Raw Video: APD officer confronts KOB photographer

Raw Video: APD officer confronts KOB photographer

kob.com

An Eyewitness News 4 photographer was cuffed and cited Thursday morning for disobeying a police officer. It was a situation where the photographer was trying to do his job. And now the Albuquerque Police Department is reviewing the tape to see if the officer crossed the line.

APD says a driver and officers had exchanged gunfire at Copper Avenue and Rhode Island Street NE. An Eyewitness News 4 photographer covering the incident approached two police cars.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Video of the incident shows one of the officers walking away, looking at the photographer, and then walking out of frame while the other officer drives away from the scene.

The photographer then began to put his camera in the news vehicle to move to the media staging area when the officer begins circling around.

“I’m not putting the camera down until (inaudible),” the photographer told the officer as he was approached.

The two scuffled for a short time, and then the photographer was handcuffed and detained for about 90 minutes.

In short the Photographer was doing his job... When told he had to leave... he tried to comply but before he could get to his truck he was pounced on... see the vid...
just more proof the police don't want us to know what really goes on behind the scenes...

full story

[edit on 30-5-2008 by DaddyBare]

Two things I fixed the link to full story...

Secondly I also work as a reporter and was tasered by police on two separate occasions. once in LA and once here in Albuquerque...In my opinion the police acted out of control. This is just another case of the militarization of the police in New Mexico and across the country!

I wonder why the police are so scared of actual photographic evidence of the crime and crime scene? What are they scared of?

[edit on 5/30/2008 by Griff]

I'm not putting the camera down until.......? Was he hoping to get a good shot of the scene or something?

It's crazy the cops are getting pretty militarized here in Albuquerque. They have DUI checkpoints pretty much every nite. I have gotten pulled out and searched twice at those and I don't even drink.

Holy crap, man! What the hell is that?!?! This is definitely one to keep tabs on to see what happens in this impending review. S & F

they should fit hidden cameras to all news reporter vehicles to film the scene of any story they stop to report...sort of what the police have in there cars.....

this guy needs to be reported on ratemycop.com so that the next person he does this to has a something to go on.

It speaks volumes that the charges against the photographer haven't been dropped. They really want to train the media to accept who is the boss.

Originally posted by ironman433
this guy needs to be reported on ratemycop.com so that the next person he does this to has a something to go on.

Nothing will ever come of it... APD Chief Ray Schultz and PR man, spokesman John Walsh will make sure charges against the photographer are such that...paid... witnesses ... addicts/hookers...will come forward and swear the journalist threw the first punch... we've seen these underhanded tactics here before...

As "theendisnear69" pointed out...normal people on the streets avoid eye contact with the police ...least they find themselves hog tied and hauled down to the station....

fatdads got a good idea.

they should put those hidden cameras inside the news vans. I've seen cops in LA tell news reporters legally filming a major accident caused by a reckless cop that damn near got himself killed (they used the jaws of life on him)and badly injured 3 girls, that they would all be arrested if they didn't leave the area immediatly by police detectives. these reporters were across the street about 100 feet away from the accident on the sidewalk. The cops even literally wrote down false witness statements

Ie... witness "it was the cops fault he made a u turn into on comming traffic with out even his running lights on at night with out checking"

Detective "So you're saying it was all the girls fault"

Witness "no no the cop was completely reckless!"

Detective "OK lady you're going to have to leave here or I'm going to arrest you for interfering with a crime scene"

Witness "whaaaa?"

No Joke.

so in light of me witnessing the cops do this, and this was just an average night I'm guessing for the LAPD, I have no doubt that the cops do this a lot more than we know. I'm betting that there are plenty of news worthy stories the local news stations can uncover by simply having these hidden cameras.

after what happened at macaurther park last year the lapd thinks twice now about brutalizing t.v. reporters and hopefully apd will have to do the same. as for witness harassment that will never stop until we band together and make it stop.
www.ratemycop.com is a good way to let people know what cop's are constantly over stepping their bounds and infringing on our rights .

we had a local web site dedicated to cover-up and corruption by law enforcement.
I bet you can guess the site owners were pressured to shut it down in 2004
but the site is still hanging on...sort of...
Real Crimes

I live in Las Cruces which is about 225 miles south of Albuquerque, and we have the same problems here. Cops are out of control. If I were the reporter I'd get a good lawyer, and sue the ever living piss out of that cop, and the APD. It was obvious that he was assaulted, the cop didn't even say to put the camera down turn around with your hands behind your back...ect ect, he just walked up and assaulted him with no warning.

Those cops should be fired, fined, sued and imprisoned.

I know what is it with cops in New Mexico?

In Bosque Farms everyone literally drives under the speed limit because the cops come down on you so hard there. It is a very small town but there are police everywhere you look. A friend once got a ticket for $75 for his license plate light being out. First offense.

It's sad really

After the officer walks away from the reporter and faces his colleagues who thereafter approach, it seems that both know what is going to happen next as the reporter indicates by repeating the location of the media staging area and attempting to leave. Wisely, the reporter left the camera active and recorded the vindictive nature of this officer who it appears did not like to be questioned. The only individual that I can see who broke the law in this video is the officer who as the article specifies is Daniel Guzman and he is listed at ratemycop. What a thing to prove, an assault on a citizen by an officer, were there not a camera present to record these events for the perusal of the world. It is bad enough that we must share our cities with crime and endure laws that restrict us from defending ourselves against it, but must suffer from this type of corruption as well.

There are over 650 posts on the KOB website concerning the story. Of the ones I read, it seems people were split 50/50 over whether the officer was a hot-headed thug or the photographer was a troublemaking punk. Since the photographer was about a block away and there wasn't visible crime scene tape, it appears the police officer over reacted. As for only having been on the beat for 7 months, that cop has a long hard road ahead of him if he is going to treat every citizen the same way he treated the camera man.

Law enforcement is getting edgy just like most of the citizens they are paid to protect. These are scary times.

"I can feel it comin in the air tonite"

$80. for a seat belt infraction here in Corrales. Jesus Christ!!

You guys are bent out of shape over nothing...

1. The officers clearly stated to the camera man that there is an investigation going on, obviously the gunman hasn't been caught yet, and they're just doing their job, but here comes someone interfering with their work.

2. You have a rookie officer who's been on the street for only 7 months and does not have the experience in handling something like this. He may be wrong, but give him a little slack. He told the guy he needed to leave.

quit spending so much time on ATS and go out to the real world for a bit.