The California state legislature gave final passage Thursday to a measure that would affirm the public's right to record the actions of police officers, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The bill, which goes now to the governor, spells out that making an audio or video recording of police officers in public places is legal.
It was among a slew of police accountability measures introduced this year in response to a string of high-profile killings that thrust the issue of police force into the national debate. Most of those measures have stalled.
“Cellphone and video footage is helping steer important national civil-rights conversations, and the Right to Record Act is critical to protecting this fundamental right,” the bill's author, state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), said.
Gov. Jerry Brown has not taken a public position on the measure, SB 411.
