Police officer tells attorney to stop filming because of 'new law'

A police sergeant has been caught on camera making up a bogus law to prevent him being filmed as he pulled over an Uber driver.

Unfortunately for the officer in Wilmington, North Carolina, the driver - who works for Uber in his spare time - just happened to be a criminal defense attorney.

Jesse Bright was pulled over last month shortly after a passenger got back into his car on the second leg of a round trip.

The passenger was asked to get out of the vehicle and was submitted to a search by officers who were apparently looking for drugs.
Mr Bright, who combines driving with being an attorney, filmed the whole interaction on a dashcam and when the police officer asked him to stop, he questioned under what law.
WECT reported that Sergeant Kenneth Becker, then told him: 'Be careful because there is a new law. Turn it off or I'll take you to jail.'
Mr Bright replied: 'For recording you? What is the law?'
A New Hanover County Sheriff's deputy then agreed with Sgt Becker that there was a state law forbidding filming of law enforcement officers.
The officers then called Mr Bright a 'jerk' and ordered him to get out of the car while they searched it and brought in sniffer dogs.
Mr Bright, who was never charged with any offense, told WECT he was sure the officers knew they were lying: 'They should know, I'm sure they do know, that it's legal to record police.'
Wilmington Police Department said an internal affairs investigation was now under way into the allegations.
The department's Chief, Ralph Evangelous, said: 'Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight including the police is your legal right.
'As a matter of fact we invite citizens to do so when they believe it is necessary. We believe that public videos help to protect the police as well as our citizens and provide critical information during police and citizen interaction.'
The police officers and sheriff's deputies were equipped with body cameras but Mr Bright said: 'If the only recording of an incident is on their camera, they kind of control if that gets released or sometimes there can be a malfunction with it.'
Irena Como, from the American Civil Liberties Union, said: 'It's very concerning the Wilmington police department is conveying inaccurate information in the video. We've heard reports of this but we've never seen It captured on video before.'
She said: 'The thing that jumps out is what if this was not an attorney, what if this was someone who didn't know his rights or how to assert them?'