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The level of paranoia about cameras today's society
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Sep 29, 2016 00:10:34   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
The following statement was posted on the "Nextdoor my_neighborhood" web site*.

"My neighbor photographed this guy taking pictures of my house a few days ago. Thoughts?"

My point in posting this is to illustrate the level of paranoia about cameras in today's society.

Even of it's not legally required, it helps the publics image of photographers to be a good citizen and talk to people before taking pics of their property.



FYI - My response was:
********
Taking pictures is not a crime, ok? No reason to be paranoid. I can't tell what type of camera from the pic. Cell phone? Professional Camera?

So nice car, does not look like your typical low life's car. You say he was taking pictures of your house but he was facing the other way in the pic so perhaps he was taking pictures of the neighborhood. It is legal to do that from the street. Could be he was a photographer and wanted some stock photos of a nice neighborhood. Maybe a Realestate agent, wanted pics of the neighborhood for his brochures. City worker, taking pics of the trees. I walk around the neighborhood with my camera and take pics, it's my hobby. But I always ask before pointing the camera at someone's house. But not everybody does that.

If you see that car again you might want to ask him "what's up?" but otherwise I don't think you need to worry.
********

*I find that we site to be an excellent use of social media. It facilitates communication between neighbors, about events, crime, and other happenings in the neighborhood.


(Download)

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Sep 29, 2016 01:27:03   #
Motorbones Loc: Fair Oaks, CA
 
As a neighborhood watch coordinator, I'd probably walk out there, photograph the license plate and casually but firmly inform him that I'm with neighborhood watch and ask what is he doing. Remain inquisitive and non-confrontational. Next step, report it to the local authorities as a suspicious unknown person in my neighborhood if his response wasn't acceptable.... Yes, I've done this before...

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Sep 29, 2016 01:30:28   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
Motorbones wrote:
As a neighborhood watch coordinator, I'd probably walk out there, photograph the license plate and casually but firmly inform him that I'm with neighborhood watch and ask what is he doing. Remain inquisitive and non-confrontational. Next step, report it to the local authorities as a suspicious unknown person in my neighborhood if his response wasn't acceptable.... Yes, I've done this before...


Such is life in the city.

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Sep 29, 2016 01:57:48   #
DAMcCoy
 
When I was doing real estate appraisal work I was taking photos of homes in all kinds of places. Could as simple as someone doing there job.

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Sep 29, 2016 02:28:18   #
mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs
 
Motorbones wrote:
As a neighborhood watch coordinator, I'd probably walk out there, photograph the license plate and casually but firmly inform him that I'm with neighborhood watch and ask what is he doing. Remain inquisitive and non-confrontational. Next step, report it to the local authorities as a suspicious unknown person in my neighborhood if his response wasn't acceptable.... Yes, I've done this before...


As a real estate agent and RE photographer, I've been doing what you see in that photo for many years and have never had any problems. However, if I were African American, I might want to wear one of those vests you see on the press in war zones, with "Real Estate Photographer" in large letters -- especially if the neighborhood has a watch coordinator.

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Sep 29, 2016 07:43:25   #
jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ
 
Did it occur to anybody that he might be taking street views for Google Earth?

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Sep 29, 2016 08:07:41   #
Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.
 
Maybe he just thought your house was nice and wanted to capture it.

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Sep 29, 2016 08:46:14   #
Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana
 
jethro779 wrote:
Did it occur to anybody that he might be taking street views for Google Earth?

Google street view images are taken predominantly from cameras mounted to the roofs of cars. Occasionally they will use tricycles and in some cases (the inside of museums, Stonehenge, etc) they will use backpack mounted cameras.

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Sep 29, 2016 08:55:32   #
BebuLamar
 
Mac wrote:
Maybe he just thought your house was nice and wanted to capture it.


I used to do just that but this kind o thing scares me now

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Sep 29, 2016 09:28:26   #
LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY
 
Erik_H wrote:
Google street view images are taken predominantly from cameras mounted to the roofs of cars. Occasionally they will use tricycles and in some cases (the inside of museums, Stonehenge, etc) they will use backpack mounted cameras.


They also use boats now. You can take river tours without ever leaving home!

As far as the guy taking photos, if he is up to no good and is dumb enough to stand next to his vehicle with the license plate, not to mention himself, in plain view, he's probably too dumb to be a threat. A smart criminal can get all the info he needs just by driving down a street with a dash cam or two and no one would ever know.

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Sep 29, 2016 09:51:00   #
BebuLamar
 
LFingar wrote:
They also use boats now. You can take river tours without ever leaving home!

As far as the guy taking photos, if he is up to no good and is dumb enough to stand next to his vehicle with the license plate, not to mention himself, in plain view, he's probably too dumb to be a threat. A smart criminal can get all the info he needs just by driving down a street with a dash cam or two and no one would ever know.


I can every draw the place with memory. I don't need a camera for that.

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Sep 29, 2016 12:39:23   #
Motorbones Loc: Fair Oaks, CA
 
Like I said, as a neighborhood watch member, I would simply inquire and take a snapshot with my phone of his license plate. I would have him see me do this. I've been with neighborhood watch for 17 years now and have done this a few times. It's not aggressively challenging and it's totally legal. The fact it's a nice car does not deter me at all. Every month in our NW Newsletter we get crime stats from the Sheriff's Dept on crimes committed in our neighborhood and there's usually more going on than meets the eye.

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Sep 29, 2016 12:49:12   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
Lol...my thoughts?

The level of paranoia is reaching epidemic proportions.

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Sep 29, 2016 12:56:13   #
Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.
 
Motorbones wrote:
Like I said, as a neighborhood watch member, I would simply inquire and take a snapshot with my phone of his license plate. I would have him see me do this. I've been with neighborhood watch for 17 years now and have done this a few times. It's not aggressively challenging and it's totally legal. The fact it's a nice car does not deter me at all. Every month in our NW Newsletter we get crime stats from the Sheriff's Dept on crimes committed in our neighborhood and there's usually more going on than meets the eye.
Like I said, as a neighborhood watch member, I wou... (show quote)


I think your approach is very reasonable. As a photographer I would have no problem responding to a civil inquiry and providing appropriate identification. We keep an eye on our neighborhood also for some good reasons, we don't consider everybody to be a threat, but some are definitely suspicious. Having had our house broken into several years ago, we remain watchful but don't assume that everybody is a bad guy.

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Sep 29, 2016 13:34:33   #
Quixdraw Loc: x
 
I passing through a suburban neighborhood yesterday on an errand -- the light was remarkable and a couple of houses and their landscaping / shadows, etc. were extremely attractive. I took a couple of shots standing on a through road, and not in any kind of private development. If I had been approached by an individual claiming to be neighborhood watch I would have suggested he record my license plate and call the police if he felt something nefarious was going on, but otherwise to buzz off.

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