Police Try Telling Uber Driver It’s Illegal to Record Them, Don’t Know He’s a Lawyer

An Uber driver's run-in with the law went viral on TikTok after one of the police officers in the clip's behavior notably changes once he learns that the man behind the wheel doesn't just drive Uber for a living: he's actually a full-time attorney who's giving people lifts to earn some cash on the side.

In a viral TikTok that was uploaded to the @supreme.court.us account, we see a certain tonal shift in the way the driver is being addressed by officers, and it seems like he even catches one of the cops in question in a lie. Interestingly enough, after initially interacting with this particular cop, the driver isn't spoken to by him throughout the duration of the video, just other officers.

The Uber driver begins their video by addressing the camera, informing viewers that the police are arresting their passenger. One of the police officers asks the Uber driver to turn the camera off, but he informs them that he's going to "keep recording, thank you."

Generally speaking, passengers are allowed to record police officers during traffic stops.

The cop then says that he can't put him on camera, to which the driver says that he most certainly can, and doesn't stop himself from continuing to capture their interaction on camera. The cop then tries to get him to exit the car, but the Uber driver then goes on to ask what he's being arrested.

"You're being a jerk," the officer tells him. "I'm not being a jerk I'm recording in case anything happens," the driver informs the cop.

The officer informs the man that he intends on searching his vehicle, but the Uber driver declines, stating that that will not be happening either.

The police officers then say that they're going to be bringing "canines" to come and search his car. It's at this point in the Uber Driver's conversation with the one cop rocking a mustache standing by the driver side door that he hopes the rideshare driver "knows the law."

This is when the driver reveals that he does know the law because he's "an attorney."

"And Uber driver?" the cop says.

"Here man," the driver says as he retrieves identification from his wallet. "Do you want my bar card?" he says, showing the item to the police officer, who isn't paying him attention but looking elsewhere.

The driver waits, shaking his head as he looks into the camera, "guess they're gonna bring the canines," he says, sighing.

"Sir can you tell me what this new law is that I'm not allowed to record?" the Uber Driver asks the police officer.

"I'm sorry?" another officer who approaches the vehicle asks.

"He says that there's a law I'm not allowed to record," the Uber Driver repeats, referencing the other officer's previous request that he stop recording him.

"You said that you're an attorney, correct?" the police officer asks him, to which the Uber driver confirms that he is and that he's never heard of the law the other cop was referring to that doesn't allow folks to record police officers when they conduct traffic stops or arrests of individuals.

He goes on to say that the law must be "brand new" after the officer tells him that the law was "recently passed" to which the driver remarks that it sounds like a strange law to be passed.

The Uber Driver tries to explain to the officers that he doesn't know where his passengers are going to and that they just punch in their address into the app and he drives them to where they need to go, so he doesn't understand why he's being detained or questioned.

He explains to the officers that the man he picked up said that he worked as a dog groomer and he was just hitching a ride to pick up his paycheck from his boss.

Another officer approaches the vehicle to tell him that canines are coming to smell the car in order to see if the passenger dumped anything in the vehicle.

"Okay if he threw something under the seat that has nothing to do with me," the driver tells the officer, who then informs him that yes, but if there is contraband in the vehicle, it is, nonetheless, in his vehicle.

The driver records himself some more throughout the video after answering the officer's questions about the fact that his name is tied to two separate active addresses. The cops tell him that this is fine, and it shouldn't cause him a problem as they have him sit tight while they wait for the canine units to arrive and sniff out his vehicle.

Towards the end of the video, one of the officers can be heard questioning the passenger before the clip ultimately cuts out.

Numerous commenters who saw the video noted how the behavior of the officers changed once the Uber driver proved he was an attorney.

"sad how so many officers don't understand the law...," one viewer remarked.

Another said, "He won’t even look at him because he knows he wrong," which was something another user pointed out as well: "came in clutch with the bar card.. the officer didn't even want to see it"

There were some who couldn't seem to believe that an attorney was also driving Uber to help make ends meet, however: "No way a lawyer is an uber driver"

However, one person wrote that they understood exactly where he was coming from: "yep bc that's how life is right now. I make $75 an hour (live in l.a.) and Still struggle sometimes"