Now Cops can Catch You for Cellphone Recording

  There is a recent incident at Boston area. Jon Surmacz, a webmaster, attended a holiday party where cops are using excessive force unnecessarily to break the party at Breighton area. He recorded the incident at his cellphone. Ultimately, he got arrested for illegal surveillance. Civil libertarians call it a misuse of wiretapping law. Sarah Wunsch, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said that police don’t want to keep any evidence what they do in public.  But the cops argue that “If an individual is inappropriately interfering with an arrest that could cause harm to an officer or another individual, an officer’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the situation,’’ .

Boston has law that protects the privacy rights of individuals. It is called “two Party” consent. The law says that both parties in a conversation can record as long as both of the parties have consent. Otherwise, it will be called illegal surveillance. In Massachusetts and other states, the arrests of street videographers, whether they use cellphones or other video technology, offers a dramatic example of the conflict between new technology and policing practices.

Although, citizen journalist Emily Peyton had openly videotaped police arresting an antiwar protester in December 2007 at a Greenfield grocery store plaza, first from the parking lot and then from her car, she was indicted for illegal wiretapping. But, the charge was dismissed at the end.
The illegal wiretapping case against Surmacz was dismissed in five months.

“Because I didn’t do anything wrong,’’ he said. “Had I recorded an officer saving someone’s life, I almost guarantee you that they wouldn’t have come up to me and say, ‘Hey, you just recorded me saving that person’s life. You’re under arrest.’ ’’