NEW YORK – Charges against a New York City police officer accused of arresting a man for filming him with a cellphone camera have drawn fresh attention to a decades-old issue: citizens' rights to record police.
Officer Jonathan Munoz pleaded not guilty Tuesday to official misconduct charges in the March 2014 arrest of Jason Disisto.
The 21-year-old Disisto sued the New York Police Department last summer. He alleged the department customarily makes retaliatory arrests of people who record police activity.
A police spokeswoman says officers are reminded that people may record police activity.
The president of the union representing police officers says people sometimes abuse their right, using it to torment or harass officers.
A New York Civil Liberties Union lawyer says court fights over the issue have erupted periodically since the 1970s.
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