Is it illegal to record a police officer? Answer inside

This is a question being asked more and more since the emergence of YouTube, cell phone cameras and pocket sized cameras.

So, is it illegal to videotape a police officer? The short answer is... it's OK to record as long as the camera is in plain sight.

Quick explanation
You can videotape an officer as long as you are not secretly recording his actions. For example, if you have a tiny camera placed hidden in your coat and you begin recording, you are breaking federal law. However, if you are at your apartment or at a bar and you have your cell phone camera publicly visible, then it is legal to videotape even without the officer's permission. You are under no obligation to stop recording if he asks (or demands) you to stop. This has been tested in court several times and all cases have been dismissed.

The key question is public taping vs secret videotaping. Public recording is ok, even with an officer.

The two links below are the two most informative articles I've found that deal with court cases and the law, without becoming some sort of rant against the police.

There's the federal law statute (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)) that states:

It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception unless such communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State.

Essentially, only one of the participants must give consent to being publicly audio and/or video recorded. Note, it does not require both or all parties to give consent, just one. So in this case, you can record without needing the permission of the police officer. This applies in cases of secret recordings.

However, 12 states have, including Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, have created specific statutes prohibiting (secret) wiretapping (MGL Ch. 272 § 99). In these states, the consent of all parties are required.

For public recordings (the camera is in plain sight and the owner is not deliberately concealing it), there is no such law forbidding videotaping.

External links and references

• Police fight cellphone recordings
• Recording Police and Defining 'Plain Sight'
• Can We Tape