Arizona Law Set to Take Effect Bans Recording Police Within Eight Feet

A law in Arizona will make it illegal to record police officers within an eight feet area, and applies to specific situations.

The law is set to take effect in September and was sponsored by State Rep. John Kavanagh (R-AZ), then signed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R), NBC News reported Friday.

House Bill 2319 states:

It is unlawful for a person to knowingly make a video recording of law enforcement activity if the person making the video recording is within eight feet of where the person knows or reasonably should know that law enforcement activity is occurring, either receives or has previously received a verbal warning from a law enforcement officer that the person is prohibited from making a video of a law enforcement activity within eight feet of the activity and continues to make a video recording of the law enforcement activity within eight feet of the activity.

Governor Doug Ducey speaking with attendees at the 2022 Legislative Forecast Luncheon hosted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gov. Doug Ducey speaking with attendees at the 2022 Legislative Forecast Luncheon hosted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

However, if the activity was happening in a structure on private property, an individual authorized to be there was allowed to record from another room or area less than eight feet away, that is, unless an officer determined the person was interfering or it was unsafe and told the person to leave.

In this Thursday, June 24, 2021, file photo, Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, speaks during a vote on the Arizona budget at the Capitol, in Phoenix. "It's unfair to the people who you ask to vote to have more than one subject matter," Kavanagh told a Senate committee in March. Voters may back a measure with issues they support though it contains other issues they don't, he said. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

In this Thursday, June 24, 2021, file photo, Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, speaks during a vote on the Arizona budget at the Capitol, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The bill continued:

A person who is the subject of police contact may record the encounter if the person is not interfering with lawful police actions, including searching, handcuffing or administering a field sobriety test. The occupants of a vehicle that is the subject of a police stop may record the encounter if the occupants are not interfering with lawful police actions.

“A violation of this section is a class 3 misdemeanor,” according to the document.

In January, Kavanagh told News Nation, “I recognize the constitutional right to record police in a public place or private place if you have a legal right to be there.”

“But there are safety concerns for the police officer and for the person recording. I was a cop for 20 years, and I know that if you’re taking police action, arresting somebody, you’re focused on the person you’re arresting,” he continued:

“If somebody suddenly starts to walk up to you, especially from behind, you don’t know if it’s an ordinary citizen filming you, or an accomplice or friend of the person you’re arresting who’s gonna assault you,” he said.

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