Madcrow Photographics wrote:
I suspect that the man WANTED to get stopped like this and then file a lawsuit. While I feel that the guy didn't violate any law (and that by demanding the man delete the pictures, I do feel that the the police officer did), I also feel that any lawsuit that gets filed should be thrown out, as it seems pretty clear that the man was fishing for a lawsuit.

Perhaps, but had the cop obeyed the law he is sworn to uphold, the issue would be moot.

SI Photography wrote:
Whatever. I take photos and video of cops all the time...even at strip clubs to have it if they get out of line.

James, Good for you!

Let's go cop shooting when I come visit you in Florida! 

I'll save on hotel expenses .. LOL

studio36uk wrote:
The reporter uncovered and duly reported probably the most telling of statements:

"Under the advice of the Johnson County attorney, the sheriff would not comment and the arresting deputy said he didn’t want to incriminate himself by talking to us."

The "us" being WJHL news.

Didn't want to incriminate himself? You mean like for false arrest; or maybe making a false statement in his recording of the arrest? It boggles the f**king mind what he thought he was up to.

Studio36

And now, the "despun" version-

The Johnson County attorney had a meeting with the troopers and the sheriff the next day. He told them in no uncertain terms, "You idiots have really stepped on your cranks this time! There is no law against photographing a traffic stop! Now I am gonna hafta get the county out of this mess without it costing the taxpayers a bundle! You WILL NOT say a word to anyone about this unless I tell you to, got it? Unless you ALL wanna end up without a job!"

Lumigraphics wrote:

And now, the "despun" version-

The Johnson County attorney had a meeting with the troopers and the sheriff the next day. He told them in no uncertain terms, "You idiots have really stepped on your cranks this time! There is no law against photographing a traffic stop! Now I am gonna hafta get the county out of this mess without it costing the taxpayers a bundle! You WILL NOT say a word to anyone about this unless I tell you to, got it? Unless you ALL wanna end up without a job!"

Sounds about right to me.

Lumigraphics wrote:

And now, the "despun" version-

The Johnson County attorney had a meeting with the troopers and the sheriff the next day. He told them in no uncertain terms, "You idiots have really stepped on your cranks this time! There is no law against photographing a traffic stop! Now I am gonna hafta get the county out of this mess without it costing the taxpayers a bundle! You WILL NOT say a word to anyone about this unless I tell you to, got it? Unless you ALL wanna end up without a job!"

That officer pulled a power trip that he had no business doing!
Ha ha!  Told ya!  I'm gonna go shoot me some cops now! 
(loads memory cards into cameras)


DISCLAIMER!  I don't hate the police, and I do respect them, heck I trained to be a sheriff, ok!  The vocabulary of photography and shooting guns is so similar, and I mean no offense to any law officers reading this. 

That officer is human and made a mistake in how he handled the situation.

Lumigraphics wrote:
And now, the "despun" version-

The Johnson County attorney had a meeting with the troopers and the sheriff the next day. He told them in no uncertain terms, "You idiots have really stepped on your cranks this time! There is no law against photographing a traffic stop! Now I am gonna hafta get the county out of this mess without it costing the taxpayers a bundle! You WILL NOT say a word to anyone about this unless I tell you to, got it? Unless you ALL wanna end up without a job!"

I've brought this up before, but just think about it. More than half of us don't know the rules and laws of photography - releases, usage, and where we can shoot. Now we're the people with the actual cameras try to to do this! Just think of how hard it is for the police to get laws right when they have EVERYTHING else to worry about as well as all these photo things.

Not saying it's an excuse for this incident, but we do have to cut them a little slack sometimes.

Lohkee wrote:

Step 1: File suit.
Step 2: Wait for **BIG** settlement offer - this will never make it to trial.
Step 3: Find another cop to shoot and then repeats steps 1 & 2.

Who said photography isn't profitable?

oh man, I see an officer getting repremanded...he's a public official. He has no reasonable expectation of privacy on a public road

Fotosbymike wrote:
Minneapolis Fashion says...

"So yeah, I think most of the "cop problems" are from idiot photographers trying to be asses and push buttons."

Obviously you have just the right color skin. As a Puerto Rican man in a predominantly white area, I was constantly harrassed by the Good Ol' Boys of the Bradenton police department here in Florida. The more polite I was, they simply took it as a sign of weakness and would harrass me to the point of embarrasssment. (On my knees with my hands on my head on the side of the road, hands on the car, etc.) After moving to the next town of Sarasota, it hit the news that the entire Bradenton DEA department was under indictment for pullng over and ROBBING Mexicans!! As well as planting evidence and participating in drug sales.

Twenty years later, I can say I haven't had a problem lately but the assumption that any harrassment by police officers is brought upon by the individual is not only wrong but extremely ignorant.

and if anyone needs proof of that, check out what's going on in Chicago and what the FBI has done recently

Minneapolis Fashion  wrote:

I've brought this up before, but just think about it. More than half of us don't know the rules and laws of photography - releases, usage, and where we can shoot. Now we're the people with the actual cameras try to to do this! Just think of how hard it is for the police to get laws right when they have EVERYTHING else to worry about as well as all these photo things.

Not saying it's an excuse for this incident, but we do have to cut them a little slack sometimes.

we pay them to enforce the laws properly, not to utililize their abitrary and capricious opinions to enforce their idea of right or wrong, which might be contrary to statute or case law.

Minneapolis Fashion  wrote:

I've brought this up before, but just think about it. More than half of us don't know the rules and laws of photography - releases, usage, and where we can shoot. Now we're the people with the actual cameras try to to do this! Just think of how hard it is for the police to get laws right when they have EVERYTHING else to worry about as well as all these photo things.

Not saying it's an excuse for this incident, but we do have to cut them a little slack sometimes.

I expect the police to know or at least to find out about the law before they arrest people. That's why police have supervisors and computers and cell phones and radios.

Photographs by Jerry wrote:
The driver in the hummer is lucky he did not get killed.  He drives past a traffic stop and turns around and comes back and stops in the middle of the street and point something black with a red light at the officers. If he has found the "wrong" police officers he would now be a statistic of another officer involved shooting.
Then he makes a smart ass comment "smile" and takes a picture. Then he again turns around again.  Of course the officer are going to stop him.  Then the driver continues to be a A-hole and talks back to the officer and refuses to delete the picture. Of course he is going to jail...  As far as the charges, you cant charge him with being a jerk so those were the only ones that they could find.  The officers may be having to back pedal now, but the guy needed a wake up call, and spending some time is jail is better then time in the morgue.

As far as taking photos of officers, that is fine but don't harass the officers and create a nusance of your self. You do not know what the officers are dealing with regarding the people in the vehicle.  You are distracting them and they may feel in danger by you actions.

Bullshit. Get real.

The most important street skill any LEO has is to be able to assess and control a scene. A cop who can't recognize a camera phone or considers it a lethal threat should not be on the street. Period. He is a danger to everyone including himself.

The best response to someone taking pictures is to ignore it. Police are public employees working mostly in public situations. It goes with the territory.

Things go best when nobody acts like a dick.

CGI Images wrote:

Do they have arrest powers?

No they do NOT! They can not even [as they can not arrest] detain you for any practical purposes. And IIRC they can not even search if they do stop someone. Their job, for the most part, is as eyes and ears and for anything else they have radios to call the "real" police.

Studio36

Lohkee wrote:

studio36uk wrote:
The actual complaint is here but helpfully the 3 TN laws involved are cited in full after the first page:

http://static.mgnetwork.com/tri/media_p … idavit.pdf

I can just feel the civil suit against the Sheriff's Department coming on... I feel it in my bones.

Studio36

Step 1: File suit.
Step 2: Wait for **BIG** settlement offer - this will never make it to trial.
Step 3: Find another cop to shoot and then repeats steps 1 & 2.

Who said photography isn't profitable?

Well, just about the same thing in Seattle cost the city 8 grand not too long ago.

Not a bad pay-day.

Studio36

Ed Burns Photography wrote:
I really wish people would stop lumping every cop together, whenever one indiviual makes a poor decision.  And, for those that really like to criticize the police, I say try doing their job for even just one day.  Let's see how you fare when you're posed with a difficult, suspicious, hostile, or unusual situation.

Agree.

muddywaters photography wrote:
I'm a cop in TN, and have been photographed (and filmed) at more crime scenes than I care to think about. I could care less. From the statements in the article, I think the county administrators already know this one is going to be a lawsuit.

The cop taking the 5th vis-a-vis the reporter is kind of a hint as to where they stand, I think.

Studio36

studio36uk wrote:
The cop taking the 5th vis-a-vis the reporter is kind of a hint as to where they stand, I think.

Studio36

But does that really suprise you?

It's a hot issue, they could have done something wrong, and anything they say is going to be put under a microscope. I'd sure as hell not want to talk about it if I could.

muddywaters photography wrote:
HHHMMM, obstructing a roadway would be a more appropriate charge. But I would be concerned in todays environment as well if a vehicle stopped, pointed an object, then went past, turned, and came back by. I've had someone try to kill me, and it makes you cautious.

Photographers don't point their cameras unless they intend to use them. That may be perceived as a threat. But to be fair, this one, once it was apparent there was no threat went way too far.

Studio36

Minneapolis Fashion  wrote:
But does that really suprise you?

It's a hot issue, they could have done something wrong, and anything they say is going to be put under a microscope. I'd sure as hell not want to talk about it if I could.

It wouldn't surprise me if the response had been a simple "no comment." But it wasn't.

Studio36

Ed Burns Photography wrote:
What makes everybody think cops and firemen are super human?  They're just regular people trying to do their job.  A job that requires them to investigate anything that looks suspicious, and then make decisions on how to handle the situation.  Truth is, doctors f&#@ up, lawyers f&#@ up, waiters f&$# up, mailmen f#@* up, airline pilots f*$# up and even photographers f#$* up.  Hell, even preists and pastors of churches f%## up.  I'm guessing you've f#$@ed up at one time or another as well. 

Whether it's corruption, error in judgement, neglect of duty, or simply having their head up their ass, everybody is capable of making a mistake. 

I really wish people would stop lumping every cop together, whenever one indiviual makes a poor decision.  And, for those that really like to criticize the police, I say try doing their job for even just one day.  Let's see how you fare when you're posed with a difficult, suspicious, hostile, or unusual situation.

Ed,  after reading more ... and posts like yours and Photographs by Jerry, I've changed my mind on this.  How can I possibly know that the cop was pulling a power trip?  There are two sides to this story, and the truth lies some where in between. 

I can't know what really happened without having been there to witness it, and then it would still be my perspective.  If someone were pointing an object at me with a red light while I was trying to do my job, I would not like it either!  How does the officer really know it's not a weapon until it's too late?  The dude shooting the pictures is lucky because I have heard of incidents where a person has been shot because they refused to comply and held a cell phone or keys in menacing ways.  Well people can even activate bombs with cell phones!

I'm not sure that I'd blame the cop as I had before.  Being a cop is a tough job that requires split second decisions.  I don't know if it's the guy shooting the picture who should get blamed for anything either.  One might have been a jerk to photograph the other, and the other might have been a jerk in arresting the other ... but let's just say that it was good that this didn't end with anyone getting shot.  Maybe both will be a little more cautious or have a better attitude?