When the Cops Push Us Around, Who Pushes Back on the Cops

[johnastovall]

"It happens every once in a while. A cop tells a journalist to move away from the scene of a news story in progress. The journalist resists and winds up getting fined or arrested.

A recent case in point: In April a TV reporter and photographer were shooting an accident on a freeway in El Paso, Texas. They had parked their vehicle in a freeway median. Traffic was flowing past them just a few feet away.

A cop told them to move on. They declined. He took them into custody"



Essay at Digital Journalist.


It raise and attempts to address this important issue:


"But what if the journalist doesn't work for the mainstream media? What about "citizen journalists" or freelancers?

Who will go to bat for their right to take pictures in a public forum? How will they defend themselves against public officials – police and politicians – who unlawfully obstruct their access to news and information?"

[BabyHopes]

I skimmed the article, but couldn't see what the arrest was for. Was it for photographing the event or for parking on the median of a freeway within feet of fast moving traffic?

[johnastovall]

Arrest video

[kenw]

this one has been flogged to near death (evidently it is still breathing).

love 'em or not, this is why we have lawyers. We are (supposedly) a nation of laws.

[BabyHopes]

The police officer was definitely excited. But maybe rightly so, considering it looked like they were parked in the fast lane! Yikes. Talk about potential hazard.

[johnastovall]

The essay points out not all of us have the deep pockets to pay those lawyers.

Did you read the essay?

johnastovall added 1 Minutes and 42 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by BabyHopes

The police officer was definitely excited. But maybe rightly so, considering it looked like they were parked in the fast lane! Yikes. Talk about potential hazard.

If you will look at the video they were in safety lane and there were many other veichles parked there.

[ChristopherCoy]

Oh I could go so many places with this one, seeing as how I'm in law enforcement and all..... Oh hell... lets go.

There are two sides to this story. After watching the video I can see where the officer may be upset about the fact that the newscrew is out there taking pics. Number one they've stopped on the INSIDE lane of oncoming traffic, not only putting themselves in danger, but also risking the safety of other drivers as well as those officials working the scene. Sorry, but a news story isn't worth lives being lost in secondary accidents. If he wants to conduct interviews, do it the right way.

I will also say that the officer did seem a little 'intense' and excited, which probably affected his judgment. However, none of us can 'monday morning quarterback' this particular event unless we were directly involved. He may have just handled a death scene directly before this accident, we dont know. In a situation like the one presented on the video, that officer is responsible for the quick clearing of the accident, as well as the safety of those in and around the scene. That is a terrible amount of stress to be put on anyone.

Could the situation have been handled differently? Yes, BY BOTH PARTIES.

In this situation if I were the officer I would have explained the safety aspect of it. If I were the news guy, I would have parked my vehicle on an access or side road and brought the subjects of the interview to a safer area such as an exit ramp, neighboring parkinglot, or a field well off the roadway. Of course this is all considering that perfect circumstances were present. I wasn't there, and I wasn't involved.

[kenw]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

The essay points out not all of us have the deep pockets to pay those lawyers.

Did you read the essay?

yes, I read the essay and found it was more than a bit of a rehash of old news and a bit of advocacy of its own. Not all lawyers charge fees up front for this (their fees come from the 'state' when the 'state' loses), and many of those advocacy groups mentioned in the article are willing to take this stuff on (PPA, ACLU, etc, etc, etc) with significantly 'deep pockets'.

Last I looked ACLU doesn't require you to be a member to represent you.

Is it an issue? Of course it is. Is it the end of The World as we Know It"? Not really.

[zebulus]

Originally Posted by ChristopherCoy

Oh I could go so many places with this one, seeing as how I'm in law enforcement and all.....

Suuuueeeyyyy, Here Piggy Piggy

Sorry, I couldnt resist.


I have almost been arrested a few times, The last time I was held by police for 45 minutes for doing a portrait session on what was apparently private property, which was the woods.

Time before that I pulled over on the side of the road to to take a picture of an abandoned house out in waller. Its the house right at the end of 1488 right before you get to 290. A constable pulled up and asked me to leave, then he follwed me for 5 miles.

I will often get grief from rent-a-cops, and I usually just tell them im not breaking the law and to get lost.

I must be a cop magnet, I seem to get at least one cop every time I shoot in public.

[HutchPhoto]

Originally Posted by ChristopherCoy

Oh I could go so many places with this one, seeing as how I'm in law enforcement and all..... Oh hell... lets go.

There are two sides to this story. After watching the video I can see where the officer may be upset about the fact that the newscrew is out there taking pics. Number one they've stopped on the INSIDE lane of oncoming traffic, not only putting themselves in danger, but also risking the safety of other drivers as well as those officials working the scene. Sorry, but a news story isn't worth lives being lost in secondary accidents. If he wants to conduct interviews, do it the right way.

I will also say that the officer did seem a little 'intense' and excited, which probably affected his judgment. However, none of us can 'monday morning quarterback' this particular event unless we were directly involved. He may have just handled a death scene directly before this accident, we dont know. In a situation like the one presented on the video, that officer is responsible for the quick clearing of the accident, as well as the safety of those in and around the scene. That is a terrible amount of stress to be put on anyone.

Could the situation have been handled differently? Yes, BY BOTH PARTIES.

In this situation if I were the officer I would have explained the safety aspect of it. If I were the news guy, I would have parked my vehicle on an access or side road and brought the subjects of the interview to a safer area such as an exit ramp, neighboring parkinglot, or a field well off the roadway. Of course this is all considering that perfect circumstances were present. I wasn't there, and I wasn't involved.

Here is what was in a photo mag.:
http://www.photographybb.com/PBB_Mag...raphyBB_16.pdf
scrole down too see this:
POLICE ARE NOT THE
Enemy of Photographers
By Jon D. Ayres



.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by ChristopherCoy

Oh I could go so many places with this one, seeing as how I'm in law enforcement and all..... Oh hell... lets go.

There are two sides to this story. After watching the video I can see where the officer may be upset about the fact that the newscrew is out there taking pics. Number one they've stopped on the INSIDE lane of oncoming traffic, not only putting themselves in danger, but also risking the safety of other drivers as well as those officials working the scene. Sorry, but a news story isn't worth lives being lost in secondary accidents. If he wants to conduct interviews, do it the right way.

I will also say that the officer did seem a little 'intense' and excited, which probably affected his judgment. However, none of us can 'monday morning quarterback' this particular event unless we were directly involved. He may have just handled a death scene directly before this accident, we dont know. In a situation like the one presented on the video, that officer is responsible for the quick clearing of the accident, as well as the safety of those in and around the scene. That is a terrible amount of stress to be put on anyone.

Could the situation have been handled differently? Yes, BY BOTH PARTIES.

In this situation if I were the officer I would have explained the safety aspect of it. If I were the news guy, I would have parked my vehicle on an access or side road and brought the subjects of the interview to a safer area such as an exit ramp, neighboring parkinglot, or a field well off the roadway. Of course this is all considering that perfect circumstances were present. I wasn't there, and I wasn't involved.

If you'll look at the video, you'll see there are many cars parked in that safety lane and they weren't being asked to move or the drivers handcuffed.

I does make one ask why was were the media representatives picked out first and the officer came over the divider barrier with such vigor?

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

If you'll look at the video, you'll see there are many cars parked in that safety lane and they weren't being asked to move or the drivers handcuffed.

Again, they may have been asked, we weren't there.

If one monkey jumps off a bridge, should the rest follow?

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by ChristopherCoy

Again, they may have been asked, we weren't there.

If one monkey jumps off a bridge, should the rest follow?

They hadn't moved in the video. The officer didn't jump the fence at them.

We have the video.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

I does make one ask why was were the media representatives picked out first and the officer came over the divider barrier with such vigor?

... and because the media are usually the ones to spout off how its their right, and they aren't doing anything wrong. The loudest squeak gets the oil...

ChristopherCoy added 1 Minutes and 56 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by johnastovall

They hadn't move in the video. We have the video and it speaks volumes...

It may, but do you know how much that video was edited before it was aired? Were you there to witness whether the officer asked the others to move or not? Were you standing at the fence, in real life, when all of this happened? If your answer is no, then you cannot properly lay blame anywhere.

[CallMeAl]

Originally Posted by zebulus

A constable pulled up and asked me to leave, then he follwed me for 5 miles.

A good portion of the time that people think they are being "followed" by the police...the police just happen to be going the same way.

However, it's also amazing that many of the people who think they are being harassed by the police, also do a lot of stupid stuff to draw the attention of the police. And yes I'm a police officer. The last two people that I've had complain of being harassed by the police...one was doing a wheelie on his motorcycle down a major thoroughfare in town and the other one was taking a piss in the middle of the Target parking lot. Gee...and I wonder why we "target" them?