My advice for firefighters and EMS personnel is relatively simple: Ignore folks who are filming and focus your attention on your job. The explanation is a bit more complicated, but hopefully will help folks understand the reasoning behind this simple advice.
The public has a Constitutional right to film in public places. The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed and reaffirmed that the First Amendment right to free speech and freedom of the press includes the right of the public to observe, record and share things that happen in public places. The emergencies that we respond to, combined with the fact that we are public employees performing work on behalf of the public, create the exact type of scenario where the right to film in public is the strongest.
Arguably, when in private locations we may be in a position to request people not to film, but expecting firefighters to be able to determine whether a location is public or private on the spot—when lawyers and judges with weeks to consider may not agree—is expecting too much. Given the energy level common at incident scenes, coupled with the importance of responders focusing on the tasks at hand, it is best not to be distracted by such ancillary matters. Read More…