[PRCo] Re: Photography

[John Swindler]

Your last sentence says it all.  And its not just the photography aspect.
 

 

> From: hrbran at cavtel.net
> Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2011 11:08:57 -0400
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Photography
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> 
> They (the government) used to do these same actions (arrest, detention and
> seizing of personal property) in Germany, between 1933 and 1945, using the
> same reasoning of terrorism, spying and national security.
> I have related the following story here on The List; however, to recap. I
> was working the Waterfront Line and took photographs while on recovery time
> at South Harbour Station. The station, like all of Greater Cleveland
> Regional Transit Authority (RTA) stations, transit centers and vehicles is
> saturated with cameras. I took the photos (two are attached and don't seem a
> threat to the New World Order, at least to me) and got back in the cab and
> took off for Shaker Heights. I got to the Flats/East Bank station when a
> "security message" came over the communication system for operators on the
> Waterfront Line to watch out for someone taking photos of the line and
> report to the Communications Center a description and location of said
> individual(s). Inasmuch as I did not see anyone else taking photos, other
> than myself, it had to be me. Of course, I called in right
> away................sure I did. I just kept on operating and throughout my
> time at RTA continued to take photos. The only people who seem to suffer
> from all the searching and seizing are the law abiding US Citizens. I
> suppose all this gives an "illusion" of security to the electorate.
> 
> Thanks, Phillip, for sending this news article.
> 
> On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 01:55, Phillip Clark Campbell <pcc_sr at yahoo.com>wrote:
> 
> >
> > http://news.yahoo.com/government-war-cameras-160402195.html;_ylt=AhPiz2ixdSl2Du0JYBAF.JAD.7t_;_ylu=X3oDMTQ3dGkyMWlpBGNjb2RlA3ZzaGFyZWFnMnVwcmVzdARwa2cDM2RiNWViYjctZGViMS0zZjQxLTg1YWUtODBiN2ZmNGY0NWE0BHBvcwMxMARzZWMDQXJ0aWNsZSBOZXdzIEZvciBZb3UEdmVyA2U1YTQ1YWEwLWE5N2ItMTFlMC04MWVmLTVjNzhlZTFjNWViZA--;_ylg=X3oDMTMybWo4ZmFxBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNjA3NjA5YTEtOGY2Yy0zOWRkLTk2NGMtNmI3YTE4ZTA2ZWMwBHBzdGNhdANoZWFsdGh8dml0YWxpdHkEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=3
> > Excerpts below:
> >
> > Phil
> >
> >
> > The government’s war on cameras
> > Jerome Vorus was taking pictures of the Georgetown neighborhood of
> > Washington, D.C. last July when he
> > decided to snap some photographs of a routine traffic stop.
> >
> > Little did he know he would soon
> > find himself detained by police for photographing them without
> > permission. Of course, Vorus was well within his rights, but he still
> > had to wait an hour and a half in the back of a squad car before the
> > officers released him. (TSA employee caught stuffing passengers’ junk in
> > his trunks)
> > “This is happening more and more,” Vorus said in a phone interview.
> > “Police are arresting journalists, photographers and tourists, often
> > using excuses like terrorism or security.”
> >
> > A motorcyclist in Maryland was also charged with eavesdropping in April
> > after he uploaded a video to YouTube — caught on his helmet
> > cam — of a state trooper stopping him with a drawn gun. Police showed up at
> > his house four days after the traffic stop with a warrant for four
> > computers, two laptops and his camera.
> >
> >
> > However, courts have looked
> > unfavorably on overzealous arrests for photography. In almost all cases —
> > except in states with aggressive wiretapping and eavesdropping laws,
> > such as Illinois — judges have rejected officers’ justifications for
> > arrest. After Miller’s first arrest, he was charged with nine
> > misdemeanors and acquitted on all but one, which was later reversed on
> > appeal.
> >
> > “The general consensus is the act
> > of videotaping in itself is not illegal, so long as the person recording
> > the officer’s actions remains at a reasonable distance and does not
> > interfere with the officer or create a safety situation,” Roberts said.
> >
> > Police officers also have no reasonable expectation to privacy while in
> > public and performing a public service.
> >
> > But photographers’ troubles these
> > days don’t end with snapping pictures of the police. Amateur and
> > professional photographers are being arrested or detained for simply
> > taking pictures of government buildings or transit stations.
> >
> > “In a way its almost as if the war on terrorism has morphed in to the
> > war on photography,” Osterreicher said. “Usually the justification is
> > security, but nobody’s ever found any link between photography and
> > terrorism. No treasure trove of photographs of targets or anything.”
> >
> >
> 
> 
> -- 
> Herb Brannon
> In Cuyahoga Valley National Park
> 
> 
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