2023-04-23 09:34:02
Filmed without their knowledge
“The police officer must tolerate certain attacks inherent in his activity”
Police and rescue interventions are increasingly filmed by onlookers who broadcast them on social networks. Overview of the rights and duties of each other.
par
Abdoulaye Penda Ndiaye
Published
An altercation took place in March in Clarens (VD) between police officers and a citizen who was filming them.
Reader-reporter/20min
Police and emergency services in the heat of the action and onlookers filming. This scene, which has become usual in the era of social networks, sometimes generates conflicting exchanges. This was the case in March, during a fire in Moudon (VD). “An agent asked me to stop filming. I refused. He stopped the video and said he would only give me back my smartphone if I agreed not to film anymore. I lodged a complaint for abuse of authority”, indicates a reader-reporter.
“The police are characters in public life. They must tolerate certain attacks inherent to their activity in uniform or within the framework of their function, ”advises Jean-Christophe Sauterel, head of communication for the Vaud police.
If filming police or rescuers in intervention is not prohibited, preventing or hindering the action of blue lights is reprehensible. “We must respect the security perimeters put in place”, specifies the Vaudois police. However, if an agent believes that there is an infringement of his right, he has the right to demand removal. The use and dissemination of images may constitute an offense under the Penal Code, for example insult, slander, defamation or unauthorized recording of conversation.
Do not zoom in on agent
Lawyer and law professor, Philippe Gilliéron reminds us that the question of whether we are entitled to film a person exercising their functions in the public domain, such as a police officer or a firefighter, is a matter of image rights. “Photographing or filming a person is unlawful unless justified by the consent of the victim, by an overriding private or public interest, or by law.”
According to this expert, it will most often be appropriate to weigh up the interests between the interest of the public in being informed and that of the person filmed in not being recognizable. “Filming an individual in a targeted and recognizable way risks being considered a personality attack because the public’s need for information does not generally require that such a shot be taken to satisfy such a need. Blurring faces then appears to be a reasonable measure,” explains the Vaudois lawyer.
A month ago, another altercation between police officers and a citizen who is filming took place in Montreux. “Officers who had ice cream asked a dad to hurry up and load his child into the car because they wanted to park. This outraged me and I told them that delivering ice cream was not a priority. I filmed but they erased the video footage in my phone. I filed a complaint and asked for the preservation of the video surveillance of the street where the facts took place. But, according to the police, the cameras were not working that day”, underlines this Montreusien.
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