Woman arrested for filming police

[Sirius Glass]

Tough Shit.

Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

* 2

 

[Sirius Glass]

And on other fronts

D.C. taxi commission goes dark after journalist arrests


http://wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2436309

 

[Photo Engineer]

As an update to the OP, the news tonight reported that supporters of the woman are being harassed. This was reported on Rochester's channel 10 TV on the 5 O'clock news. Basically, they were having a support meeting for her and while in the meeting, their cars were ticketed for being parked too far from the curb. They were interviewed on TV and the police were shown giving the tickets and measuring the cars wheel distance from the curb with a ruler.

PE

 

[moose10101]

until you have had the experience, Do ou have the right to protest those in harms way? Don

Yes. I'm amazed that anyone would have to ask.

 

[lxdude]

I love this: "He has no Constitutional right to feel safe." Do you have a constiutional right to feel safe?

No. I do have a right to be secure from unreasonable intrusion upon my rights by any part of government. I notice you ignored my next sentence where I said "If he's patrolling in a bad part of town can he order everyone off the street who makes him feel unsafe?"

Did you ever serve on the front lines in battle, or do law enforcement?

No. That does not mean my opinion is less valid. I have a right to criticize unlawful actions by soldiers without having had to be one. Same with police or politicians, or any other employee of my government. Or for that matter, anyone else.

Do the cops have a right to go home to their families at the end of their shift?

Everyone does.
Does a cop have a right to not be killed on the job? As much as anyone else does. Taking a job which involves danger raises the possibility of being killed though, regardless of what the job is.
I believe police have a right to establish a reasonable perimeter so they can do their job effectively and with reasonable security. Standing in the middle of the street (which he was) and ordering a person with a camera out of her front yard and into her house to that end is excessive.

The cops don't know what is happening in her head. I did not hear them say that she couldn't film them,...

But note that she's the only one he arrested.

... just requested that she goes into the house.

ORDERED her to go into the house, under threat of arrest.

until you have had the experience, Do ou have the right to protest those in harms way? Don

ABSOLUTELY. A constitutional right.
Police are given authority the rest of us don't have, but they don't have more rights. They do have a responsibility to exercise their authority properly.

 

[lxdude]

They tried very politely to explain that someone behind them was at best uncomfortable. Why didn't she walk out and film them from in front of the officers? That would have solved the problem. Don

The one arresting her was facing her. The one with his back to her said nothing. From where could she record them without being behind one? The best she could have done is get them from their side, and what if one turns away? Plus, police cars were in the way of that angle, and it would have put her in the street, not nearly as safe as her own front yard.

 

[lxdude]

As an update to the OP, the news tonight reported that supporters of the woman are being harassed. This was reported on Rochester's channel 10 TV on the 5 O'clock news. Basically, they were having a support meeting for her and while in the meeting, their cars were ticketed for being parked too far from the curb. They were interviewed on TV and the police were shown giving the tickets and measuring the cars wheel distance from the curb with a ruler.

PE

Sorry to hear that. It's just pathetic that they would do something so petty. It certainly doesn't win the PD any supporters.

 

[moose10101]

As an update to the OP, the news tonight reported that supporters of the woman are being harassed. This was reported on Rochester's channel 10 TV on the 5 O'clock news. Basically, they were having a support meeting for her and while in the meeting, their cars were ticketed for being parked too far from the curb. They were interviewed on TV and the police were shown giving the tickets and measuring the cars wheel distance from the curb with a ruler.

PE

Here's the report.

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s2171728.shtml

If there were any doubt that the Rochester cops absolutely NEED to be videotaped, here it is.

 

[lightwisps]

Yes you do have the right to complain about anything you want. That is bout and paid for by those who risk their lives to make sure you have those rights.

If someone is breaking into your house, are you going to call the police?

There is an old saying: "freedom is not free".

Maybe the members of the organizations that protect you should all quit and get office jobs? That will let you protect your freedoms and safety on your own, and those men and women can live a normal life.

What say you to this?

 

[BrianL]

Too little facts to actually comment on. Neighborhood can lead to different emotional responses and in this case it might be an area where there is a lot of violence and police have had issues previously. There appears to have been some exchange before the camera was turned on. Was the woman and the person arrested in some way related or associated? I agree there probably will be consequnces fromt he police action as they were operating under color of title and hence possibly subject to wrongful arrest suit or at least disciplinary action. However, the claim they felt threatened is the basis of a charge of assault. Back in law school we quickly learned to say this before we got into a fight.

 

[Photo Engineer]

For those interested, a Rochester city council member was recently arrested for DUI and resisting arrest along with several other charges (IIRC). Video tape from security cameras clearly show that the police were the bad guys and the council man was quite polite to them. This is also under investigation, but the councilman was placed on trial and pleaded guilty as it would have tied him up for weeks and he cannot afford to lose the revenue, as he is a barber by profession.

He is now having this incident investigated.

PE

 

[Sirius Glass]

This reminds me that Rochester New York was the first place to have race riots in the '60's. That was triggered by a climate of police excesses as investigations showed.

 

[Rudeofus]

This reminds me that Rochester New York was the first place to have race riots in the '60's. That was triggered by a climate of police excesses as investigations showed.

While everybody seems to focus on Rochester here, the problem police has with smart phone cameras seems to be a more widespread issue, at least Arizona seems affected by this as well. These omni present cameras created a new situation for cops and they seem to struggle with this a lot. I have the impression that a lot of folks will be unlawfully arrested, a lot of these cases will go up to higher courts before this whole issue is sorted out.

My sympathy goes to those who are willing to stand their legal ground even if this means great personal inconveniences for them (unlawful arrests, detention, expensive litigation). My biggest fear is that this flood of similar incidents will lead to resignation ("legal or not, just do what the cop says already") or collective yawns from hearing similar stories all the time ("please, not another of these cop arrests video taper stories again").

 

[c6h6o3]

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s2174896.shtml

 

[pbromaghin]

Statement from the Mayor, Council President and Police chief:

"We believe that the incident that led to Ms. Good's arrest and the subsequent ticketing for parking violations of vehicles belonging to members of an organization associated with Ms. Good raise issues with respect to the conduct of Rochester Police Officers that require an internal review. A review into both matters has been initiated."

WTF?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Statement from the Mayor, Council President and Police chief:

"We believe that the incident that led to Ms. Good's arrest and the subsequent ticketing for parking violations of vehicles belonging to members of an organization associated with Ms. Good raise issues with respect to the conduct of Rochester Police Officers that require an internal review. A review into both matters has been initiated."

WTF?

TRANSLATION: The Mayor agrees that the arrest was unwarranted but having a review before he raises Hell with the police, he has to appear to not jumping to conclusions about the people; although the police feel that they can jump to judgment in the absence of the facts and the law.

Does that make it clearer?

 

[Photo Engineer]

As of today, Ms. Good has announced a civil liberties lawsuit against the police. It will most likely be a Federal suit.

There was quite a bit of TV coverage tonight.

PE

 

[MattKing]

As of today, Ms. Good has announced a civil liberties lawsuit against the police. It will most likely be a Federal suit.

There was quite a bit of TV coverage tonight.

PE

It is always advantageous to have a name like "Good" when you are going to court and want to have public opinion on your side.

As an aside, a colleague of mine had clients who were in court a lot and never seemed to do well. I wonder if the fact that their surname was "Crook" had anything to do with it ....

 

[Sirius Glass]

As an aside, a colleague of mine had clients who were in court a lot and never seemed to do well. I wonder if the fact that their surname was "Crook" had anything to do with it ....

Does he work for the Three Stooges' law firm "Dewey Cheetem & Howe"?

 

[c6h6o3]

As of today, Ms. Good has announced a civil liberties lawsuit against the police. It will most likely be a Federal suit.

There was quite a bit of TV coverage tonight.

PE

Good! I hope she collects a fortune in punitive damages.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I'm ambivalent, as I have to pay her via taxes. Oh, I do support her, but the one point they made in our newscast is that everyone here will pay. And, there is not much we can do about it.

PE

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'm ambivalent, as I have to pay her via taxes. Oh, I do support her, but the one point they made in our newscast is that everyone here will pay. And, there is not much we can do about it.

PE

Ah, but ...

If one exceeds their authority while doing their job, the employer is not required to pay for the defense of the employee or any penalities.

The police officers exceeded their authority, therefore:

• The city of Rochester should neither pay for their defense nor their law suite liabilities.
• The police officers should pay for their defense and their law suite liabilities.

Now Ron, this is something politically that we can agree on, right?

Steve

 

[Steve Smith]

The police officers exceeded their authority, therefore:

• The city of Rochester should neither pay for their defense nor their law suite liabilities.
• The police officers should pay for their defense and their law suite liabilities.

In that case, any damages awarded are likely to be very small.

EDIT: Well, the award can be large but she can't get any more from the officers than they actually have.


Steve.

 

[Rudeofus]

I'm ambivalent, as I have to pay her via taxes. Oh, I do support her, but the one point they made in our newscast is that everyone here will pay. And, there is not much we can do about it.

It's not really like they are going to up the sales tax tomorrow because of this (not even if the police department keeps running into these situations). The first thing that will happen after an expensive settlement is that the money they are ordered to pay will be missing somewhere else. Some affected people in the administration will be extremely unhappy about this and will try to make absolutely sure that their budget is not wasted on expensive and lost lawsuits.

I just tried to imagine an election campaign which goes: "Vote for us! We will bump X tax by 5% to pay for pompous peace officers overstepping their bounds against you, the people!!!"

Nope, not happening.

 

[artonpaper]

Someday we will all wear lapel cameras and video everything all day. The goons won't like it, but it's coming.