Despite LAPD officers, Kevin Foster and Michael Palmer, arresting me for taking this picture and claiming I “interfered” with their investigation, Algennon and his wife (the people on the balcony) weren’t arrested for “interference” when they recorded my arrest from the same distance.
For the past 3-5 years, I’ve documented Hollywood Blvd on Halloween night. The work can be viewed here, here, and here. So of course I’ll be doing the same again this year.
But to help remind the Los Angeles Police Department that I have a right to stand in public space and document police activity without the threat of arrest, or any other kind of interference, I’m finally publishing last year’s videos of their officers doing the following to me:
HARASSING ME
THREATENING ME WITH ARREST
TARGETING ME BECAUSE OF A CAMERA
INTENTIONALLY USING THEIR HANDS TO BLOCK MY CAMERA
INTENTIONALLY USING A FLASHLIGHT TO BLIND MY CAMERA
COMMITTING BATTERY
After watching the following videos, please use twitter to let LAPD know how you feel about their actions.
They can be reached at the following Twitter accounts: @LAPDhq, @911LAPD, @LAPDhollywood, @LAPDHDQTRS and @LAPDChiefBeck
LAPD officer gestures and mumbles not to take pictures:
LAPD officer Kevin Palmer #2204 walks by me, turns around, and stands behind me:
LAPD officers harass and threaten me with arrest while other people without cameras are allowed to move freely. Sergeant Martin #33768 arrives to defend status quo:
LAPD officers intentionally use their hands to block my camera, violating my rights as well as LAPD’s internal policies. Two of the officers claim they didn’t violate anything:
A couple of LAPD “heroes” power-trip because I wasn’t standing where they wanted me to stand while waiting to cross the street. One of them actually says, “Did you just cross my yellow tape?” Last time I checked, the tape belongs to myself and taxpayers. The mindset of today’s cop (sigh):
LAPD officer #18908 tells me not to take pictures and intentionally uses his flashlight to blind my camera multiple times. Meanwhile, an undercover cop cheap shots me from behind by slamming his body into me. Like a coward, he quietly slithers back into the crowd as though he never committed the crime of battery against me:
Historically speaking, my videos clearly show that LAPD officers weren’t recognizing my rights to freely observe and document police activity. One officer (whom I feel is the most professional officer in Hollywood) admits that “new officers” just don’t know.
So is LAPD’s tendency to violate my rights a training issue? An officer issue? Or a cultural issue?
Here’s one more from 2012 (which is not the only video from that year showing LAPD harassing me for taking pictures):
“Interfering with a police investigation.”
That moment before your rights are violated & you’re unlawfully arrested
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’
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.
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.
