Can you record the police? Thirteen countries compared

You are pulled over at night and there is a knock on the window.

“Can I see your licence, please?”

One hand holds the licence. The other is on the wheel, where they can see it. If the conversation starts going somewhere strange, this is not a moment to reach for your phone and press record.

A conversation with a police officer is still a conversation you are part of. None of the thirteen countries we checked bans recording police in public as such.

Can you record the police? Thirteen countries

These are the countries we checked. Ireland, Germany, France and Brazil are not included. The US and Australia legislate state by state, so we have used representative jurisdictions.

The line falls in a similar place everywhere. Recording is allowed; obstructing while you record is not. And recording is treated differently from publishing.

United States: a right built by the courts

There is no federal statute giving a right to record the police. Courts have found it in the First Amendment. The First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits have recognised a right to record police carrying out their duties in public, from Fordyce v. City of Seattle (9th Cir. 1995) and Glik v. Cunniffe (1st Cir. 2011) to Irizarry v. Yehia (10th Cir. 2022) and Sharpe v. Winterville Police Department (4th Cir. 2023).

The Second Circuit joined in Massimino v. Benoit in August 2026, holding that the right extended to recording the outside of a police station from a public sidewalk. It also held that the right had not been clearly established when the events took place, so the officers had qualified immunity. That is the pattern to understand: a right can exist and still not win you damages in a particular case.

Some states add statutory protection. California Penal Code section 148(g), in force since 1 January 2016, provides that photographing or making an audio or video recording of an officer in a public place, or from a place you have a right to be, does not in itself amount to obstruction and does not in itself give reasonable suspicion to detain you or probable cause to arrest you.

Whether you may record a conversation with an officer that is not in public still depends on your state’s consent rule (is it legal to record a conversation you’re in?, which states are strict).

England and Wales: no power to stop you

Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places, and police have no power to stop them filming incidents or officers. College of Policing guidance says the public have a right to film officers.

Section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000 makes it an offence to elicit or publish information about police officers that is designed to provide practical assistance to terrorism. An officer arresting under it must reasonably suspect that purpose, and using it against people photographing ordinary policing, including protests, would ordinarily be unlawful.

Canada, New Zealand and New South Wales

Canada allows any participant to record a private conversation (Criminal Code section 184), and people may record police carrying out their duties in public. Police can order someone to move for safety reasons, for example around a live hazard or an active investigation, and refusing can lead to an obstruction charge.

New Zealand has no law prohibiting filming police in public. Police can ask you to move for safety or crowd control, but cannot require you to stop recording simply because they object.

New South Wales does not prohibit filming police activity observable from a public place. Audio is different: section 7 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 restricts recording a private conversation, with an exception where a party to the conversation records it and it is reasonably necessary to protect their lawful interests. A roadside exchange in public may not be a private conversation, but the distinction matters.

India: recording in a police station

In 2022 the Bombay High Court held that a police station is not a “prohibited place” under the Official Secrets Act 1923, so video recording inside a police station is not an offence under that Act, and criticised police for registering FIRs on that basis.

Outside the English-speaking world

South Korea treats a conversation with an officer like any other conversation you are part of: recording it is lawful, and no law prohibits recording police on duty in public. A criminal procedure amendment passed on 31 July 2026 will require a suspect’s statements to be recorded on request by the suspect or their lawyer, once it comes into force.

Japan has no law against recording a police stop, though doing it in a way that obstructs can be obstruction of duty. Recording of custodial interviews has been mandatory since June 2019, but only for lay-judge cases and prosecutor-initiated investigations.

Spain’s Public Security Act 2015 made the “unauthorised” use of images of police a serious infringement. In 2020 the Constitutional Court struck out the word “unauthorised”, so filming police is not in itself sanctionable. What remains is using images that could endanger officers’ or their families’ safety, or an operation.

Italy’s data protection authority says officers on duty may be photographed and filmed, but publishing footage with identifiable faces is subject to data protection rules.

Mexico and Argentina have no law prohibiting filming police on duty in public. In Chile, the Comptroller General has said recording is a right as long as it does not obstruct, and a 2023 law requires police themselves to record their public actions.

The line not to cross

• Do not obstruct. Recording is lawful almost everywhere; getting physically in the way is not.
• Follow instructions to move for safety. Canada and New Zealand both treat refusal as possible obstruction.
• Think before publishing. Keep the recording as evidence and speak to a lawyer before posting it.
• Keep your hands visible. Reaching into a pocket during a stop can be misread.

When reaching for your phone is the problem

A stop starts without warning. When you have been told to keep your hands where they can be seen, taking out your phone, unlocking it and pressing record is exactly the kind of movement that can be misread.

TalkSafe is an Android voice recorder that starts recording when it hears a word you set in advance. Keywords are recognised whoever says them, so you can set words an officer is likely to say, like “licence” or “ID”. It works with the screen locked, and because it saves the 30 seconds before it started, the conversation is there from the knock on the window.

Why the original file and the opening seconds matter once a recording is used as evidence is in you have the recording, you still may not be able to use it. Starting a recording without touching your phone is in how to start recording without touching your phone.

What this comes down to

• A conversation with an officer is a conversation you are part of.
• None of the thirteen countries covered bans recording police in public as such.
• In the US, nine federal circuits recognise the right; California says recording alone is not grounds to detain or arrest.
• The line is obstruction. Record from where you are and follow instructions to move.
• Filming and publishing are treated differently, especially in Spain and Italy.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Speak to a lawyer about your own situation.