But, Turner was simply video recording a DUI sobriety test. Once a police supervisor arrived on site Turner was released.
Turner films police on a regular basis so it is no surprise to him how quickly things can go south when a cop sees you filming their every move.
Turner saw a DUI traffic stop in progress and decided to film it. A driver was in the midst of a DUI test. It was not long till the officers on scene walked up to Turner and confronted him about video recording. The officers ask Turner to stand back or else he would be arrested for interfering with their investigation,
Turner steps a few feet back to avoid problems. Cops then tell Turner to stay in one spot and not to walk around their DUI traffic stop. Turner refuses and lets the officers know that there is nothing illegal about filming police in public places. Turner was at least 25 feet away from the DUI test during the entire encounter.
The officers walk away and Turner continues to film around their DUI traffic stop.
A few minutes later officers approach Turner again and tell him to step even further back, Turner steps one foot back. But that wasn’t good enough for the officers. Turner refuses to take any more steps back and the police immediately arrest him.
Turner requests that a supervisor be called to the scene. When the supervisor arrived, he ordered that Turner be released because he was not violating any laws. In fact, the Austin Police Department has a written policy that protects people video recording the police.
Besides, we all know that Photography is Not a Crime!
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