Cops Arrest Priest For Filming Them!

There is a greater need for the public to film police than the other way around. The police have the greater power. The public is at greater risk from abuse of that power by police than the police are from the average Joe on the street.

Police forcibly preventing citizens from filming them is but an example of their abuse of power.

I will readily admit however, that the filming of police actions is a small power that citizens have over the policeman/woman and as such, can also be abused. Police are human as well, and capable of mistakes. Discretion will always be needed and not every human mistake is something deserving of punishment or trial, but some will try and make it so.
Fairness goes both ways.

reply to post by verylowfrequency


My point was that taking pictures / video is protected by the 1st amendment. Doesn't that override the local laws?
This issue has been a hot potato in the photography field ever since 911

Originally posted by brill
Not to derail this thread but when there are over 10,000 individuals making accusations and over 4000 clerics accused of abuse then yah that's where I'm going with this. By your statement though I guess its acceptable since its only "some"

.
brill

I dont speak on the behalf of any organisation, religion, country, or group etc... Are those the numbers?

Are you saying that being a priest makes you more pre-disposed to molesting kids? Based on the numbers of accusations? Yes its priests this time. Before, it was Boy Scout Leaders, and before that daycare workers... Even the big satanist scare in the 80s spear-headed by Geraldo lol... The accusations all come out at once about a certain group, they fuel eachother. One comes forward, giving courage to the others to also come forward.

Investigations take place, some of the accused take the fall, others are forced to move or are permanantely suspended. The respective organisations watch out for their own...Then everything calms down for a while.

What I'm saying is that this isn't something thats singular to any one group, and my bet is that sick individuals are and always have been doing this. So what if they lock up some priests, what about the bus driver, the babysitter, the swim coach, the retired navy officer, the politician, and on and on... thats doing this right now?

I think that bad people exist everywhere, that are willing to exploit others for their own gain. And this actually relates to the topic of this thread as well.

You're demonizing one particular group because of your predispositions, and that never leads to any progression. Its a terrible shame when ANY persons in a place of trust take advantage of the defenseless!!

[edit on 15-3-2009 by mostlyspoons]

Originally posted by MegaCurious
reply to post by DimensionalDetective

 

This country is toast in who knows how long. You can't just keep tossing people in prison for nothing, because then you'll have everyone, or nearly everyone in prison. You can't just keep putting more laws on the books, because then eventually everything will be illegal. Folks will be able to arrest you for anything.

eventually? you apparently haven't been to new jersey!

reply to post by wayno


I agree, there isnt much protection in place to ensure that the common man be treated fairly by those sworn to serve and protect us... Its only fair that we should be able to document their actions to defend our rights!

reply to post by PsykoOps


Indeed it does, but it seems today you must first have been deprived of your civil rights or in this case 1st Amendment and then take them to court.

It seems that if the police don't have a specific policy to follow they just do what they feel is within the scope of their duty. Our civil rights seem to be less and less of a factor unless there are multiple law suits filed that end up costing them money.

That's the problem with public servants, if you don't spell it out specifically in writing they just don't know how to proceed and since this is a relatively new phenomena having so many people with recording equipment it is an unknown for many of them.

Where I live we have Port Police, City Police and County Sheriffs, not to mention FBI and other federal agencies all overlapping in jurisdictions, yet all with different courts and different policies, procedures and levels of education/professionalism.

That's why I think we need some new laws written in such a way that they understand how to act and what our rights are etc, because it seems that many of them don't really know or are defining their own rules as they go.

reply to post by wayno


Whatever you say, Officer....


*Police officers should be held to a Higher standard, than the rest of us. Unfortunately, Reality has things the other way around - You insinuate that this is not the case.

Citizens being able to film the police is a good thing, no amount of your 'spin' will ever change that.

If an officer has a problem being filmed on the job, then he should be investigated. After all, if a cop has nothing to hide - then he shouldn't have a problem.

(By-the-book cops who obey their oath would be glad of the opportunity to show the world how honest police work is conducted)

reply to post by verylowfrequency


The only thing that comes to mind that might help is to have one of those 'photographers rights' pdf's printed with you at all times. Those are pretty simple and clear about what the law says. If you show one of those to a cop and still get arrested then sue them to high heavens

Originally posted by mostlyspoons

Originally posted by brill
Not to derail this thread but when there are over 10,000 individuals making accusations and over 4000 clerics accused of abuse then yah that's where I'm going with this. By your statement though I guess its acceptable since its only "some"

.
brill

Are you saying that being a priest makes you more pre-disposed to molesting kids? Based on the numbers of accusations? Yes its priests this time. Before, it was Boy Scout Leaders, and before that daycare workers... Even the big satanist scare in the 80s spear-headed by Geraldo lol... The accusations all come out at once about a certain group, they fuel eachother. One comes forward, giving courage to the others to also come forward.
...
You're demonizing one particular group because of your predispositions, and that never leads to any progression. Its a terrible shame when ANY persons in a place of trust take advantage of the defenseless!!

Nice spin. The real crime here is the church and its failure to accept their own crimes. Your outline is weak and incredibly naive. Using boy-scout leaders, daycare workers etc. as examples is a reality but the problem is that, for some, a priest is the closest and most trusted individual representing god (at least to those who follow that nonsense).True I believe that the church and religion in general is a mental disorder that feeds on the weak but that doesn't change things. There is no progression with the church, they are the instigators of wars and bloodshed. I think my signature says it all.

Anyways we are way off topic here I won't continue this debate out of courtesy to the OP.

brill

Yes there is a reason police don't want you filming them..

Imagine for instance if this is the quality of the police force in your country, how safe should you feel?

These are some videos from Greek police. A country many people even from US use to visit during the summer.

L33t Counterstrike kids
www.youtube.com...

Riot police professionalism
www.youtube.com...

Awesome driving skills of the fast response biker units
www.youtube.com...

Here enjoy..


[edit on 15-3-2009 by spacebot]

Are you sure those are actually police? From the looks I'd guess that they're in police academy or something? Those aren't really serious violations except pointing a weapon at a target you do not intend to shoot. If that is a real weapon that is.

Having just had a cop perjure himself in court against me last week, the third or fourth time that‘s happened, such behavior on the part of the constabulary surprises me not. There’s only one reason that a person would not want their actions filmed, and that’s because they intend to do something wrong. We’ve got to protect ourselves and each other from the protectors now. We no longer have peace officers who work for the community. We now have law enforcers who work for the big money PTB, and many are soulless, conscienceless automatons, eager and willing to commit any crime they think they can get away with.

Hi I just joined and i live in this city where it happened and i would just like to say that it is not an isolated incident. I have also had the same thing happen to me because these same police in a walmart parking lot punched a pregnant woman in the face and threw her to the ground and put a knee on her stomach and when people tried to step in and help he pulled his gun and called for backup and were trying to arrest anyone who interfered or tried to help. This was all because she told him to shut up. They call it the Constitution state but we refer to it as the communist state. When i grew up in Ct it was good and the police were nice but things have changed drastically and they have adopted an MP type of attitude. I have contacted the Governor and every Rep i could about filing the 10th amendment and the only reply i received was from a local Rep telling me that he doesn't see why we would need to and it's not necessary. I wrote the Governor 3 times and have yet to get a reply. Oh and yeah if it gives you any idea of how our state is we have the great switch hitting LIEBERMAN. I asked them that if 25 States are filing for the 10th amendment yet CT. which calls itself the Constitution State is not and sees no need to fight for and uphold the Constitution, then how is not blasphemy and we need to change our name to the communist state.

Originally posted by wiredamerican
Idea. There are cameras that broadcast the video to a remote video recorder. If they take the camera the hidden recorder hidden somewhere will not be found. If they ask you how to access the recording, tell them you just bought the camera on ebay and you hope you did not get scammed with no way to record.

I have a high powered video camera on my phone,5 meg nokia n96 which is capable of recording well over an hour of footage and streams it LIVE to a site called qik.com The footage is also transferred to myspace, facebook, and any other site I want ......get on board.

People hate to be filmed in public without permission. It doesn't matter who it is. Think about if someone was intently filming you.

Of course to this guys defence he could have used the famous phrase. "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear."

Originally posted by PsykoOps
I didn't realize you make the law and dictate other peoples rights. Where exactly in the constitution does it say that this power is bestoved upon you?

So let me get this straight. YOU want to be able to film an 11 year old girl who has just been rented out, pimped out, and forced to do sexual acts with the parents friends BY the parents for cash? You honestly think WE as LE shouldn't step in and protect this child from even further damage, i.e. being put on some douchbags video and that video ends up god knows where.

As I said I am all for the 1st Amendment and I don't mind being filmed but a victimized child...sorry I will stomp on your camera with a smile before I allow a child who can't protect themselves to be used by retards who have NO common sense or decency. And anyone, ANYONE who thinks it should be ok to put a child on film like this in my eyes is a waste of space and that mindset is FAR more dangerous then a cop with an attitude problem.

That's the law. There are laws about privacy that protect people but if I can see it with my eyes on a public place I have a right to take picture. There is no law against being a retard or an asshole. You should beware if you threaten to brake other peoples property with a smile, other people might brake you with a smile. It's called self defense, another basic right.

Originally posted by rcwj75

As I said I am all for the 1st Amendment and I don't mind being filmed but a victimized child...sorry I will stomp on your camera with a smile before I allow a child who can't protect themselves to be used by retards who have NO common sense or decency. And anyone, ANYONE who thinks it should be ok to put a child on film like this in my eyes is a waste of space and that mindset is FAR more dangerous then a cop with an attitude problem.

This is a perfect example of why the police need to be filmed. True, the protection of children should be paramount within our society, but so should the protection of all of our rights. If some douchbag is filming the trauma of an 11 year old, there is recourse that the parents can take within the civil justice system to compensate for the suffered trauma of that 11 year old. The tape would be all that they would need to secure pretty much everything that filmographer would own. This is the process outlined within system we live in.

However, the attitude that it is within your scope to seize a persons recording, or to destroy their private property is wrong in all cases. I understand the emotionalism when dealing with traumatized young people, but it is NEVER the responsibility of the police person to be judge, jury and executioner. We often sweepingly generalize priests when it comes to molestation, but when we try to exemplify bad cops, "it's a few bad apples."

In truth, I applaud those individuals who have made it their life's work to protect the weak and serve the society we all live in. Those that will uphold the laws fairly and with compassion, and those that will step in when a "brother in blue" is taking things too far.

A policeman does not have the right to choose which laws he will uphold. he cannot choose which people deserve protection or when a persons property should be violated without due course.

In the case of the OP, a priest who is protecting the young, would probably not be adding trauma to an already traumatized situation of the youth. We don't know all of the facts, but we can surmise that the policeman did violate the property of the priest, and should be held accountable.

Thanks for reading.
..Ex

Originally posted by Cauch1 Now look I am anti-immigration however I do not believe that that gives the police any right to discriminate against a certain group.

This is being touted as a racist themed incident... but I noticed one thing in the OP link

"...as he was videotaping East Haven police removing auto license plates from a wall inside the store. "

Can someone tell me why this Hispanic store was selling auto license plates... and what exactly were these plates? Old ones as decoration? Stolen plates? Seems an important point... yet that part is buried in the 'racial profiling' slant of the story.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


One thing that caught my eye right off the bat was the spin CBS put on the story. The article said: "The arrest has reignited the debate about racial profiling and ethnic discrimination in East Haven, a working-class community of about 28,000 that borders New Haven."

Doesn't that sound like spin to you? That incident had absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with tyranny. CBS is using this incident to deflect focus from what it really is... to try to incite more racial thoughts, when race has nothing to do with this shameful and infuriating action by another of the Nazi thugs. Thanks a lot CBS (Constant Bull Shyte).