Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to Undergo First Amendment Training

In a refreshing turn, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has settled a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union over police practices of questioning and detaining photographers. Members of the Sheriff’s Department will undergo new training:

The training, supplied through a newsletter detailing the LASD policy and given to all new recruits and to all deputies assigned to patrol, states that members of the public ‘have a First Amendment right to observe, take photographs, and record video in any public place where they are lawfully present” and prohibits deputies from “interfering, threatening, intimidating, blocking or otherwise discouraging’ photographers from taking photos or video unless they are violating a law.

I’d rather it not be just a newsletter …