Friday, January 8, 2016
He said people are free to stand 21 feet away. And he rejected contentions that someone standing that far back might not be able to record important details, like whether someone was reaching for a gun or a cell phone.According to the Times, Kavanagh says he is open to amending the bill at the time of a hearing to address any concerns.
“Most cameras have great resolution where you don’t really lose anything when you’re 20 feet away,” Kavanagh argued. “At 20 feet you can pretty much pick up small objects.”
What’s behind the measure, he said, is the safety of police officers who may be doing anything from questioning a suspicious person to making an arrest.
"Having one or more persons suddenly walking up behind and around them with cameras is a distraction,” Kavanagh said. “The officer doesn’t know if this is somebody who’s a friend of the individual he’s doing law enforcement action against or what,” he continued. “But it distracts the officer which creates a safety problem for the officer.”
“So we’re going to make it a crime?” Barr responded. “If you’re actually interfering with them in some way, interfering with his movement or something like that, I can see that you can be sanctioned for that,” he continued, saying there already are laws on the books to cover that situation. “Whether you’re filming him or not has nothing to do with it."
Tags: john kavanagh , daniel pochoda , daniel barr , law enforcement , first amendment , filming , recording , ban. arizona , legislature , GOP