Make sure you're prepared to lose your camera and get roughed up a bit if you decide to do this (which is admirable). In my experience, cops have no patience fo

Make sure you're prepared to lose your camera and get roughed up a bit if you decide to do this (which is admirable). In my experience, cops have no patience for people who assert their rights as citizens. Many police cars nowadays are fitted with front-facing video cameras. One sage piece of advice from a friend of mine is to: * be extremely polite and cordial; "How may I help you officer?" * respond requests to be searched with, "Sir, I don't consent to any searches" * When you step out of a vehicle, assume the position: legs apart, hands behind your head. * Politely ask, "Am I free to go officer, or am I under arrest?" (repeatedly if necessary) The point of this is to ensure that nothing you do can be possibly interpreted as an act of aggression by the officer, while asserting your rights. The police camera will show you in a pose of total submission, and any aggression on the part of the police officer will be unjustifiable. The cop will be annoyed, but he won't touch you, and if he does, you will be vindicated. Your camera footage, OTOH, isn't guaranteed to survive a run-in with the cops (this happened to a friend of mine), and any natural reaction you might have to your camera getting snatched from your hands can be used as an excuse to whip out the tazer. Remember HNers, the job of contemporary police is to arrest you, not to "serve and protect". This American Life had a great show on this recently: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/right-to-remain-silent http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/r...