My 1st encounter with rabid cops

Dmitri · Jul 18, 2010

I went to the lake today where I go all the time, and there were some cops in the parking lot talking to a lady. It looked like she hit a car while parking, no big deal. I had my camera, so I figured what the hell

I took a photo and the male cop turns around and yells "That is unacceptable, stop right now!". I'm a good guy, I don't want trouble so I say no problem, put my lens cap on and start to turn away. He calls me back over to him, I go, he asks who I am. I say "I'm Todd" to which he responds "That means nothing to me" (lol?).

Him and the female cop start yelling at me about how they are trying to investigate something and I'm interfering, I say that I was leaving. He keeps yelling at me (how do I know that's not a knife or a gun?), the female cop drags me off by the arm asking in what universe I think its acceptable to take a photo of police. Mind you, I know I'm well within my rights, but I don't say anything confrontational.

She takes my liscense and heads to her car, telling me she'll arrest me for obstruction of justice. She doesn't come back, but sends someone else over with my lisence who tells me I have to leave, now. Still not wanting trouble, I say ok no problem, and I leave.

Again, I know I was well within my rights and I could have made a whole issue of it, but honestly I wasn't trying to cause any problems. I just took a photo, the guy said stop and I did. Then they decided to call me back and go all NYPD blue on me.

supraman215 · Jul 18, 2010

Being well within your rights means little these days. Cops have virtually unlimited jurisdiction and almost no accountability these days.

Opher · Jul 18, 2010

They would not see my ID if they dont charge and arrest me. (maybe if they are being nice) Dont know what the law is in the states but here in Canada i dont have to give them ID without a specific charge... Then after being charged i would proceed to fight it and sue for emotional distress. :er:

If they are nice to me i will be nice to them. If they are not then i will not be nice!

Robin Usagani · Jul 18, 2010

Bad cops, no donuts!

Opher · Jul 18, 2010

Schwettylens said:
Bad cops, no donuts!

Maybe if Dmitri had some donuts they would have been nicer...

New photography hint. Always have donuts on hand. :lol:

Dmitri · Jul 18, 2010

Opher said:
They would not see my ID if they dont charge and arrest me. (maybe if they are being nice) Dont know what the law is in the states but here in Canada i dont have to give them ID without a specific charge... Then after being charged i would proceed to fight it and sue for emotional distress. :er:

If they are nice to me i will be nice to them. If they are not then i will not be nice!

Same here, I think. But I wasn't trying to cause trouble, and if the cops feel like being big jerks they can find a reason to detain someone, or ticket their car, etc. They were way out of line, but we pick our fights and that wasn't one I needed to fight lol

Opher and SchwettyLens -- :lol:

from now on I will always have a fresh bag of donuts with me!!

Eco · Jul 19, 2010

supraman215 said:
Being well within your rights means little these days. Cops have virtually unlimited jurisdiction and almost no accountability these days.

Take a few hours and read Photography is Not a Crime — It’s a First Amendment Right his blog is pretty much dedicated to the police and how they screw with photographers. In some cases the good guys actually win.

Dmitri · Jul 20, 2010

Eco said:
supraman215 said:

Being well within your rights means little these days. Cops have virtually unlimited jurisdiction and almost no accountability these days.

Click to expand...

Take a few hours and read Photography is Not a Crime Its a First Amendment Right his blog is pretty much dedicated to the police and how they screw with photographers. In some cases the good guys actually win.

Thanks for the tip, seems like some good stuff there

Morpheuss · Jul 21, 2010

that is one of the many reasons cops are called pigs...

Dmitri · Jul 21, 2010

Morpheuss said:
that is one of the many reasons cops are called pigs...

Yeah I guess. I defend cops, most of them are good people who try to do good. It's unfortunate that the bad ones exist, and are tolerated. Reading the link posted above, and a couple others (below) it gets scarier and scarier.

Photos and Public Security Photography and Homeland Security - Popular Mechanics

Videotaping Police Is Often Cause for Arrest - ABC News

Josh66 · Jul 21, 2010

Opher said:
They would not see my ID if they dont charge and arrest me.

That's a good way to make sure you DO get arrested. Yes, I know from experience, and yes, I hate cops. :lol:

Welcome to the police state.

I've never met a nice cop in Texas...

Morpheuss · Jul 21, 2010

Luckily the cops in my home town are pretty cool and actually very friendly.

supraman215 · Jul 22, 2010

Opher said:
They would not see my ID if they dont charge and arrest me.

Thankfully you live in a country with virtually NIL street crime :

Failure to present ID is an offense in and of itself in most areas.

Eco said:
In some cases the good guys actually win.

One can only hope. But the laws don't look like they are going in our direction.

O|||||||O said:
Welcome to the police state.

AMEN! The Show - No Agenda - With Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak

Morpheuss said:
Luckily the cops in my home town are pretty cool and actually very friendly.

This is true, if I encounter a cop I'm just going to try to be friendly hopefully it will work in my favor. Kill them with kindness.

Dmitri · Jul 22, 2010

O|||||||O said:
Opher said:

They would not see my ID if they dont charge and arrest me.

Click to expand...

That's a good way to make sure you DO get arrested. Yes, I know from experience, and yes, I hate cops.

Welcome to the police state.

I've never met a nice cop in Texas...

Texas, as usual, has it's own breed of people. I'll always remember there was an episode of COPS where an old lady was standing outside her house shooting her gun around randomly because she heard a noise. The cops went to her, explained that she shouldn't do that - RELOADED HER GUN FOR HER - and bid her farewell lol. Craziest thing I ever did see!

Josh66 · Jul 22, 2010

I hardly ever have to deal with cops (because I don't put myself into those situations), but when I do - I just try to go along with whatever they say.

Yes, I know I should "stand up for my rights" and all that - but that's pretty much a guaranteed visit to a concrete slab bed, and a roll of toilet paper for a pillow.

It's been a long time since that's happened - but I have spent the night in jail a few times for 'nothing' only to get released a day or two later with no charges being filed.

Actually, I take back what I said earlier about cops in Texas. The ones I've met in Fort Worth were pretty cool - it's just the Dallas cops that I hate. :lol:

edit

Dmitri said:
O|||||||O said:

Opher said:

They would not see my ID if they dont charge and arrest me.

Click to expand...

That's a good way to make sure you DO get arrested. Yes, I know from experience, and yes, I hate cops.

Welcome to the police state.

I've never met a nice cop in Texas...

Click to expand...

Texas, as usual, has it's own breed of people. I'll always remember there was an episode of COPS where an old lady was standing outside her house shooting her gun around randomly because she heard a noise. The cops went to her, explained that she shouldn't do that - RELOADED HER GUN FOR HER - and bid her farewell lol. Craziest thing I ever did see!