By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK — A city lawyer told a judge to reverse his ban on routine police videotaping of political activities, saying the taping was necessary to protect public safety, deter terrorism and guard against lawsuits based on false claims.
The lawyer, Gail Donoghue, said Thursday the February ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight had taken an important tool away from police officers as they deal with demonstrations that frequently end with claims that officers acted improperly.
“Political demonstrations are a major source of civil litigation,” Donoghue said.
The New York Police Department does not videotape demonstrators “to snoop on who’s there for what cause,” she said. And it was unreasonable to ban police from videotaping demonstrations when demonstrators are permitted to tape the proceedings, she said.
Terrorist preparation activity, such as scouting locations, is generally lawful, and the checking of leads in terror cases requires police officers to have the freedom to perform necessary surveillance, she said.
The judge did not immediately rule on the request to change his conclusion that the city violated the videotaping guidelines at two recent protests.
The so-called Handschu guidelines, which date to 1985, require that police videotaping be for legitimate law enforcement purposes and follow a procedure that includes getting permission from a police official. The guidelines were named after the lead plaintiff in a 1971 case that included ‘60s radical activist Abbie Hoffman and others as plaintiffs.
In his February ruling, the judge did not punish the city for videotaping a December 2005 march by advocates for the homeless outside Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s residence and a March 2005 rally. But he said the city would be held in contempt of court for future violations and could be fined.
Donoghue said the Handschu guidelines should not continue forever. She noted that there has been no finding of a constitutional violation related to the guidelines in 25 years.
A lawyer with the New York Civil Liberties Union, Jethro M. Eisenstein, argued on behalf of the original plaintiffs that there was no need for a total ban on police videotaping, only a requirement that police follow the rules of the Handschu guidelines when they want to tape demonstrators.
The consent decree that created the Handschu guidelines settled a 1971 lawsuit brought by the Black Panther Party alleging that police engaged in widespread surveillance of legitimate political activity and distributed the information to other law enforcement groups.
The Handschu guidelines were modified after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to help the police department investigate terrorism or terrorism-related crimes.