Archive for the 'Photographers’ Rights' Category
Published May 9, 2013 Hollywood , LAPD , Los Angeles , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Shawn Nee , Street photography Leave a Comment
Tags: discarted, hollywood, Los Angeles, shawn nee
Senseless
Published June 6, 2012 Hollywood , LAPD , Los Angeles , Photographers' Rights , Photography Leave a CommentTags: discarted, lapd, senseless, shawn nee, ticket
LA County Sheriffs Unlawfully Detain Photographer (again), Illegally Search his Bag
Published May 12, 2012 Above The Law , Harassment , Hollywood , LASD , Los Angeles , Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Sheriffs , Street photography 7 CommentsTags: discarted, first amendment, shawn nee
Despite having a federal lawsuit against the The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, photographer Shawn Nee, was detained yet again and had his bag searched without his consent, violating his 1st and 4th Amendment rights.
LA County Sheriff Tells Photographers Not to Photograph Them
Published January 6, 2012 LASD , Los Angeles , Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Police Harassment , Protests , Protests & Rallies 4 CommentsTags: civil rights, Constitution, first amendment, LA County Sheriffs, Los Angeles, Photographers' Rights, police abuse, Police Harassment
While waiting for OccupyLA members to arrive at the Wilshire/Normandie Metro station in Los Angeles, CA, an LA County Sheriff told two photographers not to photograph them.
At that point, a video camera was turned on to document the encounter, as the photographer defended his constitutional rights to take pictures in public.
The irony of the video is the fact, that at the beginning of the footage, the Sheriffs tell the photographers that photography is not allowed on the Metro (which is quickly rebuked by the photographer). However, five minutes into the video, the sheriff backtracks, and starts saying the opposite—so suddenly photography is allowed on the Metro?
And it is, in this case, for now, simply because the photographer knew his my rights and Metro policy and stood up to these Sheriffs.
This kind of behavior from police officers needs to stop. We can no longer allow them to continue harassing photographers exercising their constitutional rights while using the Metro.
To voice your concerns regarding this officer’s behavior, contact the LA County Sheriffs via this complaint form.
ACLU Sues LA County Sheriff’s Department on Behalf of Photographers
Published October 27, 2011 Hollywood , LASD , Los Angeles , Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Police Harassment , Shawn Nee , Street photography 3 CommentsTags: ACLU, discarted, Greggory Moore, lawsuit, Peter Bibring, Richard Gylfie, Shane Quentin, shawn nee
From LATimes.com:
ACLU of Southern California sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and several of its deputies Thursday alleging they harassed, detained and improperly searched photographers taking pictures legally in public places.
NPRO Members: We Need Your Input Regarding an Important Decision
Published October 24, 2011 Photographers' Rights , Photography Leave a Comment
The National Photographers’ Rights Organization (NPRO) is considering some important actions this week. I have sent an email to members whose emails I have, but if you have not received one and would like to be involved in the decision-making process, please email me so that I can fill you in on how to participate. We will act based on the decisions made by members who participate, so if you want to have a say, please email me.
Shawn
info [at] discarted [.] com
LA County Sheriff Harasses Photographer, Unlawfully Orders Him to Move From a Public Sidewalk
Published September 26, 2011 Harassment , LASD , Los Angeles , Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Police Harassment 13 CommentsTags: first amendment
Security Guard vs. Photographer
Published July 13, 2011 Harassment , Los Angeles , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Security Guard Harassment Leave a CommentTags: Gas Company Tower, Maguire Properties, security guard
This is an old video from 2009 that was taken down by YouTube because the guard complained that his privacy was violated. But it’s finally back on line, two years later, where it belongs since we all know that an expectation of privacy does not exist on a public sidewalk.
If any photographers are still being harassed by downtown Los Angeles security guards please document the encounter with video and let us know.
From YouTube:
A downtown Los Angeles security guard tells a photographer that he can’t photograph The Gas Company Tower from a public sidewalk without the property owner’s permission. The photographer informs the guard that that is not true.
Here’s a Question for NFTA Police Chief George Gast
Published June 9, 2011 Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Police Harassment 4 CommentsTags: Assault, Chief George Gast, NFTA, Niagara Falls, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, terroristic threats
If you haven’t seen the above video yet, you should watch it so you can get idea of what police are like in this country.
The actions of this unidentified Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority officer (the NFTA are protecting his identity) in this video are unacceptable and, more important, criminal. Any non-cop who said this to police would be charged with assault on a police officer and making terroristic threats. The person would likely receive the worst beat-down of their lives, too. On the other hand, we all know how differently the law works for police when they are caught breaking the law, and how ineffective it is to have law enforcement police themselves.
After watching the video, I sent an email to the NFTA to let them know what I thought of this officer’s criminal behavior. I received the following response from Chief George Gast:
Recently a posting was placed on YouTube of a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Police Department (NFTA-PD) police officer engaged with a member of the public who was video taping the officer. During the course of this interaction the officer made a highly inappropriate statement.
The officer involved has been disciplined for his actions and lack of respect for the public. Additionally the officer will be required to complete additional training in professionalism and dealing with the public.
The actions of this officer were not, and are not condoned, by the Chief of Police, the Command Staff of the Department, or by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. Please know that we are fully committed to having the best-trained officers in our department so that we can prevent actions like this from ever happening again.
Discipline is not good enough. This cop should be charged for his criminal behavior and fired. But the NFTA obviously believes differently and feels comfortable having this potential liability to taxpayers patrolling public streets.
So here’s my question to Chief of Police George Gast:
If an unprovoked member of the public walked up to an NFTA police officer and said he was going to break the officer’s fucking face, what would happen to that person? Would he be charged with a crime? If so, what crime would he be charged with?
Anyway, it looks the NFTA have set a sad precedent by not charging this officer. Which means from now on everybody should walk up to every NFTA officer they see on the street and tell them that they’re going to break their fucking face since apparently it’s not a crime.
Well, at least for cops it isn’t.
