DeanerNiker Loc: Lakewood, Colorado

Thought we had New 'Hope and Change'. That should have taken care of it.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

which stone tablet was that on?

les_stockton Loc: Eastern Oklahoma

Evidently, the ones that Moses broke on purpose.

PhotoDeb Loc: San Francisco Bay Area

I was reading that the U.S. is now toward the top of the list for arresting journalists covering events, and that includes photographers. I cover a lot of protests and am working on getting a press pass, but realistically the police don't care much. I've seen a trend toward more police repression even in non-violent protests.
They may get slapped a few times but it's not stopping them.
Police are definitely becoming more militarized and that's a worrisome trend.

les_stockton Loc: Eastern Oklahoma

If it looks like it'll be an issue for you, organize a little with other photographers. One can be up close photographing the action directly. Another can be across the street photographing. Another can be down the street a little bit photographing. The police can't justify arresting, detaining or confiscation of all in that case. especially if you have a 4th photographer down the street a block where he can't even photograph the protest, but he can photograph the other photographers being hassled.

Eventually, it could come to photo journalists organizing this way to be able to protect their rights.

WxGuesser Loc: Portland OR

The one that got left behind on the mountain.

naturalite Loc: Up state NY

[quote=WxGuesser]http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/01/eugene_verdict_clarifies_law_p.html

While this case isn't specifically about still photography it is a landmark case upholding the right of citizens to photograph and video (nearly everyone with a cell phone has photo and video capability) police from a public place. While this occurred in Oregon and a Oregon Jury ruled against the police this has national implications because a Federal Court upheld the verdict finding that Mr. Schlossberg's fourth amendment rights had been violated.


You got to know that cops in Oregon are not to be messed with. They have more shooting by cops than just about any other state. I have been on the receiving end of a cop with a bad attitude. I've been thrown down and cuffed for just telling a cop to ease up on a guy he was screaming at. And just about everybody I know that lives in Oregon has been hasseled by cops. Even my daughter has been thrown down, cuffed and detained for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which is just about anywhere a cop happens to be.
One friend of mine was murdered by a cop in Washington state. It was covered up as usual. Pretty hard to explain why he ended up being shot in the back as he was running away from a hateful cop with a gun. "By the way, my friend, he was Gay"
Sorry for the rant.... I'm just real tired of Martial law attitude in the N.W. especially Oregon. That's why I moved to NY.

WxGuesser Loc: Portland OR

[quote=naturalite]

It could be worse. How in about the bellybutton of corruption, Illinois? In that state it is illegal to photograph or video any cop under any situation without his permission. So if he is exceeding his authority or beating up on someone it's his word against yours. If the Rodney King situation had occurred in Illinois, the guy who video taped the cops would have spent several years in jail.

Bobb Loc: Wellsboro, PA

Yes, yours was an upsetting exprience happening once in your life. Sorry it happened to you, but I'm glad a member of the general public has had the "safety inspection" experience.

Adding the word "safety" seems to allow cops to do whatever they want. After all, they are acting in the name os "safety."

As a CDL diver "safety and other inspections" are almost everyday events in my, and every CDL drivers life.

We also get to go into rest areas to pee in bottles with a government official watching. Guess that is in the interest of safty too.

We often have a cop (without reason or warrant) tear our trucks apart looking for drugs, or if lucky we can simply allow a drug sniffing dog to run loose in our trucks.

Our trucks must pass state and federal inspections. Still on every nice day we know we will be detained someplace for roadside "safety" inspections.

New scale facilities, we call "super coops", are poping up all over. Super coop areas include scales, mechanical inspection garages, truck impound areas, and jail cells.

Damn, the welfare recipients we support don't even have to take a drug test. Oh, excuse me, I forgot the one welfare woman I knew who was ask to appear for a drug test. Ask, to appear for the appointment scheduled in three weeks.

As Americans, we put up with one hell of lot of governmental bullshit to enjoy our ??? freedom ????

kamoopsipooh Loc: Big Island

Funny how you say that. I don't know about anywhere else, but over here, a lot of people don't know their rights. We used to have neighbors complaining about our boats (even though they were parked on private property), TV being too loud (at 8:30), etc. These neighbors would call 911 for trivial matters, so the cops would have to come. They would just step on our property, walk into our garage, etc. My husband would tell them to get off our property and they were not invited in (in a not very quiet way).

The neighbors stopped calling since we bought the property, but the last time the cops came (we were watching "It's a Wonderful Life" too loud for the neighbors at 9:00 p.m.), they were outside with their flashlights. I asked if I could help them and they asked for permission to step on our property. I laughed in my head and told them "no." I met them on the sidewalk.

I know of a few kids as well that went into law enforcement. The ones that disrupted the class or just never showed up. I'm sure there are those that really want to protect citizens, but the basic mentality...

Someone once proposed this question to my husband, "If you want to be a professional criminal, what would you be?"

wingincamera Loc: Spanaway, Washington

I am not sure what kind of people some of you hang out with, but my experience & people I know have had just the opposite experience with police. Sure, 10% of any group of people will be the trouble makers and get all the headlines, but most are just just trying to do a job and go home to their families each night.

As far as taking photos of police in action, if your in a public location you should be free to do so. One exception is if your using video with sound, while the video part is no different some states (like Washington) have laws against recording speech without the person's permission. Turn your mikes off if your in such a state. Your equipment could be confiscated as evidence. Also, the five second video you see on the news might show something completely different if the complete 20 minutes of video in context was viewed.

And if your around a disruptive demonstration, why would you be surprised at being swept up with everyone else? You should know when it's time to just leave.

GreenImages Loc: Mount Dora, Florida

On the subject of shooting photos in a public place....does anyone know if it is true that you have to purchase an expensive permit in order to shoot photos in Times Square in NYC these days?

woodworker236 Loc: Western, Pennsylvania Home of the first JEEP

Thanks ..that's on the other side of the state from me.

WxGuesser Loc: Portland OR

That's why I say that TV news, whether on the left or on the right, cannot possibly do justice to any story.

Blake Loc: Alfred NY

I have read most of this thread. It is a topic that has been discussed ofton before. However, let me put a different twist to this. I recently was in Washington DC on official business. On a particular morning I had a meeting on Capitol Hill with my congressman. I was in my class A uniform for my fire company. My hotel was in Arlington so I road the meto to the hill. Many people smiled, waved, a nod of the head or other pleasing non-verbal signs. This also included other uniformed folk military, cops, and civilian uniforms (suits). Later that day, I was in my cives, other than my haircut, I was just another guy. It was very interesting experience. Some of my Brother and sisters in uniform here might be able to tell you of simular expirences