Pasco PD Recording Traffic Interactions

This morning on my way to work I was pulled over by Pasco PD for speeding in a school zone. I thought I had slowed down enough, but whatever. The officer was very polite and let me go with a warning. I thanked him and went on my way.

The reason I'm posting is that the very first words out of his mouth were something along the lines of, "Hello, I want you to know this conversation is being recorded. I pulled you over...." I can't remember the exact words, but he definitely said that our conversation was being recorded, and it struck me as interesting because I've never had an officer tell me that before. I presume it is because I haven't been recorded before, but who knows. Knowing that I was being recorded definitely impacted how I responded.

I have a rough understanding of privacy laws, but I'm not sure if a traffic stop - in a 7-Eleven parking lot - is a public or private conversation. Did he have to disclose that he was recording?

I suspect the PDs record conversations to obtain evidence, but it got me wondering if all officers are carrying recording equipment now, or if it is just traffic. Is the cop who visits you in Wal-Mart cause some over zealous liberal dialed 911 going to have recording equipment? If so, and if he chooses to record you is he required to inform you? I'm curious now.

Thanks in advance.

It occurs to me that had I been carrying a recorder I could have said, "funny, I'm also recording this conversation." lol

BTW, I was not carrying at the time, but I could've been. I do believe this thread is relevant to OC.

It was a public place and a public conversation. Either you or the officer can record it and in my opinion without notice.

PPD has been recording stops for a while, I believe.

Bainbridge Island is going farther. You will not only be recorded, you will be video'd.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/27502772/detail.html

Looks similar to this:



One downside is that the officer can control whether it is on or off by merely flipping a "shutter" over the lens. Only supervisors can delete data but the officer can control what data is collected.

Four officers have been outfitted with the cameras, which cost about $1,000 apiece.

Click to expand...

They only record for 4 hrs but have a nifty video marking process to tell if the video has been altered, however some of us OC'ers have a quality camera with video and audio along with the same record time (4 hrs / 4GB) but for less than $20.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-DV-DVR-Vid...292?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5c37a7a4