Lawyer films his traffic stop, even after cop says not to, citing made-up law

Enlarge (credit: Wilmington Police Department)

The police chief in Wilmington, North Carolina, has publicly lambasted one of his officers. The officer recently pulled over a local attorney moonlighting as an Uber driver and told the driver that he could not film the traffic stop.

"Taking photographs and videos of people that are in plain sight, including the police, is your legal right," Chief Ralph Evangelous said in a Wednesday statement published on the department's Facebook page. "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 statement concluded: "A copy of this statement will be disseminated to every officer within the Wilmington Police Department."

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