This week a Seattle Officer was caught on tape punching a girl in the face during an arrest for jaywalking. Which begs the question: Is it legal to film on-duty officers?
In the states of Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland it is illegal to film an on-duty cop. This is enforced through the state’s wiretapping law, or two-party consent law, which says that all parties must consent to being recorded.
Illinois the only state where it is illegal to record any audio for any public officials, including cops, regardless of the expectation of privacy. In Maryland and Massachusetts, if there is not an expectation of privacy than one may videotape the encounter.
A total of twelve states have enacted the “two-party consent law” and you can get a state by state guild to whether or not you can tape an encounter here: Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press.
More reading: Wiretapping wars: Filming police should be no crime