The photo police are on the prowl

There is this belief that Public Servants do not have the same rights we do as citizens. That people can do what they want to them and they will not react.

To the converse, if they are charged with something, they can either sweep it under the carpet - like a drunk driving cop that got pulled over, or they are given the same punishments as us - again leniency is most likely served UNLESS it becomes a media circus for which most of the world seems to enjoy.

At any rate, taking someone's picture is not your right. matter of fact, you need to let that person know you will publish it, or present it to them prior to posting it.

If any really wants to know the legality you will have to check with local or state laws regarding imaging another person with out consent, and to who it applies, and the penel codes in place to really have a say so here. personally I do not have that much time to bother with another persons personal life.

Anyfoo, there is my two bits.

(some might want to read the article more btw)

Well that just puts a damper on creativity! Anyone who wanted to take a truly awesome picture would be in a place or in a point of view that isn't exactly run of the mill to get the perfect image.

Contest was should have paid for fines. Or not existed, as creative people do creative things....
If they want stock photography, they should hire a pro and pay for the freaking images.

But running a contest and then putting that huge disclaimer to get a huge amount of images basically for nothing (1k).. well that's not ethical on so many levels!

fuck the american government... they don't scare me or my EOS

Be sure to tell our selves this is un justice and bullshit we the people should not be subject to fear. We can do as we please, Cops will tell you them selves, but they supposedly always have to answer to someone. Doesn't everyone?

The one thing that pisses me off is that a cop can insult you and verbally push you around all they want.

But if you call a cop a pig you CAN get arrested, it may not go anywhere, but it can still happen.

I am fine with the idea that their are some good cops, but some of their extra-citizenry privileges should be stripped away.

I think it would be a great idea if we turn the tables and as many of us that can go out and just start taking pictures of the police. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

This is wrong on so many levels ...
Can you say, "Police State"?

Peace!
Patio Patty ©

cops dont like being recorded because it makes it harder to bullshit your way out criminal actions and mistakes. Have you ever once seen some vomit inducing piece of police brutality that some monkey on tv wont try to convince you that you just dont understand what was going on? Then they cry about how hard it is to be a cop and how the handcuffed perp that they shot in the back as he was laying on the ground was a threat and we are just too stupid to comprehend what we saw. We live in a police state where they shoot us down and the prosecutors just look away. Why shouldnt they everytime they free someone falsely imprisoned for years the prosecutor gets on tv and tells the world how they are 100% convinced that the guy is still guilty. Just one time I would like a states attorney to come out an admit that they screwed up and put the wrong man in prison.

Photography in train stations put officers jobs at risk. Look at the BART train videos in California!

Oh yes dear god dont every talk back to a cop or try to stand up for your rights. The new American way is shoot first then lawyer up with free counsel from your union.

Isn't this nice. now rentacops are now the long arm of the law and can arrest whoever they damned well please for whatever reason they please.
Why is this shit happening? Simple, it's because we are one of the biggest trading partners now with one of the most brutal and oppressive regimes in the world, China a country ruled by the most ruthless party the world has ever known, the CCP. They make the Nazi party look like choir boys and the only reason the Nazi's failed in their bid was because they were just to early for the great PR spin doctor machine. Now the CCP's influence has taken over here and they're getting away with it because we're letting them. This isn't a liberal vs conservative thing because they will jail conservatives just as quickly as liberals. Once jailed, especially prison unless you fight like a mad dog with rabies you become fodder for prison gang rapists who sell you for a pack of coffee like we buy a coke for $2. That's just the beginning. The guards are in on the game too and they won't help anyone, instead take delight in watching this sick shit.
One inmate tried to sue the guards in Texas for doing nothing as he was brutally raped time and time again only to have his case end up in court in the same local town where the prison is located. Who was the jury foreman? Another fucking guard. The bastards walked.
That isn't enough. We, as Americans seem to almost thank these fucking criminals for doing some perverse favor or service by raping young, helpless inmates and it becomes a national joke as if "Bubba and his friends" are just a bunch of benevolent guys there to look after the rest of our safety.
God help your mortal soul if you go to prison and can't fight. There is no help and no place to run.
I've never been big on gun ownership, but I'm beginning to change my tone because if police come after me for some imagined crime now i might just fight it out to the death because i would rather die on my feet than die on my knees in their sick shit prison gulag little sex shop of horrors.

It should be a civic and social duty to record the behavior of our police, bureaucrats and elected officials.

Never let your government off the hook. They MUST be held accountable to the public.

Guess what? IT'S NOT ILLEGAL to take photos in public!
Out of control powermad cops NEED to be photographed at every chance! I only wish I'd recorded the phone call I got from a Detective "investigating" (read "attempting to blackmail Me !") My reclaiming of MY dog from My Ex & Her new boy-toy... While He was on speaker-phone @ My end of the call, with a witness listening in, He can still deny what He said when & if it gets to court!

While there are some good cops out there I still think that most of them think their shit doesnt stink and enjoy pushing people around. Just like pedophiles gravitate to jobs that let them get close to children (like gym teachers or school custodians) people who get off on power trips become cops. usually the worst ones are too loony for real police departments and they end up like these guys: transit rentacops. If we spent as much effort putting bad cops in prison as we do people caught smoking pot we might get somewhere.

I'm not saying that the officers were right in this situation, they most certainly were not.
But...
The photographer could have taken steps to thwart this from happening. He should have downloaded and printed the contests rules from the website, also a photographer's rights document which is available online from legal websites.
He also should not have allowed them to detain him without question. That was a mistake. Just because an officer approaches you and says you are under arrest does not mean they can do it without telling the person why they are being arrested.
I hope he wins the suit.

Will the common American not realize he lives in a cotemporary Nazi Germany until he sees the concentration camps for himself?

When someone is detained, there must be clear statements from the enforcers as to WHY the person is being held or arrested. Anything less is a violation of rights, and telling them AFTER they are in house is not a substitute for this. Prior to detainment, one must be informed of the situation, not doing so leaves the cops or arresting officials open to official scrutiny and is a sure-fire way to get the charges to NOT stick...............
damn the man without a plan

Breaking the Law, To Enforce the Law.

Pareo Nullus

QCBUCKI,

And so ends that song of Imperial triumph over foreign tyranny which ended -

"Rule Brittania!
Brittania rules the waves!
Britons nevernevernever
shall be slaves..."

Ah, not til now.

Unbelievable

Hmm... that's quite the double standard, that is. It is illegal to photograph without consent in the presence of an officer, but paparazzi get away with it all the time. If this is to be upheld, shouldn't the paparazzi be held accountable?

abusing authority is international, it has nothing to do with where you live, its a human defect

This is typical behavior for america, isn't it?

I don't mean to sound flippant but do you expect less from america?

It seems the only people surprised by this type of stuff are the american people themselves.

I mean, really, have you been asleep for the last 8 years? You allowed this type of action to be the norm in your country. Stop acting shocked.

Lack of freedom is known to be as american as baseball and apple pie.

Again, I'm not joking. This is not surprising in the least. If you told me the story and asked me to guess what country it came from I would guess USA first, Britain second.

Lets fart on them!

What will it take before we revolt against this campaign to remove our civil rights? Its happening all around us and nobody seems to care.

Will it take the death of another child to spark a revolution here in america?

They don't want to be photographed because it might comer back to haunt them - if they shoot somebody, for instance.

Hilter succeeded in creating a state of paranoia, and Bush has succeeded in the same. But now that everybody realizes it, nobody wants to stop this insanity. The police actually like the powers they have been given. These new "powers" that allow them to make their own laws, and then falsely arrest people, and abuse them. Then it's up to the citizens to defind themselves against false charges. With the Police, you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Just like in China.

Our own Police Force have been turned into Hitlers Secret Police Force.

Stand up for your rights America. Otherwise, they will be taken away... one by one.

anyone who believes that the cops care about right and wrong has never been in that situation. To them it was personal, just like the guy that got shoved off his bike and then the cop charged the BIKER with assault. They told him to do something and he refused! At that point it didnt matter what was legal or not. That guy WILL win, but he had to spend 90 min handcuffed in a cell. (lucky it wasnt longer) ANY time you tell a cop YOU know the law better than he does, youve made it personal. and thats why the tight handcuffs. "how does that feel perry mason?" Now thats the real reason they dont want the cameras there, they can disprove the way they said it went down. But unfortunately there are never any consequences for these cops. The guy on the bike that was pushed over by the cop, could have been looking at a felony charge for assaulting a cop and got lucky that there was a vid. But what about the cop that lied, and his partner who backed up his story (lied)? Are they arrested, (for assault) or even reprimanded? Not on your life!

It's O.K. for big brother to take pictures and videos of us yet we don't have that same right. Why don't we just end it and become a police country because we aren't the land of the free anymore. They tell us what we can eat, where to smoke, how to raise our kids. It's getting to crazy. I love this country but I hate the direction we are headed.

Bunch of power-tripping assholes, what else would you expect from a bunch of metro police?

They're not trying to keep things safe, they're just cruising for a fight. I bet they were hoping he would resist so they could beat the shit out of him.

CCTV FOR EVERYONE !!!

seems like if these companies .. AMTRAK and jetBlue are going to sponsor contests encouraging customers to photograph and videotape their businesses for possible use in promotion.. offering rewards for the winner.. their own corporate law enforcers should be savvy ...

Paranoia has set in....poor guy. I can't believe they did that, and the communication is very poor between marketing and the workers of Amtrak. Don't blame the guy for writing everyone, I would too! Hope he gets to travel around the world.

Say cheese bitches! If we get busted they run us downtown and do what?!?...take our picture! If they don't like it, get a desk job!

This is nuts! They are in the public eye!!!! They should be subject to photography!