This On Point podcast really got me upset:
Turn Off That Camera! Filming The Police At Work
Dashboard cams in police cars are ubiquitous. Yet police are pushing back against Americans capturing them at work on cell phone cameras. Arresting people filming arrests. Is that right?
I understand that police wouldn’t want to be videotaped or photographed doing their job — who would? — but they are public servants and if they’re doing their job correctly, there’s nothing for them to worry about. (The police who appeared on the podcast agreed, and also suggested that videotaping cops at work could and has worked in their favor.) Documenting police abuse is the public’s only defense against bad cops.
I was especially upset to find out that there are two states where it’s actually against the law to photograph police: Illinois and my own state of Massachusetts! We berate foreign dictators when they prevent their own people from documenting police and military actions, yet it’s happening right here in the US. So be careful what you shoot, fellow Massachusetts photographers.