ACLU: Philly cops bust civilians for photography
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"This is a failure of police leadership, which has known about this problem for years but refused to take serious steps to stop this practice," says ACLU.
Cameraphone-wielding civilians catch the police beating of Askia Sabur in September 2010.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania today filed its latest lawsuit accusing Philadelphia police of illegally arresting civilians who observe or record them in action. The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Temple University student Rick Fields, who was detained and cited for disorderly conduct in 2013 after he took an iPhone photo as a large group of officers stood outside a party, which they were apparently dispersing.
"I was shocked when this happened to me, and more upset when I learned that this has happened to many other people," said Fields, now a junior, in a statement released by the ACLU. "I think it is important that all officers of the law keep in mind that their duty to the citizens is to serve and protect, not harass innocent bystanders."
Officers confiscated Fields' iPhone on the spot and, according to the ACLU, "opened multiple photo and recording apps, apparently in an attempt to find the recordings he had made that evening." Charges against Fields were dropped.
This was well after Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey 2011 memo specifically informing officers that civilians had a right to photograph and record police conduct, following repeated complaints.
But in a statement, ACLU of Pennsylvania executive director Reggie Shuford said that "rank-and-file officers clearly have not gotten the message that arresting innocent people simply for photographing or recording police is unconstitutional and unacceptable. This is a failure of police leadership, which has known about this problem for years but refused to take serious steps to stop this practice."
The ACLU of Pennsylvania also announced that it had launched a #copwatch campaign on social media, and called on civilians to report instances of police harassment for recording and photographing.
A March 2013 City Paper cover story, "Police brutality in the iPhone era," explored how "cameraphone videos and photos have in recent years transformed the capacity for civilian oversight of law enforcement" in Philadelphia. So far court rulings on the right to record police have been mixed.
