Public has a right to tape, expose abusive police: attorney

ATTORNEY Fareed Ali has told the public it is their right to expose abusive police officers via videos..

Ali said videotaping police in the execution of their duty could work for and against them.

He suggested citizens educate themselves on the law on certain issues and determine where the lines are so they don’t cross them.

Ali was responding to National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds' statement that while there is no law or policy to stop anyone from videotaping police officers while on the job, obstructing them while recording videos could attract charges and penalties.

Ali said video images could assist the police in solving crime, but can also be used against the police if they commit abuses in their course of their work.

He said it is lawful to videotape the police in the execution of their duty and suggested Hinds welcome and encourage such actions.

“Hinds must recognize that the manner in which the police conduct themselves has implications for the TTPS too.”

He said citizens have equal protection of the law.

“If a citizen chooses to video a police officer in the execution of his duty, there is nothing wrong with same. That is why there was a recent call for the use of body cameras by police officers...A need that is yet to be fully addressed by the Ministry of National Security whose portfolio now rests upon Hinds.

“Hinds should feel vindicated that the citizens are providing images that may assist the TTPS where his ministry had fallen short.

“The fact that members of the TTPS resist that assistance and layer of protection speaks volumes.

“It is disingenuous of Hinds to warn citizens that their zealous photo-imaging may be treated with criminal intent to obstruct the TTPS, as opposed to assisting the TTPS, if that is what he conveys.”

Ali said the law and its application affect all citizens and technology embraces and evolves how citizens interpret each other.

“The use of video and imaging that social media brings to us impacts our daily lives and preserves the sanctity of a moment. This is so especially when it is a true representation of what actually happened.”

He said the law serves to manage those moments to ensure there is no abuse or unfair disadvantage that others are made to suffer, as video imagery and photography are carried out.

He noted the significant cost incurred in dealing with police overstepping the line and abusing the law.

Ali said in the moment that the police engage the public in the streets, the discretion lies with the police as to whether a videographer is overstepping.

“The police are seen snatching phones from the hands of civilians, and that offends the law. It is criminal damage to property for the police to cause damage to the devices of those filming.”

He explained the letter of the Malicious Damage Act means the police are equally liable for damage to phones when they grab them and erase and remove video images that may potentially implicate their actions.