What do you think about this? Will we get in trouble for taking pictures of police officers doing their duties?
Everyone wants to take a photo of a cop on a horse in NYC, will they just get thrown in jail because of that? I think they should be focusing on more criminal activities then some person with a camera that's not causing any harm.
I'm slightly worried about the future of photography.
Federal Judge Says Photographing Police Not Always Protected by 1st Amendment
Why are you worried about the future of photography because of this decision?
I really dislike the argument "they should be focusing on more criminal activities". I see that argument all the time. Different police forces have different officers doing different jobs in different departments. One officer doing his job that might focus on a bylaw or something that is not a violent crime does not mean that other crimes aren't being focused on. It's an argument that makes absolutely no sense to me.
Not where I live, they mostly sit in their cruisers glued to their phones instead of policing. I know more populated areas have bigger departments and officers assigned to different tasks. But I just don't see the point in a cop giving someone a fine or worse, jailed for someone taking picture of them doing their duties in a public area. I agree though, I should have worded it different, my bad.
But I'm not worried about the future of photography just because of this story. I've been hearing a lot about photography being a crime and if this trend continues and people become even more afraid....who knows...
Interesting, I have not heard a lot about photography being a crime. I have heard about photographing certain things/activities being illegal but not photography itself being a crime.
I'm sorry you have issues with your police department, I don't have that issue here. Our officers work hard, are very engaged and have a large community presence.
And you do realize that the police have no choice but to enforce the law right? They are not responsible for creating the laws, but their job, by definition, is enforcing those laws.