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Photographing Police: Deletion Is Not Forever

Geoffrey.landis writes "The courts have now ruled that the public has the right to videotape the police in the performance of their duties. Of course, that doesn't stop the police from harassing people who do so — even journalists, who sometimes have their cameras confiscated. As it turns out, though, they're not always very knowledgeable about how deletion works. I would say that erasing, or attempting to erase, a video of police arresting somebody illegally (How can a journalist be charged with 'resisting arrest' when he was not being arrested for anything other than resisting arrest?) is a clear case of destruction of evidence by the officers. Destroying evidence is obstruction of justice. That's illegal. Why haven't these police officers been arrested?"

9 of 482 comments (clear)

  1. Because cops enjoy protected status. by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's illegal. Why haven't these police officers been arrested?"

    Cops get let off all the time, some examples: http://bit.ly/dWV5ab
    This cop is not suffering from dementia, they showed him on the TV afterwards walking, talking, and smiling. In addition, it is typical in VA to be held indefinitely if your are unable to stand trial, as VA has no insanity defense.

    Remember the Katrina shootings: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/mistrial-declared-in-katrina-shooting_n_1239525.html
    After enough mistrials, the case will likely be quietly dropped as the public forgets. Shit it has been 7 years already.

    Do I really need to mention the Rodney King riots?

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
  2. Re:Duh, if you're not a cop you're little people by Tharsman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hmmm I ponder...

    If I make a company on another state, and my equipment belongs to said company... not only that but the equipment is constantly "broadcasting" to a datacenter (so deletions are never actually possible) ... can a savy journalist get the FBI involved since it's a cross-state crime where the local state officer tempred with property of an out-of-state company?

  3. Re:Two separate things here by Chibi+Merrow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And if you actually research it further, you'll find that the only charges he is actually facing is "Resisting arrest". He wasn't cited for failure to disperse.

    Funnily enough, he was actually asking the police if he could go to his car when one of the commanders started shouting "Arrestee! Arrestee!" and had him arrested. So apparently asking police to allow you to leave an area they have ordered you to leave is "disobeying a lawful order to disperse"... Much like being tackled from behind is "Assaulting a police officer" and lying unconscious on the ground due to a diabetic coma while cops kick you is "Resisting arrest."

    --
    Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
    Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
  4. Re:Privelege by DnaK · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It is scary how true your statement is. The one time the cops were on my side during a home robbery at my place, i got a ride home from a cop after getting my stuff at the station (we got the guy!) Well as we drive home he blows every stopsign and stoplight without turning on his lights, and i ask him "Is'nt that illegal?" In a very sarcastic tone. His reply, "Who is going to arrest me" And those are direct quotes. Another time i was pulled over for "driving on the median" and in the report it had said i was in the middle median (double yellow both sides) for over 300 ft. When in reality i had only had 2 wheels cross the double yellow line for less then 50 ft. I please not guilty in court, and asked for video evidence and claimed this was a lie. The judge ruled in cops favor, even though he was blatenly lying. I will admit i don't always follow the rules, the only other time i got a ticket it was totally justified, i was going 52 in a 35. I please guilty, but it was removed from record because of traffic school.

  5. Illegal Everything by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you can't be above the law then why be a cop?

    There are a bunch of similar stories here (as well as several other atrocities like selling lemonade, Girl Scout cookies, felony ditch cleaning, and holding illegal prayer meetings).

    Cops on tape, breaking the law, and nothing is done about it.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  6. Re:Privelege by SuperTechnoNerd · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I had a similar experience. The Chief of Police comes in to our computer shop in a panic. Their file server was down. I said I will follow you to the station, but he said he got a faster way - get in my car. I got my stuff since it sounded like a power supply issue, I brought a new supply.and into his police cruiser we went at 80+ mph down winding country roads (he did actually use his lights and siren - for a server failure) I must admit it was loads of fun.. I replaced a bum power supply and again he took me back to the shop sirens screaming lights flashing.. It was a toot!

  7. Re:Privelege by Dragonslicer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You know I was right there with you when Bush started doing warantless wiretapping and the patriot act etc, but when Obama is just as bad as his predecessor I don't think you can blame just the right anymore.

    Who said Obama was on "the left"? Other than the really far right, of course.

  8. Re:Privelege by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Maybe instead you should use it to teach some critical thinking/don't believe everything on the net. However since you've apparently accepted it as Complete Fact(tm) that may be asking too much.

    What evidence do you have that this is a real note? A picture of something printed out is not evidence of anything other than that somebody wanted to make a picture. There is no evidence this is real.

    In fact, there is some evidence to the contrary. So it is dated 1994, yet the document uses smart quotes. I certainly don't recall my system in 1994 having that feature. I'd have to do more research (which I'm not going to do because I don't care) but I suspect such a feature was not in use then, which implies a forgery. There's other things too such as the "crease marks" in the paper that don't show visual distortion, as they normally would if they actually existed in 3 dimensions and weren't added in post and the askew angle, which would be more consistent with a camera photo rather than a scan but digital cameras were very rare back then.

    There's also some circumstantial things such as date happening to be Hitler's birthday and the teacher's initials being A.H. Could simply be a coincidence, of course, but does get one's antenna twitching.

    So perhaps a little more critical thinking, and maybe try and use it as a lesson that just believing anything on the net that happens to reenforce your preconceived notions is not such a good thing.

    Also, it is a bit silly to claim that it is "being taught in schools" if your best example is for near 2 decades ago. If it is "being taught in schools" then a more recent example should be easy to find.

  9. Re:Privelege by Teancum · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Orson Wells was famous for using Ambulances as a taxi service, because he could get around mid-town Manhattan much faster with an Ambulance than with a conventional taxi service.

    Such acts are currently illegal in most jurisdictions because of abuse like this in the past, where the only time you can turn on the sirens and/or lights is to respond to a bona fide emergency. None the less, a server crash might fit the technical scope of an "emergency" when it does involve official police business.