Baltimore police officers may not "prevent or prohibit" people from taking photographs or video of crime scenes and other law enforcement activities that are in public view, according to a department-wide directive reported by the Baltimore Sun.
The new rules essentially repeat a policy that has long been the norm, department commanders say, but which has been difficult to enforce without written guidelines. The release of the general order comes after a series of confrontations between the seemingly ubiquitous camera-wielding public and officers in Baltimore and elsewhere—including several court challenges.