When police say 'stand back,' these states say how far

The courts say you have a right to video-record the police. They also say police have the right to do their work unimpeded. And with the spread of ubiquitous video-recording devices, those two rights have increasingly come into conflict.

"They do it just to get likes and clicks," says Al Palacio, a Florida police officer and official with 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 debate in the House, Rep. Alex Rizo framed the legislation as a response to people who “jump all over a police officer.”

"It's about toning the temperature down," Rizo said. "There is no codification of stand back. What does 'stand back' mean? This will now tell you what that means."

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.

"Camera phones have become more than just devices. They have become our allies, our witnesses, and our means of survival," Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis said during that same debate. "They have saved lives from bad actors and bad cops. Why do we want to prevent that? What are we so afraid of?"

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.

"You can still record me. You can still videotape me," says Palacio. "Whatever you want. You just can't do it in my face. I don't think that that's too egregious, what we're asking for."

But others say the minimum distance makes it harder to videotape. Charles Maldonado is managing editor of Verite News, a Black-led news outlet in New Orleans. He points to the example of forceful arrests of protestors and journalists in Baton Rouge in 2016 -- which led to litigation and a payout by the city.

"A lot of the evidence that was submitted in this case was video evidence from two photojournalists who were arrested during these protests. And they were very close. They were definitely within this 25 feet perimeter," Maldonado says.

Verite News is one of several news organizations taking part in a lawsuit brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press challenging Louisiana's 25-foot buffer zone law, which took effect this month.

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. They point to the example of Miami Beach, Florida, which passed a 20-foot buffer zone ordinance in 2021 in response to conflicts between police and spring breakers. Officers invoked the new rule so often, the city quickly suspended it following a public outcry.

National policing organizations have reserved judgment on the push for buffer zone laws. The International Association of Chiefs of Police, for instance, stresses citizens' right to record. Retired Minnesota State Patrol Col. Matt Langer is the organization's director of global policing, and he says interactions between police and members of the public should be guided by "common sense."

As to the concept of legally-defined buffer zones, Langer says time will tell whether it provides clarity or whether "it provides a little bit more animosity."