One day after DC police's reasonable camera policy, phone still taken
Found on Ars Technica on Thursday, 26 July 2012
On July 20, just 24 hours after a new camera policy was enacted by the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC—you guessed it—the cops still took a guy’s phone. The new policy forbids the confiscation of cameras and cameraphones, and disallows police from ordering citizens to stop filming or taking photos of police action.
"So I go and grab my phone and start trying to record it," Staley told Fox 5 News in the District. "And once I do that, another vice cop reaches over my back and grabs my phone and tells me he's not giving my phone back."
“A member [of the police department] shall not, implicitly or explicitly, coerce consent to take possession of any recording device or any information thereon,” the new order states.
Officers have to respect the laws too; they are not above it. Let's see how the MPD handles this.