This is a new tactic the police are trying out. They have recognized that people recording them, and people releaseing police recordings via FOIA, are making them look bad and resulting a lot of public outcry and pressure. So what’s the solution? Institute better transparency regulations and work on creating more accountability for bad actors? No, of course not.

Along with these invasion of privacy claims the police are also fielding charging people with organized crime for recording them on live stream and/or for a youtube channel. Claiming that recording their activities is actually a physical form of interference because “I had to physically leave the scene to address you”. Claiming that showing up to more than one scene run by the same cops qualifies as stalking. Claiming that posting videos and pictures of them going about their duties is doxxing them. We will see more and more tenuous attempts to use the legal system against anyone who would expose their own actions. They want to find a wedge the court will allow them to use to arrest anyone who records them or releases information they gathered from FOIA. Many jurisdictions are also pushing a variety of bullshit in order to not comply to FOIA at all.