Crime & Safety
Camera Phone Riles Officer During Arrest in Prince William County
Man filming incident at McDonald's near Manassas reportedly threatened with loitering charge.
A video of an arrest in Manassas has been removed from YouTube this afternoon, but not before causing a stir on Prince William County Police's Facebook page.
Shared by insidenova.com and photographyisnotacrime.com, the video reportedly shows three PWC officers arresting a man for public drunkenness at a McDonald's near Manassas.
When one officer noticed the camera phone filming the scene, he reportedly threatened to charge the photographer with loitering.
The reporting on the video and public response on Facebook led the Prince William County Police to post a statement: "First, we would like to point out that it is our policy not to impede on anyone's right to video our actions in public so long as there is no obstruction of or interference with police actions or anyone else's rights or safety."
The comment notes that the department is reviewing the video.
Complete PWC Police statement:
Recently, a video involving one of our officers was posted online. This video has caused many of you to reach out to us about the officers’ actions. We wanted to take this opportunity to respond to the comments that we have received. First, we would like to point out that it is our policy not to impede on anyone's right to video our actions in public so long as there is no obstruction of or interference with police actions or anyone else's rights or safety. Secondly, we are reviewing the video and the overall incident to determine if there is anything we should strive to do better. We always accept and encourage constructive criticism or compliments from our public regarding our officers’ actions and/or behavior.
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