ACLU sues LA sheriff over photographer harassment

It's interesting that we are almost all in agreement that the cop overstepped his bounds - agreed! However, we've moved into "everyone's picking on us". In this day in age, if you look like you're doing something unusual, you're going to get questioned. If not, then who will WE be howling at if some kind of dangerous/fatal episode happens - the cops. It will be "why didn't the DO anything?" Since most photos today are probably taken with phones, using a "real" camera can spark interest in security people. Couple that with the current pedophile mania & we have to be really careful. When I take my Bronica SQ-A or my Nikon F-4 out, they always evoke interest & sometimes fear, but when I take my Yashica 35GT out I look like a tourist & no one says anything. It is just a sign of the times & we have to deal with it. If we all had to deal with all the pressures & demands on a cop, we'd quit, mostly.
 
Maybe I'm just a push-over but I find that "assent" is a good way to deal with @$$-wholes 9 times out of 10. I'm saving my "Rosa Parks moment" for something really significant.
 
The freedom to take photographs is exceedingly significant. That is why repressive governments tend to clamp down on photography.
 
They are both behaving like assholes!! Hmmm. Is it constitutionally protected behavior to take photographs where the intention is to piss off a cop so that you can engage an attorney and file a lawsuit?? Perhaps some of you legal beagles here can edify me.:)
 
At about 1 minute into the video the policeman clearly states that it's against Metro Policy to take photographs in the Subway...Right there he was wrong...He is either ignorant of the Law OR he knows the law but was pushing his luck in thinking that this person didn't...
When caught in a lie he decided to continue with his argument and grasped at anything he could think of to intimidate this young man...
I hope this goes to court and the officer is asked under oath to state if he really knew that Photography is Allowed or if indeed he was just being a Bully...
Granted the young photographer should have just stated why he was shooting in that area, explained what it was he was interested in and been done with it...maybe that would have satisfied the officer and all would have been okay...
My feeling is that the cop was looking for an argument...
 
So we should have rights, but should refrain from exercising them. Thing is, my family members who escaped from Germany prior to WWII, and from Hungary in '56, would think that's, how shall I put this, not the way to go.
 
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so here's the scenario, at least my take on it: said photog says: "I'm gonna go **** with a cop; that's my goal. I shield it with my 1st Amendment right to take photos, but my real goal is to **** with this guy so that I can gather data to file a lawsuit." Hmmm. So, said photog bumps into Gomer Pyle who happens not to enjoy being ****ed with, especially by someone whom he knows damn well is just ****ing with him. So what follows is a bilaterally, mutually accelerating back and forth that, in the end will have asshole photog arrested by asshole cop. Wow. Now that's what we cal a "win-win" right? Passive resistance, my ass. Active stupidity and a curse be on them both LOL Photog got what he was asking for.... a lawsuit with the hope of making some bucks that his **** photography couldn't produce?
 
At the time of this video, it was legal to open carry in CA. This video shows a really neat interaction between an LEO and a citizen with respect to a Constitutional Right (such as it existed in CA at the time) and a citizen "making a point."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFzH5Oe-YL4

Moonbeam, however, has changed the dynamics. LOL :D

Oh, Moof, be sure to interview an LEO arriving to assist you in response to a 911 call you might make. You want to be sure before you engage his/her services that he/she is a "good cop." I'm sure if he/she is a "bad one," you'll send him/her on his/her way. HAHA
 
This is really a complicated issue for both sides. Here are a few, but not all, of my thoughts.

1 Both sides need to know the law.
2 The photographer, assuming he wasn't trolling for trouble, could have diffused the situation, by being polite and showing his ID if he had it on him. He could have asked a question or two that would force the officer to stop and think. "If I were up to no good, then why wouldn't I use my cell phone camera, pretending I'm making a call, instead of this big obvious camera?" "If this is a terrorist target, then why does the transit authority allow photography in the public areas?"
3. How are police supposed to know the difference between art and gathering info for terrorist activities? Even though the current type of terrorist activities hasn't been around that long, artistic photos of infrastructure (buildings, transportation etc.) is almost as old as photography. This forum is full of photos of possible terrorist targets, but you'd have to be pretty daffy to see those photos as evil rather than art.
4. Assuming the photographer was trolling for trouble, he does other photographers a disservice by behaving like the southern end of north bound mule.
 
Cops are the measure of a weak society. The more of them the weaker.

I hate that officer and hope he accidentally gets hit by a subway train.
 
It's easy to judge another individual's actions while sitting comfortably in our homes. However, it is another matter to be out there with a real live, armed bully cop in your face. It is not always easy to be clever and "smart" in those situations. It doesn't matter that the photographer could have done this or could have done that. What matters is that the photographer did nothing illegal, yet the cop harassed & threatened him, treating him as if he was a criminal. Hence the suit.
 
Field said:
Cops are the measure of a weak society. The more of them the weaker.

I hate that officer and hope he accidentally gets hit by a subway train.
Click to expand...

I don't wish harm on anyone. Cops have a tough job. I was confronted by a "bully cop" a few years ago for taking photos & I killed his demeaner with kindness. This photographer asked for it IMO.
 
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