Q A police officer was talking to me at my house the other day, and I noticed that his body camera was on. Doesn’t he have to tell me before he starts recording?
A No, he does not. Missouri law says that recording any activity among people is legal so long as one person there knows that such activity is being recorded. In this case, the police officer knows. In recent years it is a foregone conclusion that if you are talking to a police officer in an official capacity, your conversation is probably being captured on one or more videos. It not only protects citizens from abuse, it also protects the police against false accusations. Video is also a great way for an officer to collect report data quickly while on the move instead of stopping to scribble notes.
What about citizens recording police? It took a while for some of us to catch on, but the same law that allows police body cams also allows citizens to record police activity. However, there are some things of which you need to be aware. First, any recording activity cannot interfere with an investigation. For instance, you cannot just walk up to and stand next to a police officer who is engaged in a traffic stop and start recording. Traffic stops are inherently dangerous, and the officer’s attention must be on the driver, occupants, passing traffic, and so on. Your presence interferes with the officer’s ability to do so, and you could find yourself getting arrested. This does not mean however, that you cannot stand across the street to video.
Second, you cannot video from anywhere you don’t have a legal right to be – if you walk onto someone else’s property to record, you might be asked to leave and you could be arrested for trespassing if you don’t. You must also consider that the police are citizens, too, and if you harass or stalk the officer(s) to capture them on video, you’ll find yourself in a bit of trouble.
You need to know, too, that by recording police activity, say at a disturbance scene, traffic accident, or arrest situation, you make yourself a witness. Police may ask your name and contact information, and you are required by law to provide it. While police cannot immediately seize your phone or dash cam (not without a warrant, anyway), they can later obtain a subpoena for your video of the incident. The more video, the better.
Finally, you must use extreme caution & discretion if you decide to post your video online. You might open yourself up to civil action by those you videoed without consent, not to mention criminal charges if it turns out you were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be, or you commit a crime that is caught by the video. As with all social media, “think before you post.”
We live in interesting times. Digital recording technology has made it even more so, hopefully for the better.
Doug Dickey is a retired Carthage police officer, and is currently serving with another local department. Answers to questions here are general in nature and may not pertain to all agencies, nor should they be interpreted as legal advice. Contact your local agency or an attorney if you have specific questions regarding law enforcement or legal matters.
