Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega discovers the Fourth Amendment and other fun facts

Miami Beach police chief Carlos Noriega recites the Preamble to the Constitution.

Miami Beach police chief Carlos Noriega has apparently just learned about something called the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Fourth Amendment guarantees - as any grade school history student can tell you - the right of citizens "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures..."

Or, to put it another way, the police can't take your crap without a search warrant.

Earlier this week the Miami Herald reported that Chief Noriega has "created a new policy, (see document below), on how to handle citizens and the media who photograph or film police scenes."

From the story:

Under the new policy, officers must follow certain protocols in the seizure and search of portable video and photo recording devices. Civilians are permitted to record or photograph police as long as they remain at a reasonable distance, don’t interfere with police duties and don’t create a safety hazard.

The policy states that an officer can stop a citizen who is filming who is “reasonably believed” to have captured something that has evidentiary value, but officers have to follow strict guidelines and cannot seize the camera without consent or without a search warrant.

Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police president Al Bello told the Herald "he applauded the policy, since the department had no guidelines up until now."

This latest revelation is further evidence that Noriega is a slow learner.

Last month, Noriega was forced to recall "honorary police badges" he had issued to a few select friends after the Miami Herald learned that he'd given one to a man who had once been arrested for impersonating a police officer.

Noriega - a veteran cop - apparently lives in his own private universe and wasn't aware that people sometimes impersonate cops.

Here's a story, (left), about the growing problem of police impersonators from the Jan. 20, 1986 issue of the Miami News.

But, Noriega, according the Herald, "decided on his own to recall the honorary badges and identification cards ... after reading a June 11 Sun Sentinel article that raised concerns about police imposters."

Good job, Chief!

I'm sure the citizens of Miami Beach are sleeping soundly at night, safe in the knowledge that you are keeping abreast of the latest criminal trends by reading newspaper stories.

Miami Beach Police General Order GO #11-03