Another arrest of a photog

[andyz]

News photographer arrested on Long Island for videotaping police | Poynter.

As an ex MP I am happy and more than willing to support the police. But the story this video tells is that this cop wants to operate under his own rules and potentially without accountability to the public. There is indirect accountability here, and the photog wasn't impeding any investigation. From what I could see, there wasn't much to see but general "police were investigating..." footage.

"Arrested, but dropping the charges" is becoming all to common and a way to get what the police officer wants. I hope the City, and the officer, pay some price for these types of actions.

[Todd Lambert]

Yep, exactly. They can arrest with impunity - knowing that they'll get their way, no matter what.

I really hope that this trend gets stopped by large lawsuits and/or disciplinary action on the officers involved. They need to learn that we do not live in a police state and they cannot act like this.

[tomdrink]

The sad part is there are people who think the officer did no wrong! They will say the photographer should obey the officer, unequivocally, even though he was well within his rights!
The officer should be punished for what he did to a citizen who was doing absolutely nothing illegal (as far as we can tell from the video).
Just my opinion.
TomD

[lhdvies]

Wow-power hungry egos are a dangerous thing! Seems that staying back out of the way should have been enough, unless of course the cop had something illegal in mind!

[andyz]

It is a stark contrast to video posted a few weeks ago where the cop does a field interview with the man openly carrying a pistol.

[crbeveri]

i'll admit that there are a lot of cops (rookies) out there that have this mind set but coming from a family of cops (2 brothers and father) I will do as the officer says and then make my case later. There are often reason a cop might ask for you to stop filming or taking pictures of a scene exp if the victims have asked for them to keep press back.

I don't know the full details here but I will say I am sick and tired of seeing the media projects cops as the bad guys. You try taking down a 6'+ man dopped up on PCP with out using force... All yall who say cops need to but out and let people live their life are the same ones that go crying to them wishing they were there when they are the victims.

This is a touchy subject but the media puts so much spin on things that the actual facts and events are very rarely presented how they happened. If the true story wont sell then it's spun a way that will make it sell.

[andyz]

The photog was following the instructions as to moving and getting away. WHat the cop wanted no video. Why? He didn't explain why and honestly doesn't have to. But simply eliminating the press from what the public could see isn't right. Cops make mistakes, but this one seemed to just want his way. Yes, there are unknowns. But IMHO it doesn't look good for the cop.

Many years ago I was pulled over for speeding. It was early on a Sunday morning. Clear, dry, no traffic, daylight. I was pulled over for doing 40 in a 30. I explained that this was a 40MPH zone and the cop said I'd have to prove it. Well, there was another 40MPH sign not 20 yards in front of my car. They had recently bumped this road from 30 to 40. I was fine with that, until the cop said "he'd let me go this time." That really made me mad. He let me go because I was driving the limit. I chalked it up to a poor choice of words. But I still remember it.

[Todd Lambert]

True story or not... I've had many instances of bad run-ins with cops who had superiority complexes. I too, have a brother cop and all of my friends from high school became cops... but they'd be the first to tell you, that there are many, many officers out there who do not know the law, do not care about the law and most importantly, do not make for good examples of law enforcement.

I must watch different channels than you, because I rarely see the media projecting the cops as bad guys. In fact, it's just the opposite. There is constant praise, many pieces put together about cops down in the line of duty, etc...

The only time the media portrays cops as bad guys is when they are actually bad guys! Beating people, having sex with underage girls in their cars, drunk driving themselves, etc.. Watch the Dallas news here, where we've had a our fair share of bad stories with the local DPD. But you know what, 95+% of the stories are completely warranted. There are some awful cops on the force here who are living way out of line. They are indeed held to a lesser degree of the same laws that everyone else is held to. (driven home drunk, instead of arrested - let off for speeding, etc..)

Yes, it is a touchy subject, but it of utmost importance that these stories be told. If they aren't told, then you endanger freedom itself. Most cops have no problem with being watched. It's just like normal criminals vs law-abiding citizens. The law-abiding citizens don't have anything to hide, so they don't mind adhering to laws. The criminals don't. Same thing with cops. The good cops don't care about being filmed or taped. Only the ones who are doing something wrong, or have a predisposition to things wrong.

[crbeveri]

Originally Posted by Todd Lambert

True story or not... I've had many instances of bad run-ins with cops who had superiority complexes. I too, have a brother cop and all of my friends from high school became cops... but they'd be the first to tell you, that there are many, many officers out there who do not know the law, do not care about the law and most importantly, do not make for good examples of law enforcement.

I must watch different channels than you, because I rarely see the media projecting the cops as bad guys. In fact, it's just the opposite. There is constant praise, many pieces put together about cops down in the line of duty, etc...

The only time the media portrays cops as bad guys is when they are actually bad guys! Beating people, having sex with underage girls in their cars, drunk driving themselves, etc.. Watch the Dallas news here, where we've had a our fair share of bad stories with the local DPD. But you know what, 95+% of the stories are completely warranted. There are some awful cops on the force here who are living way out of line. They are indeed held to a lesser degree of the same laws that everyone else is held to. (driven home drunk, instead of arrested - let off for speeding, etc..)

Yes, it is a touchy subject, but it of utmost importance that these stories be told. If they aren't told, then you endanger freedom itself. Most cops have no problem with being watched. It's just like normal criminals vs law-abiding citizens. The law-abiding citizens don't have anything to hide, so they don't mind adhering to laws. The criminals don't. Same thing with cops. The good cops don't care about being filmed or taped. Only the ones who are doing something wrong, or have a predisposition to things wrong.

I never disagreed that there is a major number of people coming up today and going through the academies and have no idea what it means to be a cop. And no if you look I live in Houston not Dallas so I wold suspect that we do not watch the same channels. And I can say with fact that HPD has some crooked cops and are pathetic when it comes to getting a job done.

I don't disagree that there are some dirty rotten cops out there because there are. But I also know that there are a lot of people out there that film cops and send their footage with a spin on it to make the cops look like the bad guy. I'll be honest with you... if someone broke into my house, car, whatever I would beat the crap out of them too. you say cops beating people... hell if you are gonna resist the arrest then a whack across the head could do some good. They don't tell you that... they don't say the criminal fought the cops for XX time so ya the cop hit him.

and in the case of here there is a quote from the arresting cops department saying they will look into it.

I also find it interesting that the film says it is raw with no edits yet to add that bit to the start means it's been edited.

[Todd Lambert]

Okay, I think we agree for the most part. However, I will stress that the issue is not with the filming of cops, but the outcome of what happens with these films.

It sounds like that's the issue you have with this.

I just don't think impeding people from filming cops is the right thing to do. It keeps cops in check, which is needed.

The problem really lies with what is done with the tapes afterwards. Yes, anyone can film something, cut it up to look worse than it is and then submit it to the media. It is the media's job to do due diligence and verify a story. But then, there is very little journalistic integrity nowadays, which is a whole separate topic, in my mind.

[carrbowl]

Doesn't the media spin everything? It seems like we never hear the entire story...they always seem to give us their opinion.

[tomdrink]

Charges officially dropped:
Criminal Charges Formally Dropped Against New York Cameraman - FoxNews.com