Your Right to Take Photographs and
Your Right to Take Photographs and Your Right to Take Photographs and
Your Right to Take Photographs and
Make Video and Audio Recordings
Make Video and Audio RecordingsMake Video and Audio Recordings
Make Video and Audio Recordings
Your Right to Take Video and Photographs
Your Right to Take Video and PhotographsYour Right to Take Video and Photographs
Your Right to Take Video and Photographs
•
When in outdoor public spaces where you are legally present,
you have the right to capture any image that is in plain view.
That includes pictures and videos of federal buildings,
transportation facilities (including airports), and police
officers.
• When you are on private property, the property owner sets
the rules about the taking of photographs or videos. If you
disobey property owners’ rules, they can order you off their
property. If you don’t leave, you could be arrested for
trespassing.
• Police should not order you to stop taking pictures or video.
Under no circumstances should they demand that you
delete your photographs or video.
• Police officers may order citizens to cease activities that are
truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations.
In general, a court will trust an officer’s judgment about
what is “interfering” more than yours. So if an officer orders
you to stand back, it is probably best to do so.
• If the officer says they will arrest you if you continue to use
your camera, in most circumstances it is better to put the
camera away and inform the ACLU rather than risking arrest.
• Police officers may not generally confiscate or demand to
view your photographs or video without a warrant. It is
possible that courts may approve the seizure of a camera in
some circumstances if police have a reasonable, good-faith
belief that it contains evidence of a crime by someone other
than the police themselves (it is unsettled whether they still
need a warrant to view them).
Using a Vide
Using a VideUsing a Vide
Using a Video Recorder (Including Cell Phones)
o Recorder (Including Cell Phones) o Recorder (Including Cell Phones)
o Recorder (Including Cell Phones)
With Audio Capacity
With Audio Capacity With Audio Capacity
With Audio Capacity
• You have a right to capture images in public places, but you
don’t always have a right to record what people say. §19.2-
62 of the Code of Virginia makes it illegal to record private
conversations – which can include conversations in public
places – without the consent of at least one party to the
conversation. This means if the conversation is between
other people and can reasonably be seen as private, you will
need the consent of at least one person to record.
Conversations with police in the course of their official duties
are not private conversations, but many other things you
may record on a public street are.
• You have the right to videotape and audiotape police
officers performing official duties in public. It is not a
violation of §19.2-62 to do so. That means you can record an
officer during a traffic stop, during an interrogation, or while
he or she is making an arrest.
• You can record people protesting or giving speeches in
public.
If You Are Stopped or Detained for Taking
If You Are Stopped or Detained for Taking If You Are Stopped or Detained for Taking
If You Are Stopped or Detained for Taking
Photographs or Videos
Photographs or VideosPhotographs or Videos
Photographs or Videos
•
Always remain polite and never physically resist a police
officer.
• If stopped for photography, ask if you are free to go. If the
officer says no, then you are being detained, something an
officer cannot do without reasonable suspicion that you
have or are about to commit a crime or are in the process of
doing so. Until you ask to leave, your being stopped is
considered voluntary under the law and is legal.
• If you are detained, politely state that you believe you have
the right to take pictures or video and that you do not
consent to the officer looking through or deleting anything
on your camera. But if the officer reaches for your camera or
phone, do not resist. Simply repeat that you do not consent
to any search or seizure. You don’t want to invite a charge
for “resisting arrest.”
Taking photographs and videos of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is your constitutional
right. That includes federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police and other government officials
carrying out their duties. Unfortunately, law enforcement officers often order people to stop taking
photographs or video in public places, and sometimes harass, detain or even arrest people who use their
cameras or cell phone recording devices in public. This sheet explains your rights.
If you think your rights have been violated, contact the ACLU of Virginia immediately.
If you think your rights have been violated, contact the ACLU of Virginia immediately.If you think your rights have been violated, contact the ACLU of Virginia immediately.
If you think your rights have been violated, contact the ACLU of Virginia immediately.
•intake@acluva.org • www.acluva.org
701 E. Franklin Street Suite 1412 | Richmond, VA 23219 | 804.644.8022
Download the App:
Download the App: Download the App:
Download the App:
MOBILE
MOBILE MOBILE
MOBILE
JUSTICE VA
JUSTICE VAJUSTICE VA
JUSTICE VA
Mobile Justice VA is a smartphone app that allows users to
record law enforcement interactions and submit videos
and incident reports automatically to the ACLU. Individuals
who believe that they have witnessed a civil liberties
violation can complete an incident report along with their
contact information for follow-up. The app can be found in
both the App Store and Google Play, and is 100% free.
