quote:

I think there is a much bigger issue here.   if someone takes a picture of a sporting event and there is a cop present is it against the law?   If someone is taking pictures of the family in the park and a cop drives by is it against the law?   Should the news staff actually take pictures of news events without the written concent of the authorities?   At what point does it end?   I think that if this were the law of the land throughout the country that we probably would all be felons.  

This is total BS.   the cop should be suspended for pulling the weapon without probable cause.   The guy should have possibly shot the cop because he didn't identify himself as a police officer citing self defense.  I do believe that cops that act as this officer did will at some point recieve incoming fire.

quote:

Protecting police officers is one of the main reasons for this law. Videotaping them puts them more at risk to be threatened with violence. Another reason is they don't want anyone to make it more difficult to prosecute.

quote:

Protecting police officers is one of the main reasons for this law. Videotaping them puts them more at risk to be threatened with violence. Another reason is they don't want anyone to make it more difficult to prosecute.

quote:

ORIGINAL: eyesopened

I didn't see the actual Maryland law regarding police but there is a law against recording people generally.

"Federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most also have extended the law to cover in-person conversations. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia permit individuals to record conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so. These laws are referred to as “one-party consent” statutes, and as long as you are a party to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it.

Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. Be aware that you will sometimes hear these referred to inaccurately as “two-party consent” laws. If there are more than two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.
 
Regardless of the state, it is almost always illegal to record a conversation to which you are not a party, do not have consent to tape, and could not naturally overhear."
http://www.rcfp.org/taping/