Transcript
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Some states have recently passed laws establishing so-called buffer zones for police and other first responders. They set a minimum distance for members of the public to keep back. NPR's Martin Kaste reports that journalists are suing, saying the laws hamper the public's right to observe police.
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: The courts say you have a right to video record the police. The courts also say the police have a right to do their work unimpeded. And sometimes, those two rights can come into conflict.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: Listen...
ACURA AMANDA: Whoa...
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: ...Go away.
ACURA AMANDA: ...Whoa, whoa, I have business here.
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: Go back to your car.
KASTE: Take the example of First Amendment auditors - these are people who go out of their way to film public servants, and then they post the results for big audiences online. This woman, who posts under the name Acura Amanda, has come across sheriff's deputies who are making an apparent arrest in West Palm Beach, Fla.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: You're taking our attention away from this person.
ACURA AMANDA: No, I'm not. It's my camera.
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: Yes, you are.
KASTE: And this quickly becomes an argument about just how close Amanda is allowed to stand.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ACURA AMANDA: Is this good?
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: That's fine.
ACURA AMANDA: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: Thank you.
ACURA AMANDA: I backed up - what? - a whopping 2 feet?
UNIDENTIFIED DEPUTY: Yeah.
ACURA AMANDA: OK. Wow, he's very angry, guys.
KASTE: Four states have now attempted to define that distance. Florida passed its law in March. During the House debate, Representative Alex Rizo framed this as a response to people who, quote, "jump all over a police officer."
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ALEX RIZO: It's about toning the temperature down. There is no codification of stand back. What does stand back mean? This will now tell you what that means.
KASTE: It now means 25 feet in Florida, according to the law which takes effect in January. Rizo said it was not intended to discourage video recording, but other members of the House saw it very differently.
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LAVON BRACY DAVIS: Camera phones have become more than just devices. They have become our allies, our witnesses and our means of survival.
KASTE: This is Representative LaVon Bracy Davis during that same debate in the Florida House.
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DAVIS: They have saved lives from bad actors and bad cops. Why do we want to prevent that? What are we so afraid of?
KASTE: The first buffer zone law was passed in Arizona in 2022, and it did specifically ban video. It was also challenged and overturned on First Amendment grounds. Since then, Indiana, Florida and Louisiana have all passed laws that set a distance but don't explicitly ban video. Al Palacio is with the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police.
AL PALACIO: You can still record me. You can still videotape me. Whatever you want, you just can't do it in my face. I don't think that that's too egregious, what we're asking for.
KASTE: But others say the minimum distance makes it harder to videotape. Charles Maldonado is managing editor of Verite News, a Black-led news outlet in New Orleans. It's one of several news organizations that are now suing to block Louisiana's buffer zone law, which took effect this month. He points to the example of forceful arrests of protesters and journalists in Baton Rouge a few years ago, which led to litigation and a payout by the city.
CHARLES MALDONADO: A lot of the evidence was video evidence from two photojournalists who were arrested during these protests. And they were very close. They were definitely within this 25-feet perimeter.
KASTE: Critics also point out that the police can already arrest people for obstructing their work. But if a state codifies a specific distance, it may give police reason to arrest people who are just passively observing them. They point to the example of Miami Beach, Fla., which passed a 20-foot buffer zone ordinance in 2021. Police there were quick to invoke it, as captured by this bystander video.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Twenty feet away from us - 20 f***ing feet away. Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: But why? I didn't do nothing...
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: That ain't 20 feet. Get over there.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All right, all right, all right.
KASTE: Police there made so many arrests in the first month, the public outcry forced the city to suspend the ordinance. It should also be said that police are not all of one mind about this. The International Association of Chiefs of Police, for instance, stresses citizens' right to record. And one official with the group says it remains to be seen whether buffer zone laws would create more clarity or more animosity. Martin Kaste, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF GAVIN LUKE'S "NIGHT WALK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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