14 Apr 2016
It’s déjà vu. Last weekend, for the fifth time since 2012, Joshua Pineda was arrested for the “crime” of filming police officers on the streets of Austin. The first four arrests were dismissed, and the latest one seems headed in the same direction.
The issue involved is nothing new of course. It’s called the exercise of a person’s rights under the First Amendment. With current technology, and the advent of smartphones in particular, it has become easier and easier to capture events by video on the spur of the moment. And there is absolutely nothing per se illegal about doing so. Indeed, APD Chief Art Acevedo has told his officers precisely that, in a memorandum dated August 28, 2013. Interestingly, the subject of that memo was the suspension of an officer for refusing to identify himself to a citizen and then threatening a person who was filming him.
Why Do the Arrests Continue?
We understand, of course, that many cops don’t want to be filmed. The answer, of course, is that their wants in this area are irrelevant. Unfortunately, there are officers who do not think they can or should be held accountable for their actions, even when those actions are themselves illegal.
There is another issue here, and it involves the operation of the APD. We know that the Chief has publicly announced that filming officers in the performance of their duties, without more, is perfectly legal. But apparently, that message is not getting through. And we believe there are just two possible reasons for this:
- The Chief is unable to control the actions of the officers on the force.
- The Chief does not want to control the actions of the officers on the force.
Either way, it’s a problem. We’d like to think that it is the result of renegade officers who won’t abide by the law. If so, they should be taken to task for their actions. This is the lesser of the two evils as we see it. On the other hand, there may be some sort of a sub rosa understanding on the force that continuing to harass, arrest, intimidate and threaten those exercising their constitutional rights will be tolerated – or even encouraged – by the police brass.
Ultimately, the arrests and harassment are an embarrassment, the sort of childish bullying that has no place in legitimate law enforcement. Time will tell if the situation will get better or worse.
Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
1201 Rio Grande Street #200
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737