National Press Photographers Association

1100 M&T Center • 3 Fountain Plaza • Buffalo, NY 14203 Phone: 716.566.1484 • Fax: 716.608.1509

lawyer@nppa.org

VIA EMAIL

April 15, 2014

Chief David Brown

Dallas Police Department

Jack Evans Police Headquarters

1400 S. Lamar Street

Dallas, Texas 75215

Re: Right to Photograph and Record in Public

Dear Chief Brown:

As general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) I have recently been made

aware of an April 10, 2014 report containing statements by Dallas Police Association officials supporting

“squad car dashboard cameras and the department’s plans to buy body cams” with the belief that “those are

enough eyes watching their every move” and “asking citizens to put their cameras away.”

Such ill-informed statements only underscore the apparent lack of understanding or respect by those

officers who still have the erroneous belief that they can order people to stop taking pictures or recording in

public. Interference and in some cases arrests stemming from those actions have led to a number of court cases

resulting in: six-figure settlements, new policies and procedures and sometimes serious disciplinary actions

against the officers involved.

In a seminal case on this matter the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit1 stated “a citizen’s right

to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public

space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment. Gathering information

about government officials in a form that can be readily disseminated to others serves a cardinal First

Amendment interest in protecting and promoting ‘the free discussion of governmental affairs.’”

The U.S. Department of Justice2 has also taken note of these incidents and supports the position that the

public and members of the media have a “coextensive” First Amendment right to record police officers

performing official duties in public. The DOJ also stated “the derogation of these rights erodes public

confidence in our police departments, decreases the accountability of our governmental officers, and conflicts

with the liberties that the Constitution was designed to uphold.”

1 See: Glik v Cunniffe, 655 F3d 78 (1

st Cir. 2011)

2 See: Garcia v. Montgomery County, et al (U.S. District Court of Maryland, 2013)(Statement of Interest of the United States)

Chief Brown

April 14, 2014

Page 2

Reviewing the Dallas Police Department Mission Statement, one has to wonder how the expressed

attitude of the police toward the public’s right to record squares with the statement that department members

will: “Respect and protect the rights of citizens as determined by the law;” and “Treat citizens and their fellow

employees courteously and with the same amount of dignity with which they expect to be treated themselves.”

Without a better respect for the First Amendment these are just empty words. As our organization,

founded in 1946 with 7,000 members, has pointed out to numerous groups and law enforcement agencies – in

any free country the balance between providing police protection with integrity and over-zealous enforcement is

delicate. It is one thing for officers to act when there is reasonable suspicion; it is quite another to abuse that

discretion by chilling free speech and creating a climate of fear and distrust under the pretext of safety and

security.

In a time of technology and terrorism, citizens and visual journalists throughout the world have risked

and in some cases given their lives to provide visual proof of governmental activities. Sadly, what is viewed as

heroic abroad is often considered as suspect at home. It is therefore incumbent upon you as the Chief of the

Dallas Police Department to lead by example regarding the rights of the press and the public and I encourage

you to affirmatively acknowledge those rights as soon as possible.

While it may be understandable that your officers may have a heightened sense of awareness during

these encounters, that is still no excuse for them to not recognize a person’s right to photograph or record an

event occurring in a public place. Law enforcement agencies are established to uphold and enforce existing laws

not to create pretexts in order to abridge the free speech/press rights of others.

As we have done throughout the country, NPPA offers its assistance in working with your department to

help develop reasonable and workable policies, practices and especially training in order to alleviate these

concerns and foster better relations between the police, the public and the press.

I am attaching an article I wrote for the National Sheriff’s Association on this issue.

Thank you for your attention in this matter. I look forward to your response.

Very truly yours,

Mickey H. Osterreicher

Mickey H. Osterreicher

General Counsel

Enc.

cc: Lt. Stephen Geron, Media Relations Unit, Dallas Police Department (stephen.geron@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us)

Mr. Avi S. Adelman