As I have posted previously, I have long supported the idea of requiring video recorders in all police cars. There is simply no better evidence then a recording of what actually happened. In the DUI context, I have seen numerous cases, where the arresting officer's report sounded much worse then the way events appeared on video. Moreover, video protects police from unfounded claims of misconduct. Indeed I would happily see higher fines assessed against people convicted of crimes in Oregon, if we could use that money to pay for in-car cameras.
Rather than installing video cameras in police cars, however, a trend seems to be developing to criminalize video taping police. Three states have now outlawed video taping police even on a public street, as Wendy McElroy argues in this her column about Target= "_blank"stopping the taping of police misconduct.
The only possible rationale for these laws appears to be to prevent citizens from documenting police misconduct. Such an attempt to criminalize documenting the truth is outrageous in a democracy. Far from moving towards better accuracy and transparency, the government in these three states appears to be actively avoiding accountability. Although this trend is currently confined to the East Coast, Oregonians should be vigilant against any similar movements here.
