Police Surveillance

Funny, isn't it, that while the police generally favour video surveillance cameras as a way to prevent crime, they are not nearly as sanguine when the cameras are turned on them.

Yesterday, Dr. Dawg provided a link to a story in The National Post written by Karen Selick, who discusses how it is becoming increasing the illegal practice of the authorities to prevent citizens from videotaping their actions and confiscating their equipment when these orders are ignored, some even being charged with obstructing police.

As Selick, the litigation director for the Canadian Constitution Foundation, points out, There is no law in Canada that prohibits people from openly photographing police.

Last week, Corey Maygard of Edmonton fell afoul of the constabulary there when he refused to stop filming an arrest they were making. He asserted his right to be present with his phone camera, but his knowledge of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms earned him a charge of police obstruction and the confiscation of his phone. The charges were withdrawn last Monday, and his phone was returned yesterday, after an initial song-and-dance about it being lost.

There are those who say we should never refuse a police officer's orders. I obviously do not share that sentiment because in my view, such blind compliance is simply one of the steps on the descent into tyranny.