Pubdate: Sun, 09 Aug 2015
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321

DON'T SUPPRESS POLICE POT SHOP VIDEO

The Santa Ana Police Department arrested a suspect last weekend in 
the theft of a package from a home's doorstep after video from the 
homeowner's surveillance camera linked her to the crime. Another 
crime solved thanks to the proliferation of private video 
surveillance, and the police, whose jobs are made easier by it, are 
undoubtedly happy to have it.

But when their own are caught on video behaving badly, the Santa Ana 
Police Officers Association would prefer you never saw it. Or, at 
least that is what is suggested by a lawsuit seeking to prevent video 
taken during a raid at Sky High Collective in May from being used as 
evidence in potential disciplinary action.

The police union contends that the video should not be used against 
officers shown playing darts, making derogatory remarks about an 
amputee inside the business and, purportedly, helping themselves to 
some of the medical marijuana shop's edible products. The lawsuit 
argues that the video may have been doctored and that the officers 
didn't know they were on camera.

California privacy laws are notoriously strict. Both parties must 
consent to being recorded, that is, unless a police officer or 
confidential informants are doing the recording. These officers, on 
the other hand, say they didn't know they were being recorded because 
they thought they had already dismantled all the cameras in the building.

"All police personnel present had a reasonable expectation that their 
conversations were no longer being recorded and the undercover 
officers, feeling that they were safe to do so, removed their masks," 
reads the suit, obtained by the Register. "Without the illegal 
recordings, there would have been no internal investigation of any officer."

Thankfully, a video does exist, and an investigation is underway. 
Ripping down every piece of visible video surveillance equipment 
should not automatically result in a pass for officers behaving 
badly, and more importantly, engaging in potentially illegal activity.

Despite other newsworthy attempts by officers to prevent citizens 
from recording them out on the beat, let alone inside Sky High 
Collective, an on-duty police officer should never have an 
expectation of privacy. While in uniform, they are accountable to 
those they serve and those who have vested in them the most paramount 
of responsibilities, to take a life, on our behalf.

At a hearing last week, Corey Glave, an attorney for the union, 
argued the officers involved would suffer "irreparable harm" if the 
"illegal" video was used in disciplinary action against them.

Hopefully, Superior Court Judge William Claster, who delayed a 
decision, will see through that smokescreen because the harm is 
already done; the officers did that to themselves. Police officers 
undoubtedly have a tough job, but that fact should not excuse 
unprofessional conduct, recorded or not.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom