Archive for the 'Police Harassment' Category

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Chilly Reception for English Photographers

Published January 7, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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From the Independent, this article details the increasingly fraught environment for photography in England where police, using the all-encompassing Anti-Terrorism Act, regularly harass and detain photographers who they believe to be a threat.

Reuben Powell was jailed for five hours for taking photos of a public building in London last week. (He was ultimately released, but they did take his DNA for good measure.) The article also points to the now constant problems for railroad enthusiasts and the case of Jess Hurd, which we posted on last month.

And while the police do have a clear-cut policy on how to handle public photography, the officers in the streets seem to wantonly enforce the law whichever way they please.

Jeremy Dear, the general secretary of the NUJ, said:

Even the police’s own guidance makes it clear that there’s nothing in the Terrorism Act that can be used to prohibit the taking of photos in a public place. The authorities have got to do more to ensure that those people charged with upholding the law don’t keep on contravening it by trampling over well-established civil liberties.

Article via The Independent

No Photos in Long Beach Port

Published December 30, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Security Guard Harassment 1 Comment
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cop-long-beach

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Thomas Hawk, a blogger and photographer from San Francisco, was stopped by police for shooting photos in Long Beach Harbor this past weekend. He writes about the incident here. Since he was approached two times by security, and a third time by law enforcement who told him he needed a permit to photograph the harbor, Hawk sought clarification from the Port of Long Beach. And today he posts the response, from spokesperson Art Wong.

In the [sic] Sunday night it seems that the officer thought you were trying to enter a private area and you were a commercial photographer. You, and other photographers, have a right a take pictures from public right-aways. But for your own safety, and for the security of the Port, we have asked our officers to be as vigilant as possible.

Hawk takes issue with Wong’s explanation that the officer claimed Hawk and his friend were trying to enter a restricted private area. Hawk is insistent, and has the photos to prove it, that he was on an overpass, on a public sidewalk.

This is typical of officers who err on the side of overzealous enforcement; they always claim a restricted area – totally irregardless of the law – was being breached when they’re called out.

To voice your complaints contact:

Art Wong, Assistant Director of Communications/PIO, (562) 590-4123, (562) 619-5665 (cell) or wong@polb.com

For Photojournalist, Pen a Concealed Weapon

Published December 15, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Protests 1 Comment
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Also in London, also from Dec. 10, a photojournalist named Jesse Oldershaw was stopped and searched while covering protests in front of the Greek Embassy where people had gathered in reaction to the unrest in Greece.

At 4:25 of the video, a police officer, rather preposterously, asks if Oldershaw has a knife in his back pocket. As he is being directed off to the side, Oldershaw is screaming out, “Why am I being stopped and searched by the police for a yellow pen in my bag? Everybody can see the yellow pen!” and “I’m press, why am I being stopped and searched by the police at a demonstration?”

Oldershaw continues to give a play-by-play of the incident and at one point asks the police straight out their reasoning when he is protected by law to be doing what he’s doing. They largely ignore him, but one does seem to give him a ticket.

Wedding Photographer Threat to National Security?

Published December 15, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment 4 Comments
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Jess Hurd, a photographer for the Guardian, was detained for 45 minutes by Metropolitan police Dec. 10 for taking video and stills at a Ramada Hotel in east London. Hurd was working on a story about weddings within an itinerent community known as travellers, but police felt she might be doing reconnaissance as a terrorist.

The police justified their actions by saying they are within their rights if they see suspicious activity, especially if it’s in close proximity to a sensitive sight. Apparently the Ramada was close to both the airport and a wharf. It is unclear what is suspicious about a credentialed press photographer outside a wedding reception.

The National Union of Journalists released a statement today that says, in part, “This is yet another absurd misuse of the s44 powers which are designed to allow the police to detain those actively involved in carrying out a terrorist activity not to stop press photographers carrying out their legitimate business.”

The Amateur Photograher blog says Hurd is considering legal action.

And the Chicago Tribune Is Now Onboard

Published November 20, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment Leave a Comment
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Looks like the hometown paper finally picked up the Mike Anzaldi story. Now we’ll likely see some results.

(As much as certain people decry it – i.e., politicians, cops, Fox News – when a major news outlet covers a story, it matters. It’ll be a sad day when newspapers are officially dead.)

Chicago Photographer Arrested Again – CPD on the Warpath

Published November 18, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment 53 Comments
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bond2Monique Bond, CPD Spokesperson

UPDATE: Mike Anzaldi has been cleared of all charges. Read the post here.

We checked back in with Mike Anzaldi, the freelance photojournalist who was arrested by the Chicago Police Department October 22 at a crime scene. Thinking we’d hear about the status of his arrest, we were shocked to learn he’d been arrested again – and the second offense is even more outlandish than the first!

As we posted before, Anzaldi was arrested and his equipment was confiscated, and about 500 images were deleted from his memory card, when the Chicago police decided that he wasn’t allowed to film a crime scene from a neighbor’s private property. He was charged with obstruction and resisting arrest and his status hearing is set for November 19.

On November 3, Anzaldi responded to a report of shots fired at a church. When he got there, it turned out a man had brought a plastic gun into a shelter and there was no crime after all, but Anzaldi decided to shoot a few minutes of footage just in case. As he was doing this, he was approached by an officer who told him he couldn’t stand where he was standing and then asked to see his credentials.

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This officer called his name into the dispatcher – here’s where it gets weird – and the dispatcher apparently told her to detain him. The officers on the scene were confused and clearly not in the loop, but nonetheless were following orders from above. After some back and forth with higher-ups, the officer told Anzaldi that there was some sort of problem with his ID but the computer in her car was broken, so she asked him to come to the station to clear things up. They promised it would take 15 minutes and they’d return him to his car. Anzaldi admits it was foolish of him to willingly go with them, but understand it from his point of view – it was not a crime scene, he had done nothing wrong, it was not a confrontational situation, and he never imagined anything would come of it.

Continue reading ‘Chicago Photographer Arrested Again – CPD on the Warpath’

Oakland Schools Police Chief – This Guy Works Around Kids?

Published November 14, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 8 Comments
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We’ve seen some bad videos on this site, but this one is a doozy. On the footage, Oakland School District Police Chief Art Michel berates and curses out Oakland Tribune photojournalist Jane Tyska at a protest against immigration raids on October 31. He accuses of her of hitting his patrol car with her elbow and trying to incite a riot.

Here are some of the highlights:

“You hit my car, you’re going to jail!”

“You stick to that story, so help me god, I’ll take all your equipment and take you right to jail!”

“Get in the car or I’m going to stuff you in there!”

“You’re a lying son of a bitch, you hit my car!”

This man is downright frightening, even more so since his job is as a SCHOOL police chief and he works with children. Wouldn’t you hope someone in his position would model calm, reason and maturity during a  confrontation?

And invariably, in all of these stories, there is always the commenter who says something to the effect of “Right on police!” And to that I say, really? Really? Because clearly this video shows an extreme overreaction and a scary abuse of power, regardless of whether or not a female journalist – who is obviously cooperating and repentant – hit his car with her elbow.

The Oakland Tribune published an editorial today demanding the chief’s firing. If you agree, send Interim Superintendent Roberta Mayor a note.

See the full video here.

Newark Officer: “I can do whatever I want!”

Published October 28, 2008 Assault , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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Images from WCBS-TV

A Newark police officer has been suspended after a nasty altercation with a WCBS-TV photographer on Sunday which resulted in the photographer’s arrest. Cameraman Jim Quodomine was filming a peaceful demonstration from a public sidewalk when Special Officer Brian Sharif approached Quodomine, ordered him to stop filming, then lunged at him and grabbed his camera. Sharif then put Quodomine in a choke hold and lead him to a squad car. It’s unclear why Officer Sharif felt filming the march was a problem.

On the footage, a woman’s voice can be heard saying “You can’t arrest him!” To which Officer Sharif responds, “I can do whatever I want!” That is a perfect example of the sort of unchecked egoism of certain police officers that leads to incidents like this.

Understandably, there was public outcry, with Newark Mayor Cory Booker saying he was “very dismayed about what happened.” (Mayor Booker is well known for trying to clean up the corruption and reputation of the troubled city.)

Wait, but here’s the kicker:

The officer, Brian Sharif, has been the source of controversy in the past. Last year, he made news after giving a 75-year-old woman four tickets — including one for careless driving — after she pulled out of a funeral home and accidentally went down a one-way street.

This guy not only needs anger management classes, he needs to not be on the police force.

Article via Newark Star-Ledger

Update: Arrested Photog’s Photos Recovered

Published October 24, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment 5 Comments
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Photo by Mike Anzaldi

In regards to freelance photojournalist Mike Anzaldi’s brush with the law earlier this week: Yes, he has recovered all the photos the Chicago Police Department erased from his memory card.

While journalists don’t always have their rights, they do have technology.

No Shooting Shootings, Says Chicago Police

Published October 23, 2008 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 37 Comments
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Photo by Mike Anzaldi

This kind of thing is expected in someplace like Nepal or China, but … Chicago?

Freelance photojournalist Mike Anzaldi was arrested on Tuesday by the Chicago Police Department while covering a shooting in the Englewood section of the city. He was charged with resisting and obstructing a peace officer, held for nine hours and had about 500 images deleted from his memory card.

No doubt tensions were high since an off-duty detective was involved in the shooting, but Freedom of the Press should apply at all news events, regardless. And as long as journalists abide by the law, law enforcement should too.

We asked Anzaldi for his side of the story. He frequently covers breaking news in Chicago, and when he heard about an officer-involved fatal shooting on the radio, he arrived at the scene and was shooting images and video on the property of a neighbor with about 20-25 other bystanders. The problem, he says, arrived in the form of Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Continue reading ‘No Shooting Shootings, Says Chicago Police’

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