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“The photographer does need to provide his name when asked by the police.”
Mike, as Bobbo pointed out, you in fact do not have to provide your name/identification to police officers when asked unless you are detained on suspicion of a crime. What I would add to Bobbo’s comment though is that you also have to give your name/id/license when operating a motor vehicle, since you waive your 1st amendment right against compelled speech by choosing to drive/attain a driver’s license.
But if you’re just walking down the street and a cop says ‘what’s your name?’, you’re under no obligation to tell him.
Come on John you can do better than this that camera guy was an Idiot, there are photojournalists out there getting real harrassment that need your help not this parking lot shooter
#35. John did not post this video.
The filmer should have had a permit to film on private property. dems the rules.
That aside… Things like this happen all the time. Stressed out people snapping at the smallest things. It takes a grown up to man up, reevaluate, and apologize.
This one isn’t less about power tripping cop vs hippie. It’s life.
TT
Too bad you got it so wrong. Both times the police approached the camera. First the motorcycle cop got off his bike and came over to the crew. He only backed off because someone else came up and said there was an emergency. The Sargent also came up to them when they were some distance from the scene. In neither case were they interfering with the police or their duties.
Again, if the police are too stressed out to handle the job, regardless of the circumstances, they should find another job.
@TThor, #31 – Where in the law is it stated being an a-hole is illegal? When you sign up for the job of being a police man, it is with the understanding that you will be dealing with criminals and other unsavory characters. BUT, under the intent of the law, all men are innocent until proven guilty. That should apply to cops also. They should treat everyone as innocent until they show without the shadow of a doubt that they may be guilty of a crime. Not the other way around, as this video clearly demonstrates.
Of course the abuse is systemic. Have you not been following the news? Did you not read about the guy with cuffs on who was subdued by four other officers who was shot in the back? Did you not read about the guy who got maced and beat down in front of a night club for being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or the guy whose house was raided because he posted a video of a police interaction not much unlike this one on youtube? Are you really living under a rock that huge? Or are you just blindly leading your life without a care in the world…until something like this pops YOU right in the mouth?
And yes, we are all humans and capable of losing our cool. I get that. Unfortunately, cops get away with it. The system is poorly designed. Cops are not held culpable for their actions. Without cold, hard video evidence, who do you think a judge or jury is going to believe in a court of law? That’s the difference between you losing your cool and popping someone in the mouth and a cop doing the same.
@Sagrilarus, #33 – If I’m a public official working in public in a public capacity on public property, then yes, follow me around and film me. Shoot, even if I’m a private person going along minding my own business I can’t stop someone from filming me in public, of course, I think you have to sign a waiver first before they can sell it or something…. So what’s your point? If my taxes are paying your salary, I have every right to film the job you’re doing, and expose the results to your other bosses.
And the reason he said he’d rather post it on youtube is because filing a complaint with IA is about as useful as a hole in the head. Do you honestly expect the cops to investigate themselves? You truly are gullible.
@The Aberrant, #34 – You’re absolutely right. But this is how the ignorant masses are manipulated. Giving up your 1rst amendment right in order to drive is f*cking bullsh!t. Just another way the government incrementally takes away your rights until you become their absolute slave.
@bobbo – Yes I’m the one you’re always disagreeing with. As long as you’re arguing the side of liberty, I have no problem with your views.
bmore==liberty-YES, but responsibility and pragmatism too. You almost imply you think having to give a cop your name if stopped in your car is somehow wrong? Well, cops aren’t allowed to stop you in your car without reasonable suspicion of something, so names/drivers license/insurance seems reasonable to me in such cases.
You also seem to agree that you/me/we can be filmed in public. Many here, including our dear editor, disagree with that and find that to be an invasion as well: “Don’t look at me!”
Lots of ways even a narrowed down group of liberty lovers can still disagree—until the group gets down to just me, and then, disagreements still occur. Disagreeable lot!!
bobbo- yes libertarians, anarchists, freedom lovers tend to be a disagreeable lot because we aren’t mindless sheep who look around searching for leaders to tell us what to do and when to do it. Instead of being collectivists trying to look for ways to agree, we tend to prefer to put aside our agreements as common sense and focus on our disagreements, in an unending search for the truth.
So, with the cop pulling you over, it’s up to that individual cop’s discretion on what is reasonable suspicion, right? One cop may feel reasonable suspicion is someone driving quickly and swerving from lane to lane. Another one might think it’s a black person driving a nice car. In either case, you’re required to stop, hand over your PAPERS, and comply with his demands. Is that reasonable to you?
Well, with the filming of people on public property, the problem is public property. Public property is property owned by the public, this unclear definition of ownership which is slippery to pin down. Since I partly own this property, because my taxes go to pay for it, don’t I get to do what I want on it? Since you also own it, don’t you get to do what you want on it? Many complications arise because we are FORCED by the government to pay for it. Unlike a private park, eg Disneyland, where the owners make the rules, and you pay when and if you decide to go there, and once you enter you’ve agreed to follow the rules the owner sets. If the owner says you must allow yourself to be filmed, then you either comply, or find a competing park with rules according to your liking. No force involved.
#29
“Why do you hate freedom so much? Are you a member of the Taliban?”
Do you think as a member of the Taliban that I would have access to the internet and have the ability to post a comment on this?
Your as bad as the guys in the video with a remark like that, and no, I’m not a communist either.
How would you feel if you were snowed under in work and people started sticking a camera in your face.
As #33 point “out These guys aren’t about liberty, they’re about celebrity. “I don’t want to file a complaint, I want to post on YouTube.” Now THAT is dedication to the cause of freedom.”
If you ever have to go before a judge, traffic ticket, etc… Try using the “well, you see, I was having a bad day” argument. That would be fun to watch.
Camera dude as argumentative and was being a dick. That’s not illegal but it is a unwise.
Cop harassed a citizen doing nothing wrong. Sorry cop, you just went over the line. He should be written up for that but I doubt that will happen unless the guy has a history of over reacting and harassing and maybe not even then. And we see here that many, many cops don’t understand the law and that when a citizen does, it ruffles some cops feathers.
When the copy sorta apologized kinda, it really was a good thing for him to do even though he was wrong about a number of things. Cops don’t have an easy job but they must be held to a higher standard and right now they aren’t. I just wish the camera guys wasn’t so argumentative. He exacerbated the situation but really did nothing wrong and should have been left along by the cop.
Everyone should go the ACLU and download a copy of their right when facing a cop. It’s a handy document to carry, even in a world where Maranda isn’t the law of the land like it should be.