Encounter with Las Vegas security goon ...

Las Vegas is one of the places I have no desire to visit, right up there with Walt Disney World. But to be fair, this kind of crap can happen almost anywhere these days. At least the security guy in Vegas recognized the idiocy of what he was doing.
 
I thought it was pretty good, except when he compared women drivers to terrorists. Other than that, I agree with what he said.

If you haven't already, print out Krage's page and keep a few copies in your camera bag. It may come in handy if you are ever in Las Vegas. Or New York City for that matter.
 
Yeah, I didn't like the bit about women drivers (it's a cheap shot), but in general, it's pretty much on the dot. The thing that amazes me is how people can believe that someone with a camera, out in the open, can be a terrorist. Aren't these people forgetting that someone with an eye on wreaking havoc would snap photos subrepticiously instead? Noooo... let's go for the guy with a camera, because he's the one on the warpath. Those people renting rooms, or using a cell phone camera, they're not seen and therefore don't exist.

Security logic, indeed! :)

Thanks for posting this text, Denise!
 
I once saw a woman driving a F-350 (with duallies) down a street and totally oblivious to the fact that one of the tire on the driver side dually was riding on top of the curb and unleashing a trail of dirt + rocks to the unfortunate vehicles behind her.
 
ywenz said:
I once saw a woman driving a F-350 (with duallies) down a street and totally oblivious to the fact that one of the tire on the driver side dually was riding on top of the curb and unleashing a trail of dirt + rocks to the unfortunate vehicles behind her.
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I would have a hard time listing all the stupid things I have seen male drivers do.
 
Al Patterson said:
except when he compared women drivers to terrorists. Other than that, I agree with what he said.
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I'm not sure if he intended that as an absurd example or if it was just his attitude (I know Vegas Rex casually from the LV boards and he does have some MCP tendencies, IMAO) but it makes you stop and think ...

VegasRex said:
Women drivers scare me more than terrorists. Hell, women drivers ARE terrorists in my book.
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Saying that all women drivers are dangerous is just as absurd as to say that all photographers are evildoers. (Note that I did not use the "t-word" here.) Intended or not, that is a good comparison.

Al Patterson said:
If you haven't already, print out Krage's page and keep a few copies in your camera bag. It may come in handy if you are ever in Las Vegas. Or New York City for that matter.
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Krages' site has some good information, and I even bought the book. However, taking a trip to the real world, I don't think that most security guards (or even LEOs) would respond very positively to being educated as to the fine points of law during a confrontation.
 
Politicians and the police forces are there not just to create and uphold the law, they are there to keep people confident in the structure of society. So, even though stopping or arresting a photographer is as dumb as it may sound, it provides a lot of people with a sense of security and the confidence that the fabric of their precious society is intact. That there are people who even need that security and confidence hits IMO at a deeper fear in that society, a certain lack of confidence in one's own position in this world. Now, in the case of the US, where would that lack of confidence come from? Not from a few terrorists that blow up a handful of buildings, right? Maybe, deep down quite a few people "realise" that the confidence the US show to the outside world is little more than varnish. And that there are other people who found that out and pierced right through it. Just speculating, of course.

But a truly confident society doesn't need draconian laws to keep the fabric of its society intact. The fact that so many western countries resort to such draconian laws post-911 shows (plus the many racial and religious unrest in those countries) to the rest of the world there's something wrong in the state of Denmark. We, unfortunately, haven't found out quite what is wrong and how to turn the tide yet.
 
The photographer should have called the police himself and it would had ended a lot sooner without incident...
Also knowing your First Amendment Rights is a must these days...
I do carry a copy of Krage's Photograper's Rights page and a copy of the First Amendment for anyone wanting to impose their "Security Badge Powers" upon me...
I do stand my ground only because I'm doing nothing wrong or illegal...
 
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nikon_sam said:
The photographer should have called the police himself and it would had ended a lot sooner without incident...
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That's not the way it works in Las Vegas.

LVMPD has quite the reputation of siding with casino security when they are called to intervene in a customer dispute.

It's not right, but LV is still the Wild West in some respects.
 
dmr said:
That's not the way it works in Las Vegas.

LVMPD has quite the reputation of siding with casino security when they are called to intervene in a customer dispute.

It's not right, but LV is still the Wild West in some respects.
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And now another reason I will stay away from Vegas...
Never really liked Vegas in the first place...so no big loss for me...
 
nikon_sam said:
And now another reason I will stay away from Vegas...
Never really liked Vegas in the first place...so no big loss for me...
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Yeah, I was just there...I can leave it also. Though it was neat to see the Frontier days before it was to be demolished. Has it come down?
 
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That blog writer does ramble on. If he had talked that smart assed to me I might have slugged him myself. My 'Barney Fife' buddy would swear he swung first.
Ducky
 
Try MTR subway in Hong Kong . . .

Try MTR subway in Hong Kong . . .

You will be on the newspaper tomorrow morning,
'bank manager (or your job title) caught taking photos of woman in the subway , harrassing other female passengers.'

EVEN if you did nothing, except take photos of passer-bys and everyone else.
Thanks to a few sickos, the world is on alert, hunting every other photographer.
Newspapers in Hong Kong are inaccurate, and knows how to play the defamation game.
Toter along the lines.

I still think the best option is to use Sony's T series, or Nikon's super slim digicams.
Cut a hole in a packet of drink, hid your cam inside, get all the pics you want.
I've not tried it yet.

Will do so some day :D
 
dmr said:
Krages' site has some good information, and I even bought the book. However, taking a trip to the real world, I don't think that most security guards (or even LEOs) would respond very positively to being educated as to the fine points of law during a confrontation.
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I'm just arrogant enough to do something like this when I'm confronted with an obvious idiot. And I know it WILL get me in trouble some day...

That said, most police and security I have had contact with over the years have been polite and professional. I extended them the same courtesy.
 
If the hotel security guys scare enough people with cameras it may not be all bad.
How many times have you had to stop and wait as a sidewalk was obstructed by someone standing on the curb, shooting their friends on the side away from the curb..
Nobody ever gets hassled for that. Maybe that's the way to not be hassled, even as a prospective terrorist- bring along a buddy to stand in front of the target that you are really photographing! "hey, what the heck are you doing!? -- who me? I'm just taking a picture of Steve-- Oh, ok sorry"
 
pesphoto said:
Yeah, I was just there...I can leave it also. Though it was neat to see the Frontier days before it was to be demolished. Has it come
down?
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It won't be demolished for a while.

I was actually there for some of the final hours on the final evening. Photos I took appear here:

http://www.letis.com/dmr/pics/vegas/finfront/

This was really the only time I could shoot away inside a casino with impunity. Most casinos have some restrictions on taking of photos, ranging from "just be considerate" to "no way" and everything between.

Las Vegas is one of my favorite places to visit. I've taken thousands of photos with no real hassles although I've been asked not to shoot once by casino security and warned about shooting the Monorail by another amateur photographer.

Although the casinos are no longer run by "da boys", or so they say, you are still on "their turf" so to speak, and they do not like those who don't follow their rules, many which are not written.
 
ErikFive said:
Quite fun reading. I would say that if I lived in the US I would be more afraid of the 16year old-just-hit-the-puberty drivers from high school than Soccer moms.
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You are right. Although some Soccer moms and many men are driving around yakking all day on cell phone while driving. They are dangerous.

And then there are the drunks...
 
clintock said:
How many times have you had to stop and wait as a sidewalk was obstructed by someone standing on the curb, shooting their friends on the side away from the curb..
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<bitchmode>
This is one of my pet peeves about Las Vegas. It happens elsewhere, but seems to be most virulent in Las Vegas. It's never a film shooter, it's a {d-word} shooter or cam phone shooter. They pick the most busy walking thoroughfare, often times by a choke point, then they set up their shot across the entire width and expect the world to hold still while they grab their shot of Stevie with the Bellagio in the background!

Then to make things worse, Joe and Jo public come to an abrupt halt, as if a traffic cop had blown a whistle and held his hand up. They think they are being courteous, but they are being RUDE -- to the hundreds of others trying to use the sidewalk for its intended purpose. Big chain reaction as those behind Joe and Jo run right into them making a bad situation worse!
</bitchmode>

Can't these {d-word} shooters find a clue and learn to compose without blocking traffic? Like shoot in the direction of the traffic, not against it, or is that too simple?

Yeah I know, bitch-bitch-bitch! :)
 
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