Mar 29 2009
Trailer for upcoming film “Captured”
This film captures the lower East Side of New York City, and challenges the police state when it comes to exercising the right to free speech.
Archive for the 'Photographers Rights' Category
Mar 29 2009
Why cops fear cameras
March 25th, 2009 · 12 Comments
By Carlos Miller
The headline in today’s New York Times’ article sums up perfectly why so many cops feel threatened by photographers: When Evidence From Surveillance Cameras Leads to Charges Against Officers.
The article highlights several cases where police officers ended up facing criminal charges for lies exposed on video cameras, either though surveillance cameras or citizen videos. A couple of the incidents have been reported on this blog.
Mar 29 2009
When Evidence From Surveillance Cameras Leads to Charges Against Officers
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: March 25, 2009
Surveillance cameras have captured the faces of criminal suspects in banks, in elevators and on street corners. But they have also surfaced in an unexpected law enforcement role: as evidence against police officers accused of misconduct or of lying on the witness stand.
The latest such case emerged on Monday, when a New York City detective, Debra Eager, 41, was indicted on three felony perjury charges after her testimony before a grand jury about a 2007 drug arrest “starkly contradicted” video surveillance of the event, according to Robert T. Johnson, the Bronx district attorney.
Detective Eager pleaded not guilty to the charges, said her lawyer, Peter E. Brill, who pointed out that she had 15 years’ experience on the force and no disciplinary history. He explained the discrepancies between her testimony and the video as honest mistakes.
Feb 18 2009
Striking back – cop loses paycheck in bet that taking pictures in public is LEGAL!
No Photo Ban in Subways, Yet an Arrest
By JIM DWYER
Published: February 17, 2009
In the map of New York’s most forsaken places, it would be hard to top the Freeman Street stop on the No. 2 line in the Bronx, late on a February afternoon. Around 4:30 last Thursday, Robert Taylor stood on the station’s elevated platform, taking a picture of a train.
“A few buildings in place,” he noted. “Nice little cloud cover overhead. I usually use them as wallpaper on my computer.”
Finished with his camera, Mr. Taylor, 30, was about to board the train when a police officer called to him. He stepped back from the train.
“The cop wanted my ID, and I showed it to him,” Mr. Taylor said. “He told me I couldn’t take the pictures. I told him that’s not true, that the rules permitted it. He said I was wrong. I said, ‘I’m willing to bet your paycheck.’ ”
Mr. Taylor was right. The officer was enforcing a nonexistent rule. And if recent experience is any guide, one paycheck won’t come close to covering what a wrongful arrest in this kind of case could cost the taxpayers.
Feb 16 2009
Londoners: rally today at Scotland Yard 11AM to preserve the right to photograph!
Londoners: rally today at Scotland Yard 11AM to preserve the right to photograph!
POSTED BY CORY DOCTOROW, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 10:07 PM
Just a reminder for you Londoners: the National Union of Journalists and the British Journal of Photographers are having a photo-in today at Scotland Yard, a demonstration against the outrageous new law that can put you in jail for ten years for taking a photo of a police officer “a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”
We’ll be gathering at Scotland Yard today at 11AM, cameras in hand, to make the point: Nineteen Eighty-Four was not a manual for statecraft.
Jan 28 2009
Do police have the right to confiscate your camera?
Do police have the right to confiscate your camera?
January 21st, 2009
By Carlos Miller
Seconds after BART police officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant, police immediately began confiscating cell phones containing videos that have yet to see the light of day.
In fact, the only videos that have been seen by the public were filmed by people who managed to leave the scene before police confronted them.
In one instance, police chased after Karina Vargas after she stepped on the train, banging on the window after the doors closed and demanding her to turn over the camera. The train sped away with Vargas still holding her camera.
Her video, which did not show the actual shooting but captured the turmoil before and after, was one of the first to pop up on the internet. And soon after more videos popped up showing the actual shooting.
In the most vivid video, the train doors can be seen closing seconds after the shooting as the train speeds away.
Jan 04 2009
In todays fearful society, it seems many in law enforcement are taking steps too far
Metro (DC) Hypes False Fears Over Photographers
Metro has begun to hype false fears over photography, despite the system’s own regulations allowing camera use in the system.
As a result, they get owned:
Norton Schools Union Station Management on Photo Rights, Other Issues
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) used her perch as chair of a House Transportation subcommittee today to blast management for Washington DC’s Union Station over their treatment of photographers, and LightboxDC was on the scene.
The hearings were sparked in part by harassment of photographers at the historic train station, and led to an hours-long grilling of station management regarding inconsistent policies on photography and a raft of other issues.
This pretty much started it all:
Union Station Photo Flap
Last Edited: Monday, 02 Jun 2008, 8:30 PM EDT
Created: Friday, 30 May 2008, 6:28 PM EDT
Tom Fitzgerald Reports
D.C. is a hotbed for beautiful photography. But one place where taking pictures is frowned upon is Union Station. Fox 5’s Tom Fitzgerald investigates why security is telling people to turn off their cameras.