Bexar County Sheriff's Office Policy Manual - Chapter 46 Recording of Official Police Acts PDF

BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POLICY MANUAL Original Date Effective Date Chapter Number April 1, 2019 April 1, 2019 Forty-Six Subject Office Recording of Official Police A...

BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POLICY MANUAL Original Date Effective Date Chapter Number April 1, 2019 April 1, 2019 Forty-Six Subject Office Recording of Official Police Acts Sheriff’s Administration References Sheriff’s Manual Chapter 19, Enclosures Texas Penal Code - PENAL § 1.07 None Distribution Supersedes Review Pages All Sheriff’s Employees NEW POLICY 04/01/2021 3 Approved by: Javier Salazar, Sheriff Bexar County 46.01 POLICY Members of the public, including the media, have an unambiguous First Amendment right to record Deputies and other government officials carrying out their duties in public places (including government buildings and transportation facilities). The exception would be if the person violates Section 38.15 of the Texas Penal Code (Interference with Public Duties) or creates a safety risk for the Deputy or other persons. Deputies should assume that they are being recorded at all times when on duty in a public space. 46.02 PURPOSE To provide Deputies with guidance for dealing with situations in which they are being recorded, to include photographing, videotaping, audiotaping, or other means of media recording by members of the public or the press. 46.03 DEFINITIONS MEDIA: The storage source for visual or audio recordings, whether by film, analog, or digital means. PUBLIC PLACE: Any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops. RECORDING: The capturing of images, audio, or both, by means of a camera, cell phone, audio recorder, or other device. 46.04 PROCEDURES A. A reasonable distance must be maintained from the Deputy(s) engaged in enforcement or related police duties. 1. Persons engaged in recording activities may not obstruct police actions. For example, individuals may not interfere through direct physical intervention, tampering with a witness, or by persistently engaging a Deputy with questions or interruptions. 1  2. The Recording must be conducted in a manner that does not unreasonably impede the movement of emergency equipment and personnel or the flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic. The safety of Deputies, victims, witnesses, and third parties cannot be jeopardized by the recording party. 3. The fact that recording, overt verbal criticism, insults, or name-calling may be annoying, does not of itself justify a Deputy taking corrective or enforcement action or insisting that the recording be stopped, as this is an infringement on an individual’s constitutional right to protected speech. B. Arrest 1. Persons who violate the foregoing restrictions should be informed that they are engaged in prohibited activity and given information on acceptable alternatives, where appropriate, prior to making an arrest. 2. Arrest of a person who is recording Deputies in public shall be related to an objective, articulable violation of the law unrelated to the act of recording. The act of recording does not provide grounds for detention or arrest. 3. Arrest of an individual does not provide an exception to the warrant requirement justifying a search of the individuals recording equipment or media. While equipment may be seized incident to an arrest, downloading, viewing, or otherwise accessing files requires a search warrant. Files and media shall not be altered or erased under any circumstances. C. Seizure of Recording Devices and Media 1. Absent arrest of the recording party, recording equipment may not be seized. Additionally, Deputies shall not order an individual to show recordings that have been made of enforcement actions or other police operations. 2. If there is probable cause to believe that evidence of a serious crime has been recorded, a Deputy should: a. Advise and receive instructions from a supervisor; b. Ask the person in possession of the recording to voluntarily relinquish the recording device or media so that it may be viewed and/or copied as evidence; and c. In exigent circumstances, where it is reasonable to believe that the recording will be destroyed, lost, tampered with, or otherwise rendered useless as evidence before a warrant can be obtained, the recording device or media may be seized under a temporary restraint. A warrant must be obtained in order to examine and copy the recording, and the chain of custody must be clearly documented per Sheriff’s Manual Chapter 19 Evidence Collection, Destruction and Property Handling. 3. In exigent situations where it is objectively reasonable to believe that immediate viewing of recordings is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily harm of another before a warrant can be authorized, the recording device or media may be seized and viewed. 2  4. Whenever a recording device or media is seized without a warrant or obtained by voluntary consent, the seized item shall be held no longer than reasonably necessary for Deputies, acting with due diligence, to obtain a warrant. The device must be returned at the earliest possible time and its owner given instruction on how it can be retrieved. In all cases, property receipts shall be provided to the owner. D. Supervisory Responsibilities A supervisor shall be summoned to any incident in which an individual recording a Deputy’s activity is going to be arrested or when recording equipment may be seized without a warrant or lawful consent. 3