Dallas Police Union: Recording Cops ‘Creating a Major Officer Safety Issue’

The Dallas Police Department (DPD) is warning its
officers about encountering citizens recording them while on duty,
according to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth,
which also reports:

Dallas Police Association President Ron Pinkston wants
citizens to stop taping because he worries someone will get hurt.
“It’s creating a major officer safety issue,” he said. “We don’t
know who it is pulling behind us. We don’t know they’re there to
videotape, they might be part of…if that guy has has just done a
kidnapping they could be part of the kidnapping. You don’t
know.”

The warning from the DPD referenced one officer’s encounter with
a woman, affiliated with Cop
Block, who followed him with a video camera and—gasp—refused to
give him information. What information did the cop need? He ought
to be at least as well versed as she is in whether recording police
officers in public is legal. It is, and to the DPD’s credit their
warning did include the reminder that residents have that
right.

The Dallas Police Association, meanwhile, insists that dashboard
cameras and planned body cameras are sufficient monitoring for cops
and, according to the CBS affiliate, “are asking citizens to put
their cameras away.”

Citizens, who
may be aware of police not interested in being monitored,
should consider asking the union to fuck off.

Related: While the police union in Dallas appears to be trying
to demonize Cop Block, an alt-weekly in Cleveland appeared to try
to do the same for
different reasons.