New Arizona law that bans recording police within 8 feet will neuter the public's 'most effective tool against police wrongdoing,' activists say

• A new Arizona law will soon make it illegal for bystanders to record police activity within eight feet.
• Activist groups are slamming this law as a violation of First Amendment rights.

A new Arizona law will soon make it illegal for bystanders to record police activity within eight feet — and activists are slamming this as a violation of First Amendment rights.

Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed the controversial bill restricting the recording of police into law on Thursday.

Under the law, which goes into effect in September, Arizona onlookers could face a misdemeanor charge if they film "law enforcement activity" within eight feet after being given a verbal warning by police not to do so.

The law states that a person who is the subject of a police encounter is permitted to record "if the person is not interfering with lawful police actions, including searching, handcuffing or administering a field sobriety test."

Occupants of a vehicle that has been stopped by authorities can also record the police encounter as long as they are "not interfering with lawful police actions," the law says.

Activist groups told Insider that this new law — which was sponsored by Republican state Rep. John Kavanagh, a former New York cop — infringes on the public's First Amendment rights.

"Governor Ducey has made it a crime for someone to film law enforcement if an officer is less than eight feet from them — chilling the use of the public's most effective tool against police wrongdoing in violation of our First Amendment rights," American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona staff attorney K.M. Bell told Insider on Friday.

Bell added, "By limiting our ability to record police interactions, this law will undoubtedly make it even more difficult to hold police officers accountable for misconduct."

The National Press Photographers Association told Insider it is "extremely concerned that the new law violates not only the free speech and press clauses of the First Amendment, but also runs counter to the 'clearly established right' to photograph and record police officers performing their official duties in a public place cited by all the odd-numbered US Circuit Courts of Appeal including the Ninth Circuit."

"While such rights are not absolute, we believe that requiring the 'permission of a law enforcement officer' and setting a minimum and arbitrary distance of eight feet in between a law enforcement officer and the person recording, would not survive a constitutional challenge and is completely unworkable in situations" like protests and demonstrations, said the association.

The NPPA sent a letter to Ducey last week asking him to veto the bill.

Meanwhile, Arizona Police Association executive director Joe Clure told Insider that the organization "obviously" supports the law because the filming of officers at a close range can create a "distraction" to cops and a "danger to everyone."

"It's not at all about recording — please record, but do it from a distance that does not interfere with the police officer's task at hand," Clure said.

"There's no reason to be walking up on a police officer and getting in the space of their ability to do their job," he said, noting, "Today's modern cameras and cellphones are amazing technology. These things can record from great distances away."

Representatives for Ducey did not immediately return a request for comment by Insider on Friday.