I misspoke in one of
my earlier posts when I said that I didn't believe there were any cases of Indianapolis police arresting a private citizen for video taping their actions during an arrest in progress as we've seen happening increasingly throughout our nation. Sixty-six year-old Willie King was arrested and charged by police for refusing to turn over the video evidence to police. A Marion Superior Court judge
acquitted King on charges of disorderly conduct, public intoxication and resisting arrest. WRTV has the story:
An Indianapolis man who was charged after he refused to give police video of an arrest he captured on his cellphone has been acquitted.
Willie King, 66, was standing on his neighbor's property in the 3900 block of North Whittier Place as he recorded officers arresting a man on Feb. 18.
"I heard the neighbors screaming and hollering about the police. (They said) 'You all get off of him. He's already in handcuffs. Why are you doing this?' " King said. "I just got my camera out, put it on record, walked over to my neighbor's house and stood on his stoop."
Legal expert Joel Schumm told 6News' Joanna Massee he does not believe police have the right to arbitrarily demand citizens' cellphones.
He said recording arrests can help protect citizens and the police by proving what really happened, but suggested those doing the recording defend their rights without using profanity.
"I think if a citizen says, 'Yes, I've taped this. If you want to get this, here's my name and phone number. You can pursue a legal process to get it in the future,' I think that's fine," Schumm said.
King said he's upset he was arrested and had to go before a judge. He said he feels anything but protected.
"I had the camera out. I wanted the police to see, if you're doing anything wrong, stop. I wasn't glory hunting or nothing," he said. "There's something wrong with the system."
Indianapolis Police Chief Paul Ciesielski confirmed an internal investigation is under way concerning the incident. The findings will be presented to the Citizens' Police Complaint Board for review.
