Dash Cameras For Personal Vehicle

[merc669]

Here is link that might help. Looks pretty good from the videos they show.

Car Camera Direct

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

Originally Posted by desertrat

Cop car?

Yeah.....but they lock their doors.....makes it tought to get at 'em.

[officeguy]

You are in Maryland. Make sure that you dont 'surrepticiously' record an audio conversation, particularly with a cop. It is a quirk in state law that may stick you with a felony. So if the smokeybear man comes up to your window, inform him 'you are being recorded on video and audio' to diffuse that problem.

[glhs837]

Originally Posted by officeguy

You are in Maryland. Make sure that you dont 'surrepticiously' record an audio conversation, particularly with a cop. It is a quirk in state law that may stick you with a felony. So if the smokeybear man comes up to your window, inform him 'you are being recorded on video and audio' to diffuse that problem.

Here in St Mary's, you are okay. the States Attorney has said flat out that recording police officers in public performing their duties is NOT a violation of MDs wiretapping law. Other counties, no telling.

And I dont think most police cars down here have them. I did notice int eh SMCSO 2014 budget request for two SUVs that the pricing included dash cam systems.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by merc669

Here is link that might help. Looks pretty good from the videos they show.

Car Camera Direct

This video is from that camera above
http://smnewsnet.com/archives/2437

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by glhs837

And I dont think most police cars down here have them.

I would guess around 80 to 90% of the "patrol" police in St. Mary's have a working camera in their car. County and state both record sound from a recorder on their belt.

[officeguy]

Originally Posted by glhs837

Here in St Mary's, you are okay. the States Attorney has said flat out that recording police officers in public performing their duties is NOT a violation of MDs wiretapping law. Other counties, no telling.

That was a specific case of an individual standing out in the open recording a police officer with a cellphone camera. The DA threw out the charge because the officers actions were witnessed by others in the crowd and did not fall under the definition of:


"Oral communication" means any conversation or words spoken to or by any person in private conversation.

(definition from section 10-401 judicial procedures act)

If it is just you, and the officer at the window of your car, you are having a 'private conversation' and recording that requires the consent of both parties (many other states require only the consent of one party, MD requires both parties to consent). The cops have an exemption in the law that allows them to record unilaterally if they are in uniform and acting in their official capacity, but they still have to inform you. There are situations where even the cops shut off the audio portion (iirc with a prisoner in the vehicle and the camera turned back) to conform with the law.

I operate a number of vehicles and was thinking about putting cameras into them at one point. After the Monica Lewinsky/Linda Tripp history, I decided to run this by my lawyer first. To stay on the safe side of the law, you either have to disable the audio portion (the law doesn't apply to video only), or you have to inform anyone who may be recorded of the fact that they are being recorded and obtain their consent.

So, tread carefully out there.

[glhs837]

Originally Posted by Danzig

I would guess around 80 to 90% of the "patrol" police in St. Mary's have a working camera in their car. County and state both record sound from a recorder on their belt.

Thanks, Danzing, I wasn't aware of that. Now, they "have a working camera", I note inst the same as having a running camera:) Do they routinely record dash video?

Hmmm, OG, I am pretty sure any conversation an officer has with me that does not take place in my home isnt a private conversation. I am not in private in my car, the law is clear on that. As I recall a quote from Frtiz, it was that recording an officer in the performance of his duties was not a violation of the MD wiretapping law, which, lets be honest, is only applied to recording police as a harassment move to discourage same. That certainly wasnt the intent of the authors of that law.

[glhs837]

Man, it gets muddy fast when you dig into it, and it's understandable why your lawyer would advise the way he did.........

http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs...md-youtube.pdf

According to this, it seems that the MD OAG did a fairly exhaustive investigation of this back in 2010, and offered three possible conclusions as to how such a case might turn out.

Out of the three, his most likely scenario turns out to be most in line with my thoughts, but since the law in MD has not been nailed down conclusively, it's not a thing you would bet the farm on. If you have the money to fight it, might be fun, but most folks would just take it and move on. So your caution is well advised.

I run a dash cam app, but I have the audio defaulted to off, myself. Nice thing about an app, you get that option.

[officeguy]

Now you made me look into this further ;) Since I had gotten the opinion in 2003, there has been the Graber case and the circuit court judge decided that a police officer acting in public has no expectation of privacy. But that case has not gone to appeal, so so it doesn't really represent binding precedent for other MD judges and prosecutors. Also, in the Graber case, the cop was shouting and there were other motorists immediately surrounding the arrest scene eliminating any expectation of privacy.

In the meantime, there has also been an AG opinion on this which seems to support your position. However most of the the examples in the AG opinion seem to be of situations with others present or within earshot, a conversation at the window of your car could still be problematic. As you mention, the AG offers three different outcomes for a more generic recording scenario and speculates (and an AG letter is nothing more) that the most likely outcome would be that the conversation would not be considered private.

Still, my suggestion remains: tread carefully. At the very least, I would inform the officer that he is being recorded. Helps to keep both sides honest.