I know this seems a bit off topic but I'm sure in the very least the thought has surfaced to some of you. You have this device and it's recording while you're being pulled over by a cop for "X". What do you do?
If you get pulled over ensure you inform the cop of your recording device to prevent you from being accused of secretly recording them. I know they should always be professional and not have anything to hide but we all know how that story goes. If he/she tells you to turn it off:
If the cop says “Please stop recording me. It’s against the law.”
For example, if an insecure cop tries to tell you that you’re violating his civil liberties, you might respond by saying “Officer, with all due respect, state law only requires permission from one party in a conversation. I don’t need your permission to record so long as I’m not interfering with your work or if there is no reasonable expectation of privacy (pulled over on a public road or parking lot is NOT reasonable expectation of privacy.)”
If you live in one of the 12 all party record states, you might say something like “Officer, I’m familiar with the law, but the courts have ruled that it doesn’t apply to recording on-duty police.”
For further clarification: Twelve states—California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington—require the consent of all parties for you to record a conversation.
However, all but 2 of these states—Massachusetts and Illinois—have an “expectation of privacy provision” to their all-party laws that courts have ruled does not apply to on-duty police (or anyone in public). In other words, it’s technically legal in those 48 states to openly record on-duty police.
Remember kids, knowledge is power and bacon is always best fried!
