrian based on bad information given to him by his Command and proceeded to engage in provocative acts that could land him in Civil Court for acting outside his authority.
As you and I both know, the reason backup was there and continued to arrive was because of radio traffic prior to the stop.
It would be very interesting to learn the nature of that radio traffic and the characterizations of the incident made by the officers involved.
Pass the word to all your fellow Brothers of the Badge, you are not lawyers and you are not prison guards when you are on patrol.
Do not let your administrators trick you into believing that you must be some kind of babysitter in some irrational Nanny State Government.
A number of street savvy PEACE OFFICERS (not cops) have learned this the hard way.
You want a war on seatbelts, a war on so-called domestic violence, a war on carbon emmissions and whatever else some political bureaucrat can imagine do not be surprised when a battlefield forms and casualties mount.
The camcorder, in NH use of recording devices of an individual or individuals, in an area where one would expect not to be recorded, is illegal unless permission is given by the subjects being recorded. Walking down the street with 3 of your friends, and someone comes up to you with a CC 5 feet away and begins recording you is a crime, recording a group people at a ball game is not. Based on the video, Mr. SS and the guy carrying gave their permission since they were doing recording. So the cop objects to the CC, not outside his authority to object.
Again, I cannot imagine who told you this and why you believe them. There is NO expectation of privacy on a public sidewalk or even in a place of public accomodation or common area. Bureaucrats and politicians the world over are nearly unanimous on this point.
It would amaze me if NH could write a law to bypass that and make it stick and it would be a bizzare precedent to boot.
If you have a citation I would be interested to see it.
As public servants Police have even fewer rights.
Best regards,
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FoU7ZpD8OC8&mode=related&search=
Best regards,
I strongly doubt that this is true -- but if it is, it is one of the most abominably evil laws I've ever heard.