Archive for the 'Police' Category
Published February 17, 2014 discarted , Documentary Photography , Hollywood , LAPD , Los Angeles , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Shawn Nee , Street photography Leave a Comment
Tags: discarted, hollywood, Los Angeles, shawn nee
LAPD’s Canned Response to 23 Citizen Complaints
Published January 28, 2014 discarted , Harassment , Hollywood , LAPD , LAPD 44 , Los Angeles , Photography , Police , Police Harassment 1 CommentTags: Bea Girmala, Captain Cory Palka, Cory Palka, discarted, hollywood, lapd, LAPD Andrew Smith, LAPD Andy Neiman, LAPD Cory Palka, LAPD Kevin Palmer, LAPD Mike Foster, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Department, Officer Kevin Palmer, Officer Mike Foster, Rudy Vidal, shawn nee
As a concerned citizen worried about the direction that law enforcement is heading in nowadays, the next time you contact the Los Angeles Police Department with your complaints, you might want to take the response you receive with a grain of salt.
Continue reading ‘LAPD’s Canned Response to 23 Citizen Complaints’
THE GROWING ANTI-POLICE BRUTALITY MOVEMENT
Published January 23, 2014 Documentary Photography , Photography , Photojournalism , Police , Police Harassment 8 CommentsTags: Fullerton, Jay Cicinelli, Kelly Thomas, manuel ramos, murder, police brutality
The anti-police brutality movement is here. It’s not going anywhere. And as long as militarized police officers across the United States continue to brutalize and murder people with impunity, this powerful rising force will continue to grow and become stronger.
For years, I’ve been photographing anti-police brutality marches and rallies, and have witnessed the evolution of this movement. When I first started taking pictures, you wouldn’t see as many children, housewives, and grandmothers at these events as you do today. And you especially wouldn’t see these people holding signs that said, “…BLOOD is on your hands”, “I hate the police…”, or “Police: It’s a Gang”.
Nowadays though, it’s a different story. People who once supported police, no longer do, and it’s the police officers themselves who are responsible for this expanding backlash.
With the power of the internet and its ability to educate and open eyes, the American people are really starting to see how dangerous police officers are to them and their families. For instance, six of them can murder your son on camera and get away with it.
The following photos were taken at a “Justice For Kelly Thomas” rally that took place in Fullerton, CA, on January 18, 2014.
Continue reading ‘THE GROWING ANTI-POLICE BRUTALITY MOVEMENT’
LAPD Denies My Request Seeking the Number of Times Their Officers Accessed My Personal Information
Published January 21, 2014 Above The Law , Documentary Photography , Hollywood , LAPD , LAPD 44 , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Photojournalism , Police , Police Harassment , Shawn Nee , Street photography 1 CommentTags: discarted, hollywood, lapd, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Department, shawn nee
If the Los Angeles Police Department was potentially accessing your private information via a government database like the DMV, you would think that the subject of those searches would have a right to know if the information was accessed, when it was accessed, and why it was accessed. That way, the person could determine if the searches were done legally, or illegally. And whether or not, at the very least, find out if the searches violated LAPD policy.
Well, having carte blanche to this information may be true in states like Florida where there are very strong public records laws that keep government open and protect the public’s right to know. But what holds true in the Sunshine State, does not in The Golden State.
Internal LAPD Email Raises Questions
Published January 6, 2014 Hollywood , LAPD , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Photojournalism , Police , Police Harassment 1 CommentTags: Bea Girmala, discarted, LAPD Bea Girmala, LAPD Rudy Vidal, Los Angeles Police Department, Rudy Vidal, shawn nee
After reading Carlos Miller’s article yesterday regarding cops warning cops about citizens with cameras, it seemed relative to share a similar email from one of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Commanding Officers. But in order to get to that part of the timeline, I first need to clarify some things.
In June 2013, I was unlawfully arrested for photographing LAPD officers from a public street. The video was made public in August by Reason.com. LAPD was contacted by various media outlets and started commenting on what happened to me (such as here). After reading what Lt. Andy Neiman was saying, I figured that the cogs were turning internally at LAPD—that the department was trying to get all their ducks in a row in order to justify handcuffing me to a bench for taking pictures in public. So instead of sitting back and doing nothing, I began making public records requests for email communications regarding “Shawn Nee”.
I received a good amount of email communication, including Lt. Andy Neiman’s redacted email (he’s the guy who did the media interviews regarding my arrest). And from my experience, a redacted email generally means it’s inculpatory. I mean, cops always say…if you have nothing to hide…
So why redact or hide an email? What is it that you don’t want the public to see?
Besides receiving Neiman’s communications, emails between Bea Girmala and Cory Palka were also turned over. For clarification purposes, Ms. Girmala is no longer the Captain III of Hollywood Division. I was told that she was demoted/moved/given a new position/title because of all the problems that had occurred in Hollywood during 2013.
Anyhow, here is one of Ms. Girmala’s emails that caught my attention:
As you can see, someone named Mike emailed Girmala to express his concerns about my arrest and his feelings regarding abusive police behavior. Girmala’s response to this man was not included in my public records request, so I’m not sure if she ever contacted Mike. But what I found interesting, was her response to Cory Palka. Which said the following:
“Hi- plz ensure that officers are aware someone may try this again…thanks”
What did she mean by this: “…someone may try this again”
Try what again? Take pictures in public space? Photograph police? Videotape police making an illegal arrest?
I don’t know, but Girmala’s email makes it seem like that I went out on June 2 to intentionally target police that day in order to capture their unlawful behavior on video. And that other people will now try to do what I supposedly did? I can’t speak for other people’s future actions, but LAPD’s theory on what I was doing the day I was arrested is so far from reality (a fact that is based on other things besides Girmala’s email).
I also can’t say what Ms. Girmala meant in her email, but to me, her email makes it seem like that she’s more concerned about officers being caught on camera violating people’s rights and making unlawful arrests than she is with officers obeying the law and understanding constitutional rights. If I’m wrong, Ms. Girmala can contact me at any time and explain what she meant in her email. I’m sure the public would like clarification.
More importantly, and just as upsetting, is the fact that despite receiving numerous LAPD emails through my public records requests, not one single person within those emails spoke up and said,
“This is wrong. What our officers did to Mr. Nee is unlawful and we need to handle this appropriately.”
There was nothing like that — at all.
You know, instead of reading an email like the one Girmala wrote, I should’ve seen something like this:
Hi- plz ensure that officers are educated about First Amendment rights and receive proper training regarding people photographing officers performing their duties. We can’t have something like this happen again. When our officers are caught behaving unlawfully, we lose credibility and the public’s trust. The same laws we enforce on members of the public, also apply to us.
Over the next few weeks, I will be releasing various emails that I’ve obtained through my public records requests. Some of them are interesting and reveal a few things that the public doesn’t know about. So I’m glad to share them with the public.
I will also finally release my Halloween videos, which include LAPD threatening me with arrest, violating their own policies numerous times, and an undercover officer intentionally committing battery on me. Actually, it was a cheap shot; the cop came up from behind and threw his shoulder into my back while I was taking pictures and not looking at him. One of the undercover officers there that night, was in the booking hallway when I was arrested (another officer called her Palmer; I’m guessing that’s her last name). She is not the cop who hit my body though.
Besides all of that, I’ m gonna attempt to trace all of ISP addresses that visited my website since August. Any thing that I find out of the ordinary will be made public.
So stay tuned, and I appreciate the support.
An Emailer Describes his Encounter with LAPD’s Sergeant Rudy Vidal
Published December 6, 2013 Christopher Commission , LAPD , LAPD 44 , Police , Sergeant Rudy Vidal 2 CommentsTags: Christopher Commission, Christopher Commission Rudy Vidal, hollywood, lapd, LAPD 44, LAPD 44 Rudy Vidal, LAPD Rudy Vidal, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Department, Officer Rudy Vidal, Rudy Vidal, Sergeant Rudy Vidal, Sgt. Rudy Vidal
As most of you already know, I was unlawfully arrested in June by the Los Angeles Police Department for taking pictures from a public sidewalk. Sergeant Rudy Vidal, who is included in the Christopher Commission’s ‘LAPD 44‘, ordered my arrest for interference. Last week I received an email from someone describing their recent encounter with Vidal.
Apparently, “crossing on a red signal” is grounds for a trip to the police station and being chained to a bench.
Halloween 2.0.1.3
Published November 8, 2013 Hollywood , LAPD , Los Angeles , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Police Harassment , Shawn Nee , Street photography 170 CommentsTags: discarted, hollywood, Los Angeles, shawn nee
It’s just shy of a mile between Highland Ave and Vine St, and gathered in between there every October 31 is something resembling an uncontrolled, kinetic, ant-like stream of masked bodies. Individually, people seem motivated by superficial mindless thought, leading to all kinds of nonsense. Yet collectively, this mashed up organism of zombies, Walter Whites, and slutty princesses is so focused on its mission to simply reach the other end of the boulevard. Once there, the bodies turn and the process repeats itself. All night long.
If you hustle, it will take you about a half an hour to walk from end to end. Sometimes the camera never leaves your side; other times, you burn through a roll before you’re off the first block.
The last shot clicked at about 3 am.
Arrested for Photographing LAPD
Published August 7, 2013 Above The Law , Documentary Photography , Harassment , Hollywood , LAPD , LAPD 44 , Los Angeles , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Police , Police Harassment , Sergeant Rudy Vidal , Shawn Nee 13 CommentsTags: Christopher Commission, discarted, hollywood, lapd, LAPD 44, LAPD Foster, LAPD Kevin Palmer, LAPD Mike Foster, LAPD Palmer, LAPD Rudy Vidal, Los Angeles Police Department, Officer Foster, Officer Kevin Palmer, Officer Mike Foster, Officer Palmer, Photographers' Rights, Police, Sergeant Rudy Vidal, Sergeant Vidal, shawn nee
On June 2, 2013, while standing on a public sidewalk and approximately 90 ft. away, Shawn Nee was arrested for photographing officers from the Los Angeles Police Department. The officers claimed he interfered with their police investigation. Shawn was transported to the Hollywood police station, handcuffed to a bench, and escorted into an interrogation room where he was questioned by a detective. The arrest lasted approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Shawn was eventually released without charge.
National Photographer’s Rights Day is Today
Published June 1, 2013 Harassment , Hollywood , LAPD , LASD , Los Angeles County Sheriffs , Photographers' Rights , Photography , Photojournalism , Police , Police Harassment , Richard Gylfie #2955 , Street photography 4 CommentsTags: ACLU, National Photographer's Rights Day, npro
National Photographers’ Rights Day – June 1, 2008
Today is National Photographer’s Rights Day, so we hope you’re out exercising your First Amendment rights to take pictures in public like we were doing this afternoon.
As you all know, it’s completely legal to take photos in public space. Some people are catching on; some people aren’t. These things do take time, but we do believe we have had far more successes than setbacks since the creation of the National Photographers’ Rights Organization in 2008.
In the past we’ve held a gathering on this day to bring photographers of all kinds together to take pictures, share stories, educate anybody who is willing to listen, and to demonstrate that there’s nothing wrong with taking photos in public.
However, we’ve been busy over the past year or so with general life stuff, not to mention an ACLU lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff’s Department. So we have not been as active as we’d liked to have been. We’re still around though, and we do have some future photography events and trips in the works; there’s also plans to have a seminar and a photography walk with ACLU staff. So stay tuned.
And in case you forgot, here are your rights.
Charlie Beck as a Regular Cop
Published May 9, 2013 Documentary Photography , LAPD , Los Angeles , Photography , Photojournalism , Police , Protests , Protests & Rallies , Street photography 1 CommentTags: discarted, hollywood, Los Angeles, shawn nee