New Haven, CT: Police are accused of threatening and confiscating camera phones if they record their actions.

In the midst of swirling controversy about cops and cameras, Luis Luna was put under arrest for filming police in action—not by a rogue patrolman misunderstanding official department policy, but by none other than the assistant chief of police.

Luis Luna (pictured), a 26-year-old from Wallingford, was arrested on College Street early in the morning of Sept. 25 while he was using his iPhone to videotape police.

According to a police report, his arrest was ordered by Assistant Chief Ariel Melendez, who had told him not to film police breaking up a fight.

Assistant Chief Melendez (at left in photo) did not respond to requests for comment this week. Chief Frank Limon (at right) declined to comment on the propriety of Melendez’s order to arrest Luna. He reiterated his previous statements that it is not illegal to film police.

The chief has made those statements in response to recent complaints of police interfering with people’s right to photograph or videotape police in public places. The department is currently investigating several incidents in which police allegedly ordered people to put away camera phones or even snatched them out of people’s hands.

The cops and cameras complaints are part of a larger controversy involving allegations of physical and verbal abuse by New Haven police. The charges stem largely from “Operation Nightlife,” the police crackdown on clubs on Crown Street that began in September in response to a downtown shootout that left two hospitalized. The operation included an Oct. 2 raid on a private Yale party, using SWAT cops. That raid overseen by Assistant Chief Melendez prompted an outcry from Yale students who felt their rights were violated.


Link:
http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/videotaper_arrested_by_top_police_brass/id_31144