Someone go tell the DC FOP that Judge Dredd is fictional.

Popehat | Ken | What Law? Just, You Know, THE LAW.

Law enforcement would have you believe that cameras are dangerous and justify their intervention. Either it’s because a camera could be a high-tech weapon, or because they get folks all het up:

Police officials say officers who seek to stop photography are driven by safety concerns and the fact that the presence of a camera can spike emotions.

"When people see a camera, they get more into it," said Marcello Muzzatti, president of D.C. Lodge No. 1 of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 11,000 officers in more than 100 D.C. and federal agencies. "Some people will figure, 'I have a right to take pictures,' and we are not arguing with that. An officer also has a right to his or her safety and to control the situation."

Woah there, big fella. What's this "right to control the situation" you're talking about? I don't remember seeing that in the Constitution, or any statutues, or any books of philosophy or law. That sounds an awful lot like a right to tell anyone within ear shot of you to behave however you want.

Cops have a right to safety. The very same right that I have and the rest of the humans in the world have. No more, no less. There's no right to "control the situation," because that's nothing but a spiffy way of saying they have a right to unquestioned local authoritarianism.