Sheriff: Videos fine, but don't interfere with officers

Throughout our great nation we have witnessed attacks against law enforcement by thugs and politicians. We have watched our great cities burned and looted while our elected officials call to defund or decrease the budgets of the very agencies meant to stop it. It is no surprise we are seeing people anxiously relocate here from those affected areas.

The idea of local citizens using their video cameras with the intention of harassing our local officers and interfering with their duties, only to get characterized later online as if we were in the wrong, contributes toward this national disgrace.

When the CDA Press did their “Above-the-Fold,” front-page exposé on Feb. 4, they not only did a huge service by bringing this disgraceful issue into the public forum here, but they also revealed their support for law enforcement and those law-and-order Kootenai County citizens by courageously exposing this video. The feedback from readers has been overwhelmingly positive toward me and my actions.

I ran on a platform of protecting people’s rights and keeping the peace. Citizens choosing to video a traffic stop or any other interaction of a government official in public is exactly the type of activity the Sheriff’s Office and I will always protect. However, there are boundaries.

Antagonists who use a video camera as a reason to encroach on, interfere with, or attempt to cause a confrontation during law enforcement activity, exceeds acceptable limits.

I give the CDA Press major accolades for showing its support for law enforcement and those citizens who do not want to see our community attacked, like Portland, Seattle, and so many others throughout our country.

Sheriff Robert B. Norris