This Is The Police: Put Down Your Camera

Over at NPR you can find yet another story about people being arrested for filming or photographing law enforcement officers in the line of duty. The NPR reporter takes a typically mamby-pamby stance in the end. The point that many police officers - and the reporter - seem not to get is that they are public employees performing a public function in a democracy. And the talking head from the Fraternal Order of Police does nothing for the cause by describing how police officers have to act without thinking. What I want from law enforcement is thinking, not blind reaction.

Not That This Should Need to Be Said But: ‘See, Officer, I Can Too Take That Picture’

You won't be able to read this version of this internal memo from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But what it basically says is that law enforcement officers should stop harassing photographers who are making pictures of putatively "sensitive" Federal sites. It explicitly instructs officers to not seize equipment or otherwise interfere with photographers as they go about their business. You can find links to a life size (legible and printable) version of the document here at The New York Times.

A 9/11 Message ~ I'm a Photographer Not a Terrorist!

"They may seek to strike fear in us; but they are no
match for our resilience. We do not succumb to fear ... "

"We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or
hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust ... "
~ Barack Obama, 11 September 2010

*****

Right. So, just what is it that Obama is saying when one of his agencies (the inimitable TSA) is circulating this message - and when they seem totally tone deaf when photographers object to it? What part of the message that there is zero connection between photography and terrorism are our officials missing? Apparently, the whole thing. I had hoped that once BushCo left town we might return to something resembling evidence based politics and policy. So much for the hope.

The Right to Take Pictures (5)

Photo © Jonathan Warren

"The right to take photographs in the United States is being challenged more than ever. People are being stopped, harassed, and even intimidated into handing over their personal property simply because they were taking photographs of subjects that made other people uncomfortable. Recent examples have included photographing industrial plants, bridges, buildings, trains, and bus stations. For the most part, attempts to restrict photography are based on misguided fears about the supposed dangers that unrestricted photography presents to society.

Ironically, unrestricted photography by private citizens has played an integral role in protecting the freedom, security, and well-being of all Americans. Photography in the United States has an established history of contributing to improvements in civil rights, curbing abusive child labor practices, and providing important information to crime investigators. Photography has not contributed to a decline in public safety or economic vitality in the United States. When people think back on the acts of domestic terrorism that have occurred over the last twenty years, none have depended on or even involved photography. Restrictions on photography would not have prevented any of these acts. Furthermore, the increase in people carrying small digital and cell phone cameras has resulted in the prevention of crimes and the apprehension of criminals.

As the flyer states, there are not very many legal restrictions on what can be photographed when in public view. Most attempts at restricting photography are done by lower-level security and law enforcement officials acting way beyond their authority. Note that neither the Patriot Act nor the Homeland Security Act have any provisions that restrict photography. Similarly, some businesses have a history of abusing the rights of photographers under the guise of protecting their trade secrets. These claims are almost always meritless because entities are required to keep trade secrets from public view if they want to protect them."

I lifted these paragraphs from this web page maintained by attorney Bert Krages. I have linked to his valuable page a number of times. In light of my last post, it seemed appropriate to do so yet again. Krages has a one page pdf detailing your rights when confronted by law enforcement and/or security personnel. He also has written a book entitled Legal Handbook for Photographers that covers a broader range of topics (e.g., intellectual property issues).

BP, the Oil Gusher, and the Constitution

This morning npr ran this story about the harassment of journalists and photojournalists seeking to investigate the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico by law enforcement officials - local, state, and federal - often working in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and members of BP's security squad. The hook for the npr story is the encounter between ProPublica photographer Lance Rosenfield with a phalanx of law enforcement and BP security in Texas City, Texas. You can read his own report here. His experience is not unique - see this report and this one too. In each instance the officials - law enforcement or military - claim that they are acting at the behest of the corporation. Apparently the emergency means the Constitution has been suspended.

Section 44 Tossed

Extremely good news on the civil liberties front in the UK following a decision from the European Court of Human Rights. The much and rightly maligned Section 44 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 has been nullified. Every once in a while common sense prevails.

Photography Not Terrorism: Thank the Lord for Libertarians

The NY Civil Liberties Union is pressing a legal challenge to U.S. Government regulations that led to the arrest of photographer Antonio Musumeci outside Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse in Manhattan. You can find reports here and here. You can find street level images of the Courthouse and its surroundings by simply using Google maps; this is a point I've made here before. Musumeci is a libertarian (as is the fellow he was photographing on the day they were arrested) accounting, no doubt, for his willingness to seek legal redress.