Originally Posted by
chollie
Well, not too many months ago, SCOTUS ruled that if a cop pulls you over for something that is not actually illegal, it's OK if he says he acted in good faith and 'thought' it was illegal. (This followed a stop for something to do with tail lights. Pretty chilling - I don't expect a cop to know every line of the traffic code and other laws, but a traffic cop pulling people over for tail light violations that are not violations should sure as heck know better. He should have been taken off active duty and made to retrain as a rookie).
People recording police during arrest, traffic stops, and other encounters with the public have been arresting the photographer on a regular basis even though the courts have ruled that filming police is a legal act unless the person interferes in some way. Usually some false claim is made by the police and in many cases the cops try to destroy evidence.
Cops need to be held accountable for their acts and assessed any monetary awards that result from their actions.