Archive Page 95

UK School Bans Photography

Published June 23, 2009 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo by discarted

Has fear of photography gone too far? Officially, yes.

Last week a primary school in Devon in England prohibited parents from taking photos or videos at school events. The school cited concerns in child protection and image legislation, namely the Data Protection Act.

Thankfully, the country’s privacy watchdog has stepped in and told schools they are wrong to interpret the law this way. He suggested taking a “common sense approach,” which, come to think of it, would be nice way to approach life in general.

Articles via The Telegraph and The Daily Mail

Protestors Arrested for Questions, Photos

Published June 23, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Protests Leave a Comment
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The Guardian posts this interesting video about two women, Emily Apple and Val Swain, who were arrested during an environmental protest in England last year. The women were both members of Fit Watch, a group that documents police harassment and surveillance of protesters, so it’s extremely ironic that they were singled out. Obvious yes, but also just ridiculous that the police wouldn’t think better of it.

Arrested for obstruction, Apple and Swain ultimately spent four days in jail, and then all charges were dropped. As the footage shows – shot by the police – the women weren’t doing more than asking  for badge numbers and taking photos. An investigation is now pending.

The treatment they received, both of them mothers and hardly threatening, really highlights how scary law enforcement’s abuse of authority can be. (Be sure to watch how four officers bind Swain’s ankles, thighs and hands and lift her into a van.)

Video via The Guardian

Watchdog Says UK Police Better Watch It

Published June 19, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 1 Comment
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Photo by cloudy images

In a heartwarming development, England’s terror legislation watchdog has warned police that they should stop abusing anti-terrorism laws by criminalizing photography of the police. Further, Lord Carlile said in his annual report that officers who do this could face possible criminal and disciplinary prosecution. 

This strikes a major blow to English police who have used the powers accorded them under Section 58A of the Counter-Terrorism Act to their great benefit, harassing, detaining and roughing up photographers however they saw fit. 

In his report, Carlile wrote: 

It should be emphasised that photography of the police by the media or amateurs remains as legitimate as before, unless the photograph is likely to be of use to a terrorist. This is a high bar. It is inexcusable for police officers ever to use this provision to interfere with the rights of individuals to take photographs. The police must adjust to the undoubted fact that the scrutiny of them by members of the public is at least proportional to any increase in police powers – given the ubiquity of photograph and video enabled mobile phones.

It is interesting he acknowledged the ubiquity of photography, as we’ve long thought law enforcement agencies have been slow to recognize that their days of unchecked authority are coming to an end.

Article via Daily Mail

Officer Doesn’t Like Photograph of Misdeed

Published June 18, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 3 Comments
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Photo by Terence Eden

We’ve heard how hostile those UK police are to photography, and  blogger Terence Eden found that out firsthand. Eden writes on his blog that he took a photo of a police van parked in a disabled bay – or handicapped space for us Americans – and was approached by an officer who wanted to know what he was doing. The officer explained she was there to respond to a call, which Eden accepted, but then she asked to delete his photo. Eden writes:

I asked her why she wanted the photo to be deleted, she told me that “in the current climate” the police had been asked to stop people from taking photos of sensitive buildings and of the police.

He told her that wasn’t the case. She wanted to take down his information. There was some  more back and forth. They resolved the matter amicably without any photos being deleted.

My guess would be that she didn’t want any proof of her transgression. Legitimate call or not, it still looks bad for the police to be taking a handicapped spot. I don’t know about in England, but here in the US there are loads of other illegal parking spots an officer could park in in a hurry and still not take up a handicap spot. (But that’s just conjecture on my part.)

At any rate, there is one thing I disagree with in Eden’s post: He advises uploading important photos as soon as possible (which may not always be possible in a confrontation, but okay), and he says if you’re asked to delete photos it may be worth it to comply since they can be recovered later.  Actually, deleting photos from your camera when there is no law on the books backing that up is just  foolish. That’s giving in, admitting guilt, relinquishing power and saying you were in the wrong and your private property isn’t yours and you’re fine with being bullied. I don’t recommend that at all.

Read the whole post at Terence Eden’s blog here.

Selective Outrage for Journalist Arrests

Published June 10, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 2 Comments
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I feel for the Current TV journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, that are being held in North Korea right now for illegally entering the country. They’ve been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, and they must be scared to death. But journalists get arrested and convicted all over the world, and right here in the US – all the time.

Reporter Diane Bukowski was just fined $4,000 and sentenced to 200 hours of community service for doing her job in Detroit. Photojournalist Mike Anzaldi was arrested twice – and put in jail – for doing his job in Chicago. Democracy Now! host Amy Goldman was arrested at the Democratic National Convention in Minneapolis. The list goes on.

So why does this story provoke such outrage? A big part of it I’m sure is because one of the journalists is the sister of TV personality Lisa Ling. But the other side of it is that we like to act high and mighty and righteous, as if our country is so much more evolved that we’d never trample on the rights of a member of the press. It also doesn’t hurt that the offending country is much-hated, nuke-loving North Korea, one-third of the famed axis of evil. Implicitly we’re saying “What barbarians, those North Koreans!”, but the fact that most mainstream media outlets don’t cover these domestic incidents says a lot about us too.

NPRO Rally: Free State vs. Police State

Published June 9, 2009 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment , Protests , Rally , Security Guard Harassment Leave a Comment
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Here’s the second installment of a series of our NPRO Rally videos that will be posted throughout the week, culminating on Friday with a recap of the whole weekend rally. 

As you see, this encounter at the Port of Long Beach was drama-free. The Harbor Patrol were friendly and civil and took the appropriate tone, as opposed to many law enforcement officers who see a camera and immediately get suspicious, aggressive and condescending. The main officer seen here is probably an amiable guy in general, but I think he was also playing the game differently, being funny and congenial and conciliatory in order to get the same information they all want – names, addresses, social security numbers. I called him on this and he played it off like I was crazy to even suggest a thing – who me?! He must have thought he was being pretty clever asking where we were parked (“Do you guys have a car or something?”), assuming he would ID us through our license plates. He knew that when you’re not breaking any laws you can refuse to identify yourself – as we did.

So, it was fine enough, but a few things still bothered me. 1) The call the refinery security guard put out after speaking with us was that it was a physical altercation, and that’s just a complete fabrication. How did this conversation get blown into a physical altercation, necessitating the need for four patrol cars? And 2) The female officer at the end of the video said we should have informed them of our plans to shoot at the port, framing it as a “common courtesy.” 

Yes, sure. We could also notify the police when we’re going grocery shopping and jogging in the park. That’s what you do in a police state.

Aerial Photography Tool for Terror – or Paranoia?

Published June 9, 2009 Photographers' Rights 1 Comment
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US Bank Tower, Downtown Los Angeles, via Google Maps

Aerial photography and Google maps have become a flash point for people who need a tangible target for their terrorism-related paranoia and fear. In March, we posted on Joel Anderson, the California State Assemblyman who is trying to get a law on the books that would blur out images of medical facilities, schools and government institutions in online mapping tools. Now, there’s another outspoken critic to add to the mix.

CNN.com reports that Pennsylvania piano tuner Scott Portzline is lobbying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Homeland Security Secretary for the same cause. Portzline has apparently spent a lot of time figuring out how he’d attack a nuclear plant, so he thinks it’s fairly easy to do with information gathered on the internet. From the article:

“What we’re seeing here is a guard shack,” Portzline said, pointing to a rooftop structure. “This is a communications device for the nuclear plant.”

He added, “This particular building is the air intake for the control room. And there’s some nasty thing you could do to disable the people in the control room. So this type of information should not be available. I look at this and just say, ‘Wow.’ “

Interestingly, operators of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant that is close to Portzline’s home aren’t as worried as he is: “Our security programs are designed and tested to defend against (an attacker) that has insider information — even more information then is available on the Internet,” said Ralph DeSantis, spokesman for AmerGen, which operates the plant. “In addition to that, our physical security is constantly changing… so what you see one day won’t be the same as the next day.”

As noted security consultant and hysteria debunker, Bruce Schneier (read Refuse to be Terrorized), writes on his blog in response to this story:

Yes, and the same technology that allows people to call their friends can be used by terrorists to choose targets and plan attacks. And the same technology that allows people to commute to work can be used by terrorists to plan and execute attacks. And the same technology that allows you to read this blog post…repeat until tired.

Article via CNN.com

Read Bruce Schneier’s “Fear of Aerial Images” here.

Port Security: “I Don’t Care About the Law”

Published June 8, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment 13 Comments
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The NPRO weekend rally started off Saturday evening in the Port of Long Beach – not only an amazing landscape for photos, but a place known to regularly trample on photographers’ civil rights. So we were shooting for about five minutes when a security guard drove up and immediately yelled out, “You can’t take pictures of the refinery!” When pressed why not, she was clearly stumped. There was some back and forth. Eventually she said, “I don’t care about the law…I care about me doing my job working for that refinery.”

After an exasperated “Fine, whatever,” she left and apparently called Harbor Patrol. Four units arrived on the scene, saying they’d been told there was a physical altercation. You can watch the video; how is that defined as a physical altercation? (More on the Harbor Patrol encounter to be posted later.)

Now, truth be told, this security guard tried very hard to ultimately keep it civil – and she’s just doing her job, granted – but this video is a perfect example of how woefully untrained security personnel are. Instead of having any laws, or even company policy, to bolster her argument, she’s just regurgitating a very vague rule handed down by higher-ups.

Doesn’t the refinery owe it to their employees to give them more training? What if there were actual terrorists out there? You can’t tell me they’re legitimately worried about terrorism if this is how they’re protecting themselves.

Photographers Effect Change at US Bank Tower

Published June 7, 2009 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment , Street photography 10 Comments
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NPRO Creates Change at US Bank Tower

In January a small group of photographers went to shoot photos in downtown Los Angeles and at the US Bank Tower, a building notorious for its aggressive, overzealous security staff. At the time, we were threatened and bullied by six security personnel – and told by Patrick Silver, the supervisor on duty, that we were on a private sidewalk (we weren’t) and he was going to call the police (he was bluffing). It was an unpleasant encounter, not to mention a certain violation of our rights. (See the video here.)

This time though, someone higher up in the food chain had clearly reviewed their policy. During the NPRO Photographers’ Rights Rally today, we stopped at the Bank Tower, and after about 10 minutes of freely shooting, a friendly guard came out to tell us we were allowed to continue but he had to give us the above notecard. 

So, it seems, the questions, posts, calls and letters may have indeed been effective in changing the way UPS patrols its buildings. Interesting how that works.

Stay tuned for more videos and updates throughout the week of this year’s NPRO weekend  rally.

Photographers’ Rights Rally Weekend 2009

Published June 3, 2009 Harassment , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism , Police Harassment , Protests , Rally , Security Guard Harassment 7 Comments
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It’s been a year since we held our first National Photographers’ Rights Organization (NPRO) rally in Los Angeles, and a lot has happened since then. Over the past 12 months, hundreds of us have been harassed by security guards and law enforcement for practicing a perfectly legal activity while in public. Some of us have even witnessed or personally experienced an unlawful arrest by an out-of-control cop. But with the help of our cameras, the grassroots mobilization of the internet and our lobbying of companies and public officials, we have stood up to this abuse and forced change.

For instance, Amtrak finally released a policy on photography and the NYPD’s leaked policy document says to stop the harassment of photographers shooting in public. So in order to progress even further, promote even more awareness and stand up for our rights, NPRO is holding a Photographers’ Rights Rally Weekend this year that will kick off in the Los Angeles Harbor/Port of Long Beach on Saturday June 6th, and end on June 7th in Downtown Los Angeles.

Before attending this event, it is important that we all educate ourselves about the law and photography. To learn the essentials it’s best to start with Bert Krages’ ubiquitous “The Photographer’s Right.” Read it. Memorize it. Print it. The knowledge you obtain from this document will help protect yourself when confronted by law enforcement or security staff when taking pictures in public.

You can also check out the numerous links in section 9 of this blog’s sidebar, which provide you with even more information regarding the law and photography.

Most importantly though, no matter what we are told by law enforcement, California Wiretapping Law legally permits us to secretly record police, or anybody for that matter, when they are in public and there is no expectation of privacy. We do not need a cop’s acknowledgment or permission to record their threats.

It’s extremely important that we bring video cameras and/or audio recording devices to document the unlawful actions of  cops and security guards.

So put on your rally lens caps and clear your schedules for the first weekend in June.

NPRO Rally – Saturday, June 6th
Location: Los Angeles Harbor/Port of Long Beach
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Directions From Downtown Los Angeles: 110 S to Anaheim St Exit, Turn Left on Figueroa Place, Turn Left on W Anaheim St, W Anaheim St Turns Into E Anaheim St, End At N Henry Ford Ave, Park On Street
Directions From the 405 N/S: Exit 33B S Wilmington Ave, Travel West on S Wilmington Ave, Take First Left at E 223rd St, Right on S Alameda St, Continue on S Alameda St, Veer Left on to N Henry Ford Ave, End at Intersection of E Anaheim St and N Henry Ford Ave, Park on Street

 

NPRO Rally – Sunday, June 7th
Location: Pershing Square, Corner of S. Hill St. & W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Time: 11:30 a.m.

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