Incredible! Taking a photo might get you arrested

[PurpleLady]

It's a sad testament to our police when they arrest somebody for taking pictures. As this editorial points out, why is it okay for a citizen to be photographed but not law enforcement. If the photographer is not hindering the arrest or investigation I don't see what the problem is.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2015808204_pitts04.html

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Any article that calls Rodney King a "harmless drunk" is pretty suspect to begin with. It does bring up a valid point but bullshit like that really takes away from the issue at hand.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Perhaps it's a copy write issue regarding Langley Productions?

 

[LitmusDragon]

 

[23skidoo]

It's a sad testament to our police when they arrest somebody for taking pictures. As this editorial points out, why is it okay for a citizen to be photographed but not law enforcement. If the photographer is not hindering the arrest or investigation I don't see what the problem is.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2015808204_pitts04.html

Although the laws may be in place and "the Law" have been trying to make it bad news for someone to record them doing their job (properly or improperly), I wonder if there's been any serious court challenge on this. I'm no legal expert but I can't see this holding up to a Supreme Court challenge as I'm sure the First Amendment, plus the prohibition on "unreasonable search and seizure" could be cited pretty easily, especially if said recordings were made from private property or on a public street.

Ironically, the very thing some police want banned has the potential to help them when an incident goes bad. A while ago some guy was allegedly shot dead by cops in front of a huge group of people in San Francisco. The police claimed he had a gun, and in fact somehow shot himself, and investigators asked for people to send video to them so they could confirm the cops' claims. They did:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/201...w-shooting-recovered-san-francisco-police-say

Now, I'm not commenting on that particular incident as it's a very emotional one down there, but there's an example of the public recording police action that could, in theory, help the police. Without that public input, they might not have been able to obtain the alleged gun and back up their side of the story.

Alex

 

[backstept]

part of the problem is that cops don't know the law

 

[ares93]

Well, I got arrested for putting out a bloody fire yesterday evening. Now if you can beat that, please speak up. Cause i'd love to hear it....

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I was cautioned for dialing 999 (UK version of 911) and reporting that someone was deliberately setting fire to a hedge. Apparently, it wasn't considered an urgent enough matter for the emergency services.

 

[Candlelight]

Well, I got arrested for putting out a bloody fire yesterday evening.

Do explain.

 

[ares93]

Well, I got arrested for putting out a bloody fire yesterday evening.

Do explain.

Some jerks set a couple of tires on fire just next to the garage. (third time this week btw.) And I believed someone tried to burn the garage down (again), so i grabbed an extinguisher and tried to put it out.

Long story short, the cop though i was the one who started the fire.

On a sidenote, the above happened yesterday. They set something new on fire this evening. Didn't get a good look this time. However, today I got an earful from the same guy who arrested me yesterday why I didn't do anything. Since i just stood there and watched. It I wasn't so so pissed off, I'd laugh at him. These guys wouldn't find shit if they were swimming in it.

EDIT: And they ask us why civilians patrol the neighborhood at night instead of trusting the police. Well, duh! *facepalm smiley*

 

[shivkala]

I was cautioned for dialing 999 (UK version of 911) and reporting that someone was deliberately setting fire to a hedge. Apparently, it wasn't considered an urgent enough matter for the emergency services.

Maybe you should have dialed 0118 999.......8199, 9119 725..................................................................................3

As for the original topic, I've been following a blog which has from time to time posted about this topic.

The most recent post he made about the topic, found here referenced this article on the matter from a police officer endorsing the public's right to take pictures.

Some quotes of interest:

Aren’t we known for saying, “If you’ve got nothing to hide, what are you worried about?” This same mentality should also apply to us. If we’re doing our job professionally and within the law, what’ve we got to worry about if someone’s filming us — especially if they’re doing so without getting in our way? If we decide we don’t like being filmed and take our attention away from what we’re doing, we are the ones delaying ourselves, not the person filming us. If the person is making snide comments, ignore it unless the comments are inciting a riot, but there again it will all be caught on film, right?

Should we ever expect to have a right to privacy when we’re in public? I don’t think so; cops are public employees.

The reality is, cops have very public jobs, like it or not. We’re expected to behave professionally even when faced with overwhelming challenges. The public generally knows we’ve got a tough job, but no one is forcing us to do it. Some people have an axe to grind with police tactics, there’s no changing this mindset, and they’ll do their best to catch us making mistakes, misbehaving, abusing our authority or losing control. It happens sometimes to the best of us. It’s best to admit our mistakes and take our lumps.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

part of the problem is that cops don't know the law

The other part is that cops think they are the law.

 

[Amaris]

The other other part is that cops don't know they think they are the law.
Also:

/thread

 

[Admiral Shran]

This is almost as ridiculous as the Anthony Graber case in Maryland.

In March 2010, Graber was speeding on this motorcycle and doing wheelies on I-95, while recording his stunts on a helmet-mounted video camera. He was cut off by a gray sedan and then a man dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt exited the vehicle with a gun and commanded Graber to get off the motorcycle. The man then identified himself as a Maryland State Trooper and gave him a speeding ticket. Graber gladly paid the ticket and then posted the video on YouTube.

For that, the police had Graber charged with four felonies of video taping an officer without consent, searched his home and seized his camera and four of his personal computers. All told, he faced 16 years in prison.

Thankfully, the courts eventually threw the charges out and declared that the officer had no "reasonable expectation of privacy" and that the Maryland wiretapping law was unconstitutional to begin with.

Let that be a lesson though - if you do something the police don't like, they'll go out of their way to make you regret it.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Like any group given power over the remainder of the general populace, the police in many countries often seem to exhibit the sort of behaviour that became apparent in Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment. Excesses happen, but usually the system has counterbalances in place (we hope) even if they are slow to respond.