Posted on 03/02/2004 10:01:03 AM PST by E Rocc
EAST ST. LOUIS - Fletcher Parker said all he wanted was a few snapshots of the East St. Louis Police Department in action, a force he said he strongly supports.
Instead, he said cops seized his digital camera's disc, which records the images, and threatened him with arrest.
On Monday about 11:30 a.m., seven or eight city officers had captured a suspect behind a house at 17th Street and St. Clair Avenue and were leading him back to a squad car. Police declined to state the nature of the arrest.
Parker said he was driving by when he spotted a crowd of neighbors watching the action.
"So I stopped and I was just taking pictures. Standing next to my truck on the opposite side of the street," said Parker, 38, an electrician and city resident who used an older-model digital camera.
After taking several snapshots and without talking to the police, Parker said he left. After driving three blocks, he realized he was being followed by six squad cars.
"I thought they were all just trying to pass me, so I pulled over. They come running out of their cars at me," he said.
Parker said the officers asked him if he was a reporter and when he said no, asked why he was taking photos. They then seized the disc from the digital camera, he said.
After accusing him of obstructing an investigation and warning him he was lucky not to be given a traffic ticket for failing to keep his auto insurance card in the vehicle, they let him go.
An angry Parker said he went an hour later to the police department and spoke with Police Chief Ron Matthews, and asked for the return of his camera disc. He said Matthews refused.
"The chief told me if they (the officers) had been doing their job they would have arrested me at the scene and then we wouldn't be having this problem," Parker said.
But when he was contacted by telephone about five minutes after Parker left his office, Matthews said, "We are looking into his complaint now. We're going to find out what officers were out there."
Laimutis Nargelenas, a former superintendent of the Illinois State Police and a spokesman for the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said ordinary citizens generally have a legal right to photograph police in action, as do news cameramen.
But if a police officer orders someone to stop taking pictures, they must cease even if the officer has no legal basis for such an order, Nargelenas said.
"Generally, we tell our police to keep in mind that the citizens have cameras, like in the Rodney King situation, and to always do the right thing because they are a lot of cameras and video cameras out there," he said.
Parker said he contacted the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit to lodge a complaint, but was told by Master Sgt. Tyrone Jordan that it was illegal to take photographs.
Contacted by a reporter, Jordan said Parker did have a right to take photographs as long as he did not interfere with police, "although I would advise against it."
-Eric
My, what a great position-"taking pictures is legal, unless we say otherwise."
Boy, and cops wonder why people don't appreciate them?
Jordan said Parker did have a right to take photographs as long as he did not interfere with police, "although I would advise against it."
In other words, you won't be prosecuted, you'll just get your skull split.
Interesting.
Can Nargelenas cite chapter and verse of such a law?
Gee, I thought that the police always tried to "do the right thing" because it was the right thing to do!!! Now I learn its only because somebody might have a camera. That's reassuring!!
East St. Louis police have a long history of being.... bad!
Cops have a lot more to hide. When they screw up, innocent people die. When firemen screw up, firemen die. So, firemen actually have an incentive to encourage (or at least, not to discourage) people to take pictures of them at work- if things go wrong, they might be able to learn something from the pictures.
Cops have no desire to be under public scrutiny, since they claim that the public does not understand their jobs.
After driving three blocks, he realized he was being followed by six squad cars.
It takes 6 squad cars to illegally sieze one person's camera?
Parker said the officers asked him if he was a reporter and when he said no, asked why he was taking photos.
So you have to be a reporter to take pictures ??
An angry Parker said he went an hour later to the police department and spoke with Police Chief Ron Matthews, and asked for the return of his camera disc. He said Matthews refused.
Theft of citizens property.
"The chief told me if they (the officers) had been doing their job they would have arrested me at the scene and then we wouldn't be having this problem"... But when he was contacted by telephone about five minutes after Parker left his office, Matthews said, "We are looking into his complaint now. We're going to find out what officers were out there."
So if it was the officers job to arrest him, and they used their discretion to let him go, why investigate it then?
Laimutis Nargelenas, a former superintendent of the Illinois State Police and a spokesman for the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said ordinary citizens generally have a legal right to photograph police... But if a police officer orders someone to stop taking pictures, they must cease even if the officer has no legal basis for such an order, Nargelenas said.
So department policy trumps legal rights ?????
"Generally, we tell our police to keep in mind that the citizens have cameras, like in the Rodney King situation, and to always do the right thing because they are a lot of cameras and video cameras out there," he said.
Not because it's wrong to to things like that, just because you could end up on the tv news from someone's video camera.
Parker said he contacted the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit to lodge a complaint, but was told by Master Sgt. Tyrone Jordan that it was illegal to take photographs.
No offense Sgt but you are a liar, as demonstrated by the very next paragraph..
Contacted by a reporter, Jordan said Parker did have a right to take photographs as long as he did not interfere with police, "although I would advise against it."
So tell me, Sgt Tyrone Jordan, why would you advise someone against doing something it's their legal right to do ?
No argument from me. A professional, competent, law-abiding cop has nothing to fear from having his picture taken.
If it was up to me, all cops would be filmed at all times while on duty. That would protect the public from criminal cops and protect honest cops from unfounded charges of misconduct.
That said, public servants will not willingly submit to observation.
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