1984, here we come

[sgreger1]

Yeah, I had no idea this was such an issue. I have yet to see anyone arrested around here for that kind of thing, but it sounds like it's sweeping like wildfire. I guess the gov't thinks it's a good deterrent to keep people from filiming them. I don't agree with it, but what are you gonna do. America is probably still one of the greatest places to live, short of maybe a nice, peaceful, secluded mountain home in Northern Europe, but our gov't is starting to adopt some rather Gestapo type mentalities in the name of "Nat'l Security".

Yah it seems to be the trend. The national security state. What concerns me is that Hitler tried to pull a lot of illegal shit, and for a while the courts went along with it instead of standing up for the rights of the citizens. They were willing to rule in favor of the government to serve their emmediate needs. But eventually it got way too out of control and the courts starting trying to be fair again and began ruling against Hitlers obviouse abuse of laws and rights, but at that point Hitler had already created a seperate legal system that allowed him to pretty much say "**** the courts then". This is similar to what Bush did with military tribunals etc. And now our new pres came into office with all these new tools which I am sure he will use if the country starts deteriorating more rapidly.

Rights are a thing of the past and pretty soon you'll have the government convincing your neighbors to rat on you for tax evasion and shit. They will start making propaganda saying that if you don't pay your taxes that you are destroying your country and hurting your fellow countrymen, or that if you don't carpool it's akin to you riding with muslims extremists because you are burning oil from Iran. (Anyone seen the, "A drive by yourself is a drive with hitler. Carpool to conserve fuel!" propaganda photos?) Then the gov will start tapping your phone lines and reading your text messages, or issuing execution orders for America citizens who have become turncoats and are no longer loyal to the country.

Oh shit, all of that is pretty much happening already.

And your in Oklahoma. From my travels I have learned that a lot of smaller states have police that are MUUUUUUCH more human and are more like a regular guy who's job is being a cop, as opposed to the city where they are like ****ing robots and you can't ever appeal to their human side for anything. Where you live youd probably just tell someone to quit videotaping and knock it off, down here they won't even ask questions and they'll just take you to your cell. Even if they drop the charges eventually, being arrested and detained for a night is not something you should have to go through just for videotaping something. (Especially in a public area like a traffic stop or something, and even more especially if you are not impeding the cop from doing his job, but rather videotaping him from your porch)





That's why i ride clean and stay legit nowadays, as represented in this infographic:

[NonServiam]

A few more I just stumbled across while browsing the news today:

1)District Court Judge last week convicted a woman named Felicia Gibson for resisting arrest for refusing to go back inside her house as she stood on her front porch videotaping police making a traffic stop. Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter actually arrested her inside her home in November 2009

2)The Texas case where a cop followed a man inside his home and arrested him for “illegal photography”

3)Arkansas cops arresting a man who stood on his property and called the cops Nazis as they were making an arrest.



Illegal photography? Arresting some moron who is calling cops nazis from his front porch? I think we can all agree there is better ways to spend taxpayer money. The crimes I see all around me every day are so much larger and more important than these little BS issues, yet the larger crimes go unnoticed. I walked to get a burger on saturday and a woman was sitting at a cafe infront of this restaurant on busy Mission street in san francisco, OPENLY displaying a crackpipe on the table along with a bag of rocks. She isn't even worried that anyone will say anything because in San Francisco you can't even get jail time for possession anymore, especially if you are a repeat offender. Just sitting there smokin some rocks in the summer breeze, meanwhile if I say something a cop might not like or videotape him arresting someone infront of my house while standing on my porch, I may get 16 years in jail, completely robbing me of my entire life and my families lives as well.

Yeah, I had no idea this was such an issue. I have yet to see anyone arrested around here for that kind of thing, but it sounds like it's sweeping like wildfire. I guess the gov't thinks it's a good deterrent to keep people from filiming them. I don't agree with it, but what are you gonna do. America is probably still one of the greatest places to live, short of maybe a nice, peaceful, secluded mountain home in Northern Europe, but our gov't is starting to adopt some rather Gestapo type mentalities in the name of "Nat'l Security".

[sgreger1]

Wow! I had no idea. I checked a few other news sources and you are correct.

Personally (from a LEO perspective) I don't like being videotaped either. But I also tend to hide when news crews show up or even for family photos. I just don't like being on camera, whether on the job or at home.

I'm also always a little suspicious when people break out their video cameras. Usually because along with the camera comes an attitude, aggression, and a verbal assault even when I am being more than professional and polite.

They usually will refuse to cooperate in any manner which results in their arrest, i.e. "I need to see your I.D." "No, I know my rights" or "I need you to put the camera down so I can pat you down for weapons" "No, because I want to videotape you planting the weed in my pocket!"

I realize this is either due to bad encounters they have experienced in the past or an exaggerated fear instilled by the media by disproportionate incidents of brutality.

Did it ever cross my mind to arrest them for the sole action of videotaping? No. My interpretation has always been that anyone in the public is subject to be captured on film at any given time. And as long as the filmmaker is cooperating with me and isn't aggressive or posing a threat I just go about my job and make sure I don't pick my nose or scratch my ass. If my superior ordered me to arrest someone for the action of filming officers I would probably be reprimanded for insubordination.

A few more I just stumbled across while browsing the news today:

1)District Court Judge last week convicted a woman named Felicia Gibson for resisting arrest for refusing to go back inside her house as she stood on her front porch videotaping police making a traffic stop. Salisbury Police Officer Mark Hunter actually arrested her inside her home in November 2009

2)The Texas case where a cop followed a man inside his home and arrested him for “illegal photography”

3)Arkansas cops arresting a man who stood on his property and called the cops Nazis as they were making an arrest.



Illegal photography? Arresting some moron who is calling cops nazis from his front porch? I think we can all agree there is better ways to spend taxpayer money. The crimes I see all around me every day are so much larger and more important than these little BS issues, yet the larger crimes go unnoticed. I walked to get a burger on saturday and a woman was sitting at a cafe infront of this restaurant on busy Mission street in san francisco, OPENLY displaying a crackpipe on the table along with a bag of rocks. She isn't even worried that anyone will say anything because in San Francisco you can't even get jail time for possession anymore, especially if you are a repeat offender. Just sitting there smokin some rocks in the summer breeze, meanwhile if I say something a cop might not like or videotape him arresting someone infront of my house while standing on my porch, I may get 16 years in jail, completely robbing me of my entire life and my families lives as well.

[sgreger1]

Maybe it was the copious amounts of Thunder Frosted vapors that disoriented them and gave them an overwhelming sense of security.

Lol, that must be it! Thunder Frosted is like my safety blanket, so I could see how it would have that effect. They charged the door in a 4 man stack, grunting and rifles drawn, but once they got a whiff of my frosted, they suddenly just chilled out and asked if they could bum a beer from me. We shot the shit about politics for about an hour and reminisced about better times. The criminal, also having caught the smell, offered his surrender in return for a portion of my extra stark frosty goodness. But alas, it was a ruse, he was captured and I gave him none.

[NonServiam]

They didn't even clear any of the rooms or anything. I guess it's (sorry, racist comment coming) because I was a well dresses white dude in an otherwise ghetto neighborhood so they didn't feel too threatened to the point where they would take those extra precautions.

Maybe it was the copious amounts of Thunder Frosted vapors that disoriented them and gave them an overwhelming sense of security.

[sgreger1]

Wow! I had no idea. I checked a few other news sources and you are correct.

Personally (from a LEO perspective) I don't like being videotaped either. But I also tend to hide when news crews show up or even for family photos. I just don't like being on camera, whether on the job or at home.

I'm also always a little suspicious when people break out their video cameras. Usually because along with the camera comes an attitude, aggression, and a verbal assault even when I am being more than professional and polite.

They usually will refuse to cooperate in any manner which results in their arrest, i.e. "I need to see your I.D." "No, I know my rights" or "I need you to put the camera down so I can pat you down for weapons" "No, because I want to videotape you planting the weed in my pocket!"

I realize this is either due to bad encounters they have experienced in the past or an exaggerated fear instilled by the media by disproportionate incidents of brutality.

Did it ever cross my mind to arrest them for the sole action of videotaping? No. My interpretation has always been that anyone in the public is subject to be captured on film at any given time. And as long as the filmmaker is cooperating with me and isn't aggressive or posing a threat I just go about my job and make sure I don't pick my nose or scratch my ass. If my superior ordered me to arrest someone for the action of filming officers I would probably be reprimanded for insubordination.

Yah I hear you, it's tough being a cop, I know the kind of BS assholes they have to deal with on the day-to day so I can see why they wouldnt want to be videotaped. At the same time, it's one of those things we kind of have to put up with to ensure everyone is on the up-and-up.





Speaking of which: I just had the swat team in my house this weekend. I live in the ghetto so this isn't an all that uncommon scenario, but 4 guys with guns were behind our house after jumping a series of fences and at least one ended up in our backyard. I see some guy with a flashlight out in the bushes, so I got to the window. Then I see about 15 cops flanking the Bush. They start pointing their flashlights on our backyard so I yelled out the window, "Hey, can I help you with something"? They'r like "Yah, theres people with guns hidind in your backyard on the bottom story (our bottom story is accessible through the backyard and is just one giant empty room).

I was like, "yah let me pull the dog in and you can come through the house". There was at least a good 30 police officers who had formed a perimeter around the whole area, complete with what appeared to be at least a dozen undercover officers dressed in civilian clothes but now sporting their badges. I move all my family up to the top floor so no bullets would hit them and then they sent in the rifle team to clear out the backyard and caught the guy. Apparently they had a pistol and a couple of rifles or something.


My experience is that police are for the most part friendly, but we must realize some of the situations our officers find themselves in. It doesn't strike me as odd that they are always on their toes. What surprised me is that I walked them to my backyard and they all chilled out there untill it was done. What if I knew the dude and he ran to my house to hide? What if he was upstairs or in the room next to our backyard? He could have easily came up behind them after they had all gone out to my back porch and smoked a good 10-15 cops who were too crowded on my porch to react in time. They didn't even clear any of the rooms or anything. I guess it's (sorry, racist comment coming) because I was a well dresses white dude in an otherwise ghetto neighborhood so they didn't feel too threatened to the point where they would take those extra precautions.


Still, always nice to have a little excitement on the weekend! Then I went to the zoo with my daughter and had a blast the next day.

[NonServiam]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2]@ Nonserviam: It happens all the time unfortunately. Videotaping police is increasingly becoming a common crime that carries a pretty severe penalty of up to 16 years in prison.

Wow! I had no idea. I checked a few other news sources and you are correct.

Personally (from a LEO perspective) I don't like being videotaped either. But I also tend to hide when news crews show up or even for family photos. I just don't like being on camera, whether on the job or at home.

I'm also always a little suspicious when people break out their video cameras. Usually because along with the camera comes an attitude, aggression, and a verbal assault even when I am being more than professional and polite.

They usually will refuse to cooperate in any manner which results in their arrest, i.e. "I need to see your I.D." "No, I know my rights" or "I need you to put the camera down so I can pat you down for weapons" "No, because I want to videotape you planting the weed in my pocket!"

I realize this is either due to bad encounters they have experienced in the past or an exaggerated fear instilled by the media by disproportionate incidents of brutality.

Did it ever cross my mind to arrest them for the sole action of videotaping? No. My interpretation has always been that anyone in the public is subject to be captured on film at any given time. And as long as the filmmaker is cooperating with me and isn't aggressive or posing a threat I just go about my job and make sure I don't pick my nose or scratch my ass. If my superior ordered me to arrest someone for the action of filming officers I would probably be reprimanded for insubordination.

[sgreger1]

@ Nonserviam: It happens all the time unfortunately. Videotaping police is increasingly becoming a common crime that carries a pretty severe penalty of up to 16 years in prison. From the first couple of results on google:

Last month, Brian Kelly of Carlisle, Pa., was riding with a friend when the car he was in was pulled over by a local police officer. Kelly, an amateur videographer, had his video camera with him and decided to record the traffic stop.


The officer who pulled over the vehicle saw the camera and demanded Kelly hand it over. Kelly obliged. Soon after, six more police officers pulled up. They arrested Kelly on charges of violating an outdated Pennsylvania wiretapping law that forbids audio recordings of any second party without their permission. In this case, that party was the police officer.


Kelly was charged with a felony, spent 26 hours in jail, and faces up to 10 years in prison. All for merely recording a police officer, a public servant, while he was on the job.


There's been a rash of arrests of late for videotaping police, and it's a disturbing development.


Last year, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly threatened Internet activist Mary T. Jean with arrest and felony prosecution for posting a video to her website of state police swarming a home and arresting a man without a warrant.


Michael Gannon of New Hampshire was also arrested on felony wiretapping charges last year after recording a police officer who was being verbally abusive on his doorstep.


Photojournalist Carlos Miller was arrested in February of this year after taking pictures of on-duty police officers in Miami.


And Philadelphia student Neftaly Cruz was arrested last year after he took pictures of a drug bust with his cell phone.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284075,00.html

And

That Anthony Graber broke the law in early March is indisputable. He raced his Honda motorcycle down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, popping a wheelie, roaring past cars and swerving across traffic lanes.


But it wasn't his daredevil stunt that has the 25-year-old staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard facing the possibility of 16 years in prison. For that, he was issued a speeding ticket. It was the video that Graber posted on YouTube one week later -- taken with his helmet camera -- of a plainclothes state trooper cutting him off and drawing a gun during the traffic stop near Baltimore.


In early April, state police officers raided Graber's parents' home in Abingdon, Md. They confiscated his camera, computers and external hard drives. Graber was indicted for allegedly violating state wiretap laws by recording the trooper without his consent.


Arrests such as Graber's are becoming more common along with the proliferation of portable video cameras and cell-phone recorders.


The ACLU of Florida filed a First Amendment lawsuit last month on behalf of a model who was arrested February 2009 in Boynton Beach. Fla. Her crime: videotaping an encounter between police officers and her teenage son at a movie theater.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/videotaping-cops-arrest/story?id=11179076

[NonServiam]

i hear they are making a comeback... Can't wait!

http://men-haircuts.blogspot.com/200...09-winter.html

lol

[CoderGuy]

I'll have to get around to looking into that. I'm assuming it must vary from state to state. I wonder what kind of mullet I should get to cover the barcode on my neck, the classic Kentucky Mudflap look, or more of a business in the front; party in the back.

I hear they are making a comeback... can't wait!

http://men-haircuts.blogspot.com/200...09-winter.html

[NonServiam]

Yes, it has changed. Its actually been a big issue lately. People videotaping cops when they get pulled over etc has been ruled to be a violation of wiretap laws. Its absolutely criminal in every way. Ill find some links, i was just reading about this on friday which is why i brought it up. Things are changing so fast around here.

I'll have to get around to looking into that. I'm assuming it must vary from state to state. I wonder what kind of mullet I should get to cover the barcode on my neck, the classic Kentucky Mudflap look, or more of a business in the front; party in the back.

[tom502]

I love the 1984 movie with John Hurt.

[Simplysnus]

Not illegal everywhere but going wrong way

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/0...mance-of-duty/

[sgreger1]

I could be wrong here, but the last time I checked you can pretty much videotape anything you want as long as the person(s) are in a public venue and it is not done in a clandestine manner (like up a woman's skirt or something). Sure, lots of cops will tell you to turn off that camera, but as long as you are not compromising an investigation or as long as you are far enough away that you do not constitute a threat to them while they turn their back to you to deal with whatever situation, it's legal. They could try arresting you for it, but the courts will find you not guilty. Unless they charge you with obstructing for failing to leave the area, but they have to be able to articulate why you were a safety concern.

http://flexyourrights.org/faq/can_I_videotape_police

If that has changed, than we are in serious trouble considering the gov't freedom to attach tracking devices to a vehicle.

Yes, it has changed. Its actually been a big issue lately. People videotaping cops when they get pulled over etc has been ruled to be a violation of wiretap laws. Its absolutely criminal in every way. Ill find some links, i was just reading about this on friday which is why i brought it up. Things are changing so fast around here.

[NonServiam]

Isnt it funny too how its a crime to videotape a cop beating someones ass, because it breaks wiretapping laws, and yet the gov can freely wiretap you at any time without reason or warrant and it's cool. lol

I could be wrong here, but the last time I checked you can pretty much videotape anything you want as long as the person(s) are in a public venue and it is not done in a clandestine manner (like up a woman's skirt or something). Sure, lots of cops will tell you to turn off that camera, but as long as you are not compromising an investigation or as long as you are far enough away that you do not constitute a threat to them while they turn their back to you to deal with whatever situation, it's legal. They could try arresting you for it, but the courts will find you not guilty. Unless they charge you with obstructing for failing to leave the area, but they have to be able to articulate why you were a safety concern.

http://flexyourrights.org/faq/can_I_videotape_police

If that has changed, than we are in serious trouble considering the gov't freedom to attach tracking devices to a vehicle.