Another example of the coming police state

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Summary: a guy gets arrested for having security cameras in his house.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/NEWS01/106290121

motion · 06-30-2006, 06:20 AM

Sorry, but sounds like these folks need to be harassed by the police even more. Glad they're not my neighbors.

island_dude · 06-30-2006, 06:27 AM

Since when is it ok for walmart to have cameras all over, but not a private residence. I thnk the city police are going to regret this move. Having said that it sounds like these folks are not exactly model citizens.

scottmandue · 06-30-2006, 06:35 AM

When trailer trash go high tech, but they will be able to move out of the park with the millions they will make in court.
Swimming pools... movie stars...

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

It depends on the law of the state, for example, in Texas, only one of the people needs to know the conversation is being recorded, so they would have been okay there. Only the lawyers are going to do well on this one. Sounds to me like the cops and the family in question are a bunch of jerkoffs

on-ramp · 06-30-2006, 06:49 AM

doesnt matter if these people are trouble makers. the authorities have to follow the law.

otherwise, we have an outlaw society, and that's very dangerous. back to the dark ages.

john70t · 06-30-2006, 10:56 AM

He would probably have been within his rights if he had a "premesis under electronic surveylance/monitoring" sign which would give vistor notice. I believe it's illegal to record audio(phone and even public areas) without notice, and video in areas of implied privacy(locker rooms and bathrooms).

I kinda think it's funny, because the microphone on GMs On-star and all cell phones(by FCC decree) can be remotely activated at any time.

coloradoporsche · 06-30-2006, 11:06 AM

Cops, like everybody else, better get used to it. The technology is getting cheaper every day. Pretty soon houses will just come wired that way.

Gubmint in my town has damn cameras all over the place. Glad to see them get a taste of their own medicine. Cops are lucky they didn’t go Rodney King on those people.

artplumber · 06-30-2006, 11:35 AM

Frankly, don't see how the cops can hope to win this case. The folks were on their own property recording their own activities. There could be no expectation of privacy for the cops as this was not the cop's home. Elsewhere, it has been found legal to prosecute based on home monitoring systems eg/parents monitoring babysitters recorded without the consent of the babysitters.

PS. Read some Wm Gibson scifi - you'll like it too.

jyl · jyl's Garage

I read the NH statute that he was charged under and it says nothing about any expectation of privacy. NH makes it illegal to intercept an oral communication without the consent of all parties to the communication, period, with various exceptions that don't apply to this guy. Standard security cameras, e.g. in a store, wouldn't violate since they don't record audio. Maybe the law should be changed, and I'm sure the cops were giving this guy special attention since he dared complain about a cop, but anyway that's the legal situation.

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/RSA/html/LVIII/570-A/570-A-2.htm

Joeaksa · 07-01-2006, 09:01 AM

Agree and hope the cops lose this one. When a private citizen cannot do this for security we all lose. The cops had to have done something that they did not want anyone to witness and are now trying to get out of it.

fastpat · 07-01-2006, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by island_dude
Since when is it ok for walmart to have cameras all over, but not a private residence. I thnk the city police are going to regret this move. Having said that it sounds like these folks are not exactly model citizens.

I certainly hope they regret it, the trouble is that most of the time even when the police exceed their authority, as it appears they have in this case, the taxpayers pick up the tab for any payout of punitive damages.

That needs to end.