Posted on 05/03/2014 7:10:46 AM PDT by Leaning Right
Photographing and videotaping anything in public viewincluding federal buildings and the policeis legal in NYC as long as the documentation does not impede any law enforcement activity. Nevertheless, plenty of peopleincluding journalistscontinue to be arrested and harassed by camera-shy NYPD officers.
- snip -
While in the back of the car, Paybarah (the arrestee) says he asked the officers why he was arrested for taking video. One officer responded memorably:
I was told by another officer while in the car that recording a police officer was illegal because people are using iPhones as guns and shooting cops through the camera lens.
(Excerpt) Read more at gothamist.com ...
>>cell phones as potential firearms.<<
Yes, the now-famous iPhone cameragun. Police have every reason to fear every PDA is in reality a gun that can shoot through the camera aperture.
It was just a question of time before cops caught up to this technology...
We need to outlaw cellphones. Or restrict them to 7 pictures.
That was an interesting video. I have seen still pictures of .22 “cell phone” guns before, but I have never seen a video.
So where does that leave us? Should cops be allowed to treat every cell phone as a potential firearm? And I suppose you could easily convert an umbrella into a single shot shotgun. So how should cops treat umbrellas?
Doesn’t exactly look like a smart phone, does it. And if the cops think cell phones are guns then perhaps they can arrest every one they see with one and arrest them for carrying a concealed weapon.
The cops use any excuse they want to take away our rights.
Now that was funny right there. Then again, you might just have given Mayor De Blasio an idea.
USC 42 Section 1983 lawsuit
Under most circumstances, the police, selected minorities [read as those minorities who bring the Democrat votes], the police, and Democrat politicians are exempt from the law[s]. It is only when they incur the wrath of someone in a higher position of power that they are prosecuted. Then, the laws we have to obey are applied to them. But, in general, so long as they keep their masters happy, they are safe.
The problem here is not with the photography, but in being seen as photographing. The solution is to use a remote wire camera, which only presents a dime or less sized lens, attached by wire to the phone.
Add to that a transmission buffer, that while you are recording, sends blocks of data to a remote site, so even if they grab your camera, it continues to send blocks of data until it is turned off. To a safe place they cannot tamper with or erase.
Ahh yes, the ol everyone's guilty until proven innocent. I love that one and have that explicitly said to me by a jack boot. Sorry, cops deserve no quarter just because they're cops. These pigs should hang.
Hey, I am presently walking with a cane, and there are plenty of examples of canes being modified to hole a sword or to fire shotgun shells.
“If one goes to the stores that specialize in such items, one can buy a gun disguised as almost anything; therefore, the cops can challenge any object you point at them whether a camera or a roll of toilet paper.”
Does that mean that I can shoot the next cop who points a radar/LIDAR gun at my car? It MIGHT be a firearm.
“I was told by another officer while in the car that recording a police officer was illegal because people are using iPhones as guns and shooting cops through the camera lens.”
iPhones barely work as phones.
I don’t think it’s reasonable for cops to assume a phone contains a hidden gun. But it’s not unreasonable for them to examine a phone, or other stuff someone they have stopped might be carrying, for possible hidden weapons.
For example, there are a lot of belt buckle knives out there.
I haven’t seen any smartphones that can fire bullets, but I don’t see any particular reason it should be impossible to build one. Though it probably would be a smartphone case with a concealed gun. I doubt it would be functional any longer as a phone.
Why risk confiscation of your camera or arrest when cameras and recoding devices can easily be concealed? There are many eyeglass camera/ microphones on the market at reasonable prices.
I do understand that many want to assert their rights by openly taping police in public. So, the next time one of these incidents occurs, make sure that one individual has a concealed camera.
No, have one annoying person with a phone, and another with a concealed recording system. Good distraction and confiscating the phone will make them overconfident.
See post 32. This is going down a very dangerous road. Exactly how far do we really want to take “I though that they had a weapon”?
“I dont think its reasonable for cops to assume a phone contains a hidden gun.”
I agree with you. But there actually is a stun device that looks like a smart phone. It’s the “I-stun”. Then, there’s the credit card knife. Cops can sit around all day and think up very low probability threats as a justification to arrest or shoot you.
Show me the man, and I’ll find you the crime. L. Beria, NKVD.
Don’t disagree. But if the cops detain someone they have reason to believe is a dangerous person, it makes perfect sense for them search him thoroughly.
Not a random cyclist, pedestrian or motorist.
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