Courts have affirmed the right to video-record the police, while also recognizing that police have the right to perform their duties without interference. With the proliferation of video-recording devices, these two rights are increasingly at odds, NPR reports. "They do it just to get likes and clicks," says Al Palacio, a Florida police officer and officer of the state Fraternal Order of Police. He's particularly concerned about the rise of "First Amendment auditors," people who go out of their way to film police and other public officials to post the resulting confrontations online for big audiences. "That's their right," Palacio says. "You just got to do it from a safe distance." Palacio welcomes a bill passed by the Florida legislature in March that sets that distance at 25 feet, once first responders warn members of the public to stay back. During a debate in the House, Rep. Alex Rizo framed the legislation as a response to people who “jump all over a police officer.”
Rizo said the new law, which takes effect in January, is not intended to discourage video-recording; other members of the House saw it very differently. Arizona passed the first such buffer zone law in 2022, and it specifically banned video-recording police from less than eight feet. The law was challenged and overturned, partially on First Amendment grounds. Since then, Indiana, Florida and Louisiana have all passed laws that set a distance but don't explicitly ban video. Others say the minimum distance makes it harder to videotape. Critics of buffer zone laws say police can already arrest people for obstructing their work; but if a state codifies a specific distance, it may give police reason to arrest people who are just passively observing them. National policing organizations have reserved judgment on the push for buffer zone laws. The International Association of Chiefs of Police stresses citizens' right to record.