Balancing First Amendment Rights with Operational Challenges of Law Enforcement – Is there a happy medium?
The right of the press to document police activity is foundational to our democracy and has long been recognized and protected by the courts. During the protests of the last week there have been numerous reports that police have arrested, detained, threatened and had physical confrontations with journalists where there have been strong indications that officers knew the journalist was a member of the press.
In this free webinar our experts discuss:
- Does your agency have a Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy and does that policy include language clarifying the rights of the press to observe, photograph and record officers performing their official duties in a public place?
- Has your agency provided training regarding those First Amendment rights as set forth in your policies?
- Do your supervisors understand the process of allowing the press to record Law Enforcement action?
- What is the “clearly established” law on the issue of recording police operations?
- What does the law say about who is a journalist and what are the best practices for making that determination and identifying the press?
Related Resources:
- Glik v. Cunniffe – Videotaping Police Officers
- Recording Police Officers – Just Say Cheese…
- The Reporters Committee called for protocols “to protect reporters and ensure the public is informed.”
- IACP Public Recording of Police
Court Orders Ferguson Police To Not Interfere With Photographing Or Recording In Public
- Practical Advice about Covering High Conflict News Stories
- NPPA urges accountability for police who violate journalists’ rights
- NPPA strongly condemns the Minnesota State Patrol for CNN arrests
Panel discussion on Police and The Press with the following industry experts:
Eric P. Daigle, J.D.
Attorney Daigle specializes in Civil Rights litigation and Law Enforcement Operations Consultant. Attorney Daigle also conducts training on use of force standards, including electronic control weapons and responses to force/deadly force incidents. Attorney Daigle acts in his capacity as a Law Enforcement Consultant providing guidance and oversight to department command staff on operations, force response, and risk management. He has served as an expert witness in use of force cases and has reviewed use of force incidents around the Attorney Daigle serves as a member of independent monitoring teams and acts as an auditor in reviewing police department organizational compliance with procedural revisions directed or overseen by the Federal court system.
Mickey Osterreicher
