The police can only photograph you if you are arrested and charged. You do not have to agree to be photographed when being 'street checked'.
Is it legal to film police? (filming police) You have a legal right to film in public. Therefore, you can film or take photos of police when they are performing their duties if they are in public.
If the police suspect your mobile phone holds evidence to a crime, they can apply to a magistrate for an order pursuant to section 3LA of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). The order will stipulate that you must disclose the mobile phones password. Any failure to comply with the order will have consequences.
If they do not have a lawful reason to ask for your identification, then you do not have to disclose it. Police must also advise you of the consequences of failing to comply with their request. If they are in plain clothes, they must also produce identification to prove that they are in fact a police officer.
Employees must not discuss or disclose NSW Police Force information that is not publicly available, whether confidential or not. If employees comment on police related issues in a private capacity on social media sites, they must avoid any reference to their employment by the NSW Police Force.
The NSW Police Media Policy acknowledges that members of the public “have the right to take photographs of or film police officers, and incidents involving police officers, which are observable from a public space, or from a privately owned place with the consent of the owner/occupier”.
What Can Police Search? There are a few circumstances in which a NSW police officer may stop and search a person without a warrant, and then seize any items including a mobile phone.
A person has a general right to remain to silent after being arrested in NSW. This comes with the exception of the need to provide your name and address in certain circumstances when dealing with the police. Offences involving motor vehicles are an important exception to the right to remain silent.
CarExpert spoke with a NSW Police officer who said that by swearing at an officer you are “not doing yourself any favours”, and that, on a technicality, you could be charged with an offence, especially if your foul language can be heard in a public place and/or by members of the public.
Before carrying out a search, police must inform you of their name, police station, rank, and reason for searching you. If you refuse to allow police to search you after receiving this information, police are entitled to arrest you and search you by force.
What is the Penalty If I Refuse to Give Police My Password? It is an offence for a person subject to a digital evidence access order to refuse or fail to provide their phone or computer password, without a reasonable excuse, or to provide false or misleading information, whilst purporting to comply with the order.
Law enforcement may also tap your phone using “tap and traces” or “pen registers,” which don't require a wiretap order. These methods don't record actual conversations, only the phone numbers associated with the line. Tap and traces record the phone numbers calling a specific phone line.
Application for a search warrant
The warrant lasts for three days unless it is extended by the justice. The police must provide a report back to the justice within 10 days of the warrant being executed.
Audio and film recording – private areas of the Court building. It is up to individual Justices as to whether filming may occur in their chambers. Filming is not permitted in other private areas of the Court for security reasons.
Therefore, it is important be mindful of where you are filming. If you are on someone's property, it is best to get their consent before recording. Although you can't film on private property without consent, filming someone on their property from a public space isn't an offence.
They can ask you to give your name and address, especially if they reasonably suspect you've broken the law. The officer must warn you that it's an offence not to give them your correct name and address. The police have wider powers to identify you if they reasonably suspect that you're part of a criminal organisation.
Offensive language is a criminal offence attracting up to a $660 fine or a community correction order, which may include a community service work condition despite the offence not being punishable by imprisonment pursuant to section 4A.
It is up to you to decide whether or not to answer any questions police ask you or what you should say. If you are unsure, you should wait until you have received legal advice before giving an interview. In the case of certain serious offences, police can administer a 'special caution'.
Public profanity is an offence in every jurisdiction in Australia.
When can police pull you over? You can be pulled over if the police reasonably suspect that you are committing a criminal offence, if they are going to perform a roadside random breath test, or if you have breached a traffic offence.
NSW Police only have the power to search your vehicle in limited circumstances, namely: with a search warrant; if they have “reasonable grounds” to suspect certain matters; if you consent.
Police can enter private property, the police are permitted to come as far as the front door without invitation, like anybody else, but once it is made clear that they are not welcome then they must retreat to the outer boundaries of your property.
Do police need a warrant to search my phone? Unless you give voluntary consent, police will need to obtain a search warrant in order to go through the contents of your phone.
The Right to Tap Your Phone: The Wiretap Order
This is similar to a warrant. The police must prove to a judge that they have probable cause to believe that tapping your phone lines will help them to solve a serious crime such as drug trafficking, money laundering, or terrorism.