Archive for the 'Police Harassment' Category

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Law & Disorder at RNC

Published September 2, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Protests 1 Comment
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More rumblings from the Republican Convention: Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, was arrested in St. Paul today when she stepped in to help two of her producers who were being detained by Twin Cities police. AP photographer Matt Rourke was also arrested. They were both covering anti-war protests outside the convention.

While the crowd of more than 10,000 was mostly peaceful, there were pockets of aggressive demonstrators who vandalized windows and harassed law enforcement, which is apparently where Goodman and Rourke got caught up. The 51-year-old Goodman can be heard on the video pleading with police not to arrest her, but the cops, in full riot mode, weren’t in the mood to distinguish between journalists and protesters.

Read the Democracy Now! statement here.

Article from the AP via TwinCities.com.

Harrassing Photographers a Nonpartisan Effort

Published September 1, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Street photography Leave a Comment
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It’s not surprising that the political conventions have proved to be hostile venues for some photographers. Politicans and media types don’t always mix well.

At the Democratic Convention in Denver last week, an ABC News producer was arrested for trying to shoot film of some Democratic senators and bigwig donors leaving a private meeting at a hotel. Asa Eslocker was manhandled by the Denver police, one who couldn’t even be bothered to put down his cigar before handcuffing him. He was told by one officer that he was “lucky I didn’t knock the f–k out of you.” See footage of the arrest here.

And in Minneapolis this week at the Republican convention, three New York filmmakers from the Glass Bead Collective were detained by police for filming in the Shoreham Rail Yard. Fittingly, they were in town to document police brutality. Confiscating the trio’s belongings, including cell phones, cameras and hard drives, the police justified the search and seizure as a homeland security matter.

Also in Minneapolis, though not relating to the convention, photographer Guy Still was handcuffed and detained for taking photos of a police special operations center. Through a chain link fence, Still photographed some officers getting into a van, which triggered the requisite terrorist accusations. One officer told him he remembered “the good old days [when] we used to take people like you in a van.”

Whatever that means.

Articles via ABC News, My Fox Twin Cities and My Fox Twin Cities.

Photojournalist’s Snaps of Spill a Security Risk?

Published July 30, 2008 Photojournalism , Police Harassment Leave a Comment
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Photo by GODa

They do things differently in Texas, but in terms of photographers’ rights, they’re right in line with most states … in squashing them. Galveston County Daily News photographer Kevin M. Cox was taking photos of an oil leak at the Marathon Oil Co. when he was detained by police who questioned him for 45 minutes and asked to see his photos.

In an article in the Daily News, Cpl. Tom Robison defended the Texas City Police Department’s actions, saying it is policy to stop anyone photographing chemical plants so that police can assess what threat, if any, the photos pose to national security. Yes … but: What security risk could a photo possibly present when everything in it is visible to the naked eye from the street? (Cox’s vantage point.)

Robison said it’s not their policy to confiscate photos and they usually work nicely with the press. But they do detain news photographers — documenting news events — for 45 minutes. Go figure.

It’s that pesky constitution thing again. For all those Texans who are staunch defenders of the 2nd amendment that enables them to bear arms, well, they have to respect the 1st too.

Article via The Galveston County Daily News.

Oklahoma City Police Harass, Threaten Photog

Published July 9, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 5 Comments
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NewsOn6.com reports that prep school teacher Chris Owens has filed a complaint against the Oklahoma City police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol after being handcuffed and harassed for taking photos of a car crash scene. Officers told Owens he had to give them his film or he was going to jail.

Owens knew his rights though, and says he “quickly opened the scooter seat, dropped my camera in and locked it, and said ‘No, I won’t give it to you.'” After a heated exchange where the officer was demanding he delete the photos, one officer finally lost it, knocked Owens’ helmet off his head, handcuffed him and put him in a squad car. Which makes me wonder, what’s the big deal about photos of a car crash anyway? That has nothing to do with public security.

Owens, who says he doesn’t want anything more than an apology, asks, “Where’s the checks and balances? Who lets them run like unleashed dogs?” (But he is considering a lawsuit.)

You can send an email to Oklahoma City Police Chief William Sitty through the Public Information Office: ocpd.pio@okc.gov.

Article via NewsOn6.com.

They Do Not Mess Around in Greece

Published July 8, 2008 Assault , Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment 2 Comments
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You do not want to get caught taking unauthorized photos in Greece.

Olivier Jobard, an award-winning French photographer working for SIPA Press agency, was arrested and beaten on July 4 for taking photos of a port in the Greek town of Patras. He was working on a story about immigration and didn’t have a permit to photograph the port, which is required by Greek law, although he had been shooting the previous day – and had been stopped twice by guards and allowed to continue.

From the Reporters Without Borders release:

When Jobard was unable to produce a permit, the guard escorted him to a public toilet, pushed him inside, handcuffed him and hit him several times in the face. He then pulled out a knife, cut the strap of Jobard’s camera, threw the camera to the ground and smashed it with his foot.

Reporters Without Borders fully acknowledges Jobard’s need for a permit but condemns the use of violence. Agreed … anyone with half a brain would say it sounds excessive and unnecessary.

Jobard has filed a complaint against the police for assault and battery, meanwhile the Greek media has apparently come out against Jobard, criticizing him while only relaying the “official” (i.e., government) version of the story.

Charges Dropped In Albequerque Case

Published July 2, 2008 Assault , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 2 Comments
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KOB.com is reporting that charges were dismissed against Rick Foley, an Albequerque NBC news photographer who was arrested  by APD Officer Daniel Guzman after exchanging words at a crime scene. We posted about this story in the beginning of June — viewing the tape of the incident, most would conclude that the officer’s behavior was egregiously aggressive and an inappropriate response.

The Albequerque Journal reported today that Judge Benjamin Chavez said the charge of failure to obey an officer wasn’t viable because the citation didn’t provide sufficient information detailing the crime that took place that night.

Officer Guzman is on paid leave and his disciplinary hearing is scheduled for next week. This incident has prompted Police Chief Ray Schultz to review the way his department handles the media at crime scenes.

Sometimes things are handled correctly, and this is good development for journalists’ rights.

Via KOB.com

Spy Photographer Thwarted at Car Shoot

Published June 27, 2008 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Street photography Leave a Comment
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This is funny. I happened upon this post on motortrend.com that details the exploits of an automotive spy photographer (is that an official title?).

The guy, operating under the name Ringo Kamens, says he came across a super-secretive car photography shoot in downtown Denver, and his attempts at getting shots of the yet-to-be-released car got him in hot water with the crew. They berated him, saying they had a permit and no outside photography was allowed. Then they called over plainclothes officers who told him he wasn’t allowed to shoot on city property. He willingly left once they tried to take his camera and threatened him with arrest.

Too bad Kamens didn’t know the laws protecting his rights to shoot the shoot — permit or no, city property or no. Kamens actually had every right to take those photos.

Nobody was up in arms over this trampling of his rights though. Commenters were more concerned with guessing the make and model of the car. (Most people think it was the Audi A4 Avant.)

Article via Motor Trend. 

Read Ringo’s account of what happened here.

Cop Commandeers Camera in Coral Gables

Published June 24, 2008 Harassment , Police Harassment , Street photography 1 Comment
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Photo by sunrise954

Like the story of the photographer in Coney Island we posted on last week, here’s another incidence of a person being asked to hand over their film by law enforcement. Momoko Sudo was taking nature photos in her Coral Gables, FL, neighborhood when she snapped one of a police motorcycle. The officer, who Sudo says was abusive and confrontational, demanded to see her camera, deleted all her pictures and threw her memory card on the ground.

She thinks the officer was not only suspicious that she was a foreigner taking photos but put off by her outfit (a large sunhat and bandanna with Japanese writing) and the fact that her camera settings were in Japanese.

It’s unfortunate Sudo didn’t get the officer’s name or badge number because he seems completely unprofessional and inappropriate. Assuredly this is not the policy of the Coral Gables Police Department (Franklin of Artblog.net has a letter in to them to make sure). But it’s just another reminder that no one, in pretty much any circumstance, has the right to ask for your film or your camera.

Article from Artblog.net via Carlos Miller

Charges Dropped for Nose Bump

Published June 19, 2008 Assault , Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment Leave a Comment
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Photo by discarted

UPDATE: Charges were dropped today against Tony Overman, the Olympian photographer who was arrested for bumping a cop with his nose during a heated back-and-forth at a crime scene.

 

It seems that cooler heads thankfully prevailed, but of course there were commenters on the Olympian site who didn’t agree. One in particular said: “This kind of lawlessness is what drives investors out of our fair city.”

 

Lawlessness is WAY overstating things. Did this person even read the original story? In no way was there anything close to lawlessness going on.

 

Talk about hyperbole! This was a case of two tempers that got out of hand and they both probably acted out of line, but to call Overman a “rioter” or say this constituted an “assault on an officer” is so off base.

 

There is actually real crime out there that needs addressing. Tying up the court system with a case like this would have been a gross waste of taxpayer dollars.

 

Article from The Olympian. 

A Sticky Situation in Coney Island

Published June 12, 2008 Harassment , Police Harassment , Street photography 1 Comment
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A diver jumps off the pier at Coney Island
Photo by Simon Lund

From an interesting article in the Village Voice, commercial photographer Simon Lund was taking photos in Coney Island over Memorial Day weekend when he was forced to give up his film.

It all started when he unknowingly (if at all) took a photo of a woman’s young son. She became angry and demanded he erase the picture. (Which makes me think the kid was in the witness protection program, but that’s neither here nor there.) Lund explained he couldn’t because he was shooting film, so she involved the cops, who intimidated Lund into handing over his film.

Lund knew he wasn’t in the wrong, and it’s easy to say now, “Why didn’t he just walk away?!” But when a woman and her irate family are yelling at you and you’re surrounded by a group of NYPD — one of which says, “You’ve got to give up your film, or things are going to get much worse for you” — you might not be thinking crystal clearly.

In the article, Christopher Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union, says: “Police officers are not allowed to look at images without consent of the photographer, and they have no authority to order someone to let them look at their pictures or to confiscate their film.”

If only Lund could have reminded them of that.

To give Deputy Inspector Robert Johnson and the 60th Precinct (which oversees Coney Island) your thoughts, call 718-946-3311.

Article via Village Voice.

See some of Simon Lund’s Coney Island photos here.

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