A. It is unlawful for a person to knowingly make a video recording of law enforcement activity if the person making the video recording is within eight feet of where the person knows or reasonably should know that law enforcement activity is occurring, either receives or has previously received a verbal warning from a law enforcement officer that the person is prohibited from making a video recording of a law enforcement activity within eight feet of the activity and continues to make a video recording of the law enforcement activity within eight feet of the activity. If the law enforcement activity is occurring in an enclosed structure that is on private property, a person who is authorized to be on the private property may make a video recording of the activity from an adjacent room or area that is less than eight feet away from where the activity is occurring, unless a law enforcement officer determines that the person is interfering in the law enforcement activity or that it is not safe to be in the area and orders the person to leave the area.

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Terms Used In Arizona Laws 13-3732

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Knowingly: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 13-105
  • Misdemeanor: means an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment other than to the custody of the state department of corrections is authorized by any law of this state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
  • Person: means a human being and, as the context requires, an enterprise, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a firm, a society, a government, a governmental authority or an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
  • Property: means anything of value, tangible or intangible. See Arizona Laws 13-105
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Unlawful: means contrary to law or, where the context so requires, not allowed by law. See Arizona Laws 13-105
  • Vehicle: means a device in, upon or by which any person or property is, may be or could have been transported or drawn upon a highway, waterway or airway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Arizona Laws 13-105

B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a person who is the subject of police contact may record the encounter if the person is not interfering with lawful police actions, including searching, handcuffing or administering a field sobriety test. The occupants of a vehicle that is the subject of a police stop may record the encounter if the occupants are not interfering with lawful police actions.

C. This section does not establish a right or authorize any person to make a video recording of law enforcement activity.

D. A violation of this section is a class 3 misdemeanor.

E. For the purposes of this section, "law enforcement activity" means any of the following:

1. Questioning a suspicious person.

2. Conducting an arrest, issuing a summons or enforcing the law.

3. Handling an emotionally disturbed or disorderly person who is exhibiting abnormal behavior.