Know Your Rights

In the geographical area known as the United States of America, there is an organization that claims for itself the function of governing. This government created itself by writing a document that enumerated its powers. This document, the Constitution of the United States of America, had an addendum detailing specifically what rights were not to be abridged or violated by this government.

Whether you believe in the Constitution or think it's just a piece of paper is irrelevant. The people who call themselves government feel that they have some kind of power over you, and you need to know how to use their words to protect yourself.

Self Incrimination

When you are dealing with the police, the best advice is to make no statements. The more statements you make, the more the officer has to use against you. There is an excellent video that shows how you can use this technique to assert your rights. This might not keep you out of jail, but it will keep you from unknowingly giving up your rights.

Remember that police officers deal with people every day. You might only encounter one once. They are trained to get enough information to make an arrest. You need to be prepared to avoid one.

But please remember that all police officers are humans just like you are. Do not be intimidated by the uniform and weapons. You will do best by being polite and loving, even if that seems hard in the heat of the moment. By taking the high ground, you are less likely to end up in a cell, and you might actually make the officer think about what you are doing and saying.

Video Recording

We can't emphasize the importance of video recording every interaction you have with government bureaucrats. This is especially important when dealing with the police. In the words of Dave Ridley, "If there's no video, it didn't happen." Judges and even juries tend to believe the word of a police officer if what he or she says in in conflict with the defendant. Having video of your interaction keeps everyone honest.

Which is why some police officers sometimes feel threatened when there is a camera recording their actions. You might be told to turn off the recording and could be told that you are violating the law. This is where the wiretapping laws come in.

Every state has laws that prohibit someone from covertly listening to a conversation. Most states have so-called "one-party notification". This means that at least one party needs to know that a recording is being made of the conversation. In this case, you can record a telephone conversation without informting the other party. New Hampshire and a handful of states that require "all-party notification". These laws pre-date the widespread use of video cameras, and they have been successfully used by law enforcement and prosecutors to convict people who are video recording police in public places.

This is clearly a gross misinterpretation of the wiretapping law, but it should show you how important they think it is to not be recorded.

Fortunately, the tide is turning on these silly charges. The first circuit court of appeals, which covers New Hampshire and other states in New England, recently decided that public officials, when doing their job in public, can be video and audio recorded without any notification.

Recording Tips

• When you are video recording the police, be sure to stay out of the way. Even if the officer understands that you are not breaking any laws by recording, he may consider that you are "impeding his investigation" if you are in the way.
• If an officer demands that you give him your recording device, you do not necessarily need to give it to him or her. You might ask if he believes he has a reasonable expectation that a crime has been committed. Again, be polite and take the high ground. This might not work, and the officer could get violent. In this case, give him the camera, but be sure to remember the confrontation so you can use it in court if you need to.
• If your recording device is seized and you are sent to jail, there is a chance that the police will try to erase the video you have recorded. If you are using a smart phone as your recording device, one way to avoid the erasure is to make sure there is a password set on your phone. This will make it difficult to for them access the recording in the first place. If you find that they did delete the file, it still might be recoverable, as long as you don't record anything else. So don't make any other recordings until you can get the file unerased.
• An excellent tool for activists is a product called Qik. Qik is an app that installs on your smart phone and allows you to stream directly to the Qik site as you record. If you are streaming, it is impossible for the police to erase the video recording. Also, if you inform that officer that he is being streamed directly to the Internet, he might think twice before acting in an unreasonable way.

Trespassing

Some of your activism will take you to public places. One would think that, as a member of the public, you would be allowed to be present at that place. But police officers sometimes claim that you are "trespassing" and if you do not leave, you will be arrested. This is a real threat, as the activist community has not yet figured out how to fight this charge.

The best advice is to realize that this silly threat is real, and many have been arrested and convicted for trespassing on public property. If you do not want to be arrested, it is best to leave when an officer tells you that you are trespassing.

There is some activity in the New Hampshire House of Representatives to define "trespassing" in a way that it can not be used to keep people off of public property, but this is not yet the law.