The video of Eric Garner’s death shocked New York. When will it be allowed to film the NYPD again 10 years later?

This month marks 10 years since a video showing an NYPD officer killing Eric Garner went viral, sparking a nationwide outcry against police brutality. With the proliferation of smartphones, it is now more common than ever to film police operations.

As the anniversary of Garner’s death approaches, here’s what you need to know about the NYPD shooting.

Is it allowed to film the NYPD?

Yes. You have a First Amendment right to film the NYPD in public as long as you don’t interfere with police activities or break the law, says Stephen Solomon, editor of First Amendment Watch at NYU.

“It is an extraordinarily effective tool for holding public officials accountable,” he said.

Civil rights attorney Remy Green, who represents victims of police brutality from the Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street movements, added that filming police officers can sometimes change their behavior.

“When someone is filming, the police often behave better,” Green said.

What are the rules?

Stay on public property. Filming suspected police misconduct from a sidewalk or street is usually allowed, Solomon said. But you can’t zoom your camera through the window of an apartment to film police officers who are inside, he said.

You also must not interfere with the work of the police. Solomon recommends standing 10 to 20 feet away so as not to interfere with the work of the police. This is a minor crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

You can film in police precincts — at least for now. A federal judge ordered the NYPD to stop enforcing its ban on filming in precincts after a man claimed the policy was unconstitutional. The man, social media star SeanPaul Reyes, also known as “Long Island Audit,” was arrested for filming in two Brooklyn precincts. He sued the NYPD, and the case is ongoing.

Yet despite video evidence, accountability remains elusive. In nearly half of NYPD misconduct cases in 2022, officials disciplined officers by merely revoking one to 10 days of vacation or suspending the officer for one to 10 days.

In other cases, the people filming the police often cannot identify the officer by name, making it difficult for the NYPD or the Civilian Complaint Review Board – the city’s police oversight agency – to investigate the incident.

NYPD officers are required to provide their name and badge number when asked, but you should wait until you are not in the middle of an arrest or police stop, Green says.

“There can be the worst misconduct in the world, but if you can’t identify the officer, it’s pointless,” said attorney Green.

The NYPD’s guidelines state that officers may not prevent people from recording police activity, stop them from filming, or delete their footage. NYPD guidelines also state that officers may not arrest people who film police, write down their name or badge number, criticize police, refuse to leave the area, or use “crude or vulgar language.”

What risks are involved in filming police operations?

Sometimes the person filming the alleged police misconduct becomes part of the story.

On July 12, 2014, 22-year-old Ramsey Orta filmed NYPD officers beating Eric Garner, a black man, on a Staten Island sidewalk. In the video, a crowd can be seen begging the officers to stop beating Garner with their batons as he lies facedown with his arms behind his back.

“Don’t worry, I have all this shit on camera,” Orta shouted to Garner as police arrested him.

About a minute later, a plainclothes police officer is seen asking Orta to stand further away.

“Go the fuck back,” he screamed. “Film that shit over there.”

Five days later, NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo strangled Garner while Garner’s boyfriend Orta filmed. The incident sparked a nationwide movement against police brutality, and Garner’s cries of “I can’t breathe” became a protest slogan.

Orta claimed he was repeatedly targeted by the New York Police Department in the days and months following Garner’s death. Police arrested Orta two weeks later, alleging he planted a gun on a 17-year-old girl. He told reporters it was a set-up and the officer who arrested him said, “Karma is to blame, you reap what you sow.”

Months later, Orta posted two videos on YouTube claiming that NYPD officers in Staten Island’s 120th Precinct followed and stopped him without reason.

What to do with footage of police misconduct?

There are no restrictions on where people can use videos they have shot themselves on public property. These videos are often shared on social media or with news organizations. You can also submit the footage to the CCRB.

You can file complaints about police misconduct with the CCRB by tagging the agency on Instagram or Twitter or by completing a complaint form online.