Take a cop's picture, get arrested and go to jail...

If I lived anywhere near Philly, I would make a weekly routine to go down, and obviously videotape police doing things, and have someone else more discreetly videotape the same stuff, and have me in their cameras so that we could see what happens.

Also, doesn't this rise to the level where a person could bring a personal suit against the actual officer? Cops like this should die destitute.

The actions of these police officers are utterly contemptible and completely indefensible.

The actions of these police officers are utterly contemptible and completely indefensible.

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Do you know that the gist of the story is in fact true?

Ok so where is the bio for all officers present. I thought where ever there are 2 or more people present in the commision of a crime everything turns a whole new darker shade under the law. And under color of law to boot.

Watch out guys. The EEEVVVVVIIILLLL Commie Traitors in the ACL *shudder* U are defending his rights. He must be doing something wrong like drowning cute baby kittens because a groups of liberals agrees with him.

Badge HEAVY!

Mix stress with ignorence, add Police Power & watch the litigation attorneys suck more out of taxpayers.:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

everyone doesnt know the whole story. All we know is what we read in the news. Nobody was on the street when it happened. i admit it doenst look good, but lets not jump to conclusions simply because the police were involved. Philadelphia is a different world, we have no idea what really went on. Lets take a deep breath.

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Now the way I heard it the kid also had a coffee can under his arm.

Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Everyone

Uhh, okay.. if he wasn't arrested for taking a digital photograph of the police officers, what exactly was he arrested for?

Uhh, okay.. if he wasn't arrested for taking a digital photograph of the police officers, what exactly was he arrested for?

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That's just it. He wasn't. He was hauled off gestapo style with nothing he could be charged with. I smell lawsuit.

Now the way I heard it the kid also had a coffee can under his arm.

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You're only getting part of the story. In addition to the coffee can, said can was PACKED with fabric softner dryer sheets.

Uhh, okay.. if he wasn't arrested for taking a digital photograph of the police officers, what exactly was he arrested for?

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I'll wager that his arrest was based solely on the perception of the arresting LEO that arreste did not display sufficent respect arresting LEOs presence in the community, and had the audacity to photograph LEOs in a public place. AKA Contempt of Cop.

I predict legal-pad-yellow skies over Philly soon.

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as they should. If the facts bear out what was reported, that cop needs to lose his job. period.

as they should. If the facts bear out what was reported, that cop needs to lose his job. period.

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Not necessarily- He may have been arrested for doing something against the law, but we are left to assume, based on the article he was arrested for simply taking a photograph. May or may not be true which is why I was asking. The police certainly didn't give us any clues.

I stood on a public sidewalk and took pictures of a police car sitting in the dark at a "speed trap" in the 70s. Both cops jump out and give me the "we're going to have to arrest you."
When I stated this is covered by our constitution".They stated,"You can't take picture of a police car in action." I replied,"what action?" and took a picture.
They then stated "we're taking your camera." I said "if you touch my camera you might as well arrest me because I am NOT going to release it and you are attempting to restrict the freedom of speech and press,otherwise known as the 1st amendment."
I took another picture from the rear with the license plate,city emblem,and lights then walked away. For months I was harrassed by those bimbos,pulled over for nothing,etc,until a new mayor listened.

The city of Philly is in a no win situation.

Just a thought

"I would NEVER settle with the city. I would drag things out and cause as much public embarassment as humanly possible. I'd want my day in court."
Based on my experience, any competent attorney is going to have dollar signs in his eyes and a quick settlement is always in the best interest of your attorney, maybe not in the clients' best interest, but deffinitely the attorneys'. Therefore you better get a contract with your attorney specifying that he is prepared to litigate all the way to a settlement and any settlement must be authorized by you in writing, BEFORE he gets the case. Nuff said?

Police told Hairston that they did take Cruz into to custody, but they said Cruz was not on his property when they arrested him. Police also denied that they told Cruze he was breaking the law with his cell phone.

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I guess LEO's word carries no weight around here anymore.

How stupid are some of you gonna feel if it turns out that the kid was actually impeding with the arrest or there was at least a legitimate reason to suppose that he was

I stood on a public sidewalk and took pictures of a police car sitting in the dark at a "speed trap" in the 70s. Both cops jump out and give me the "we're going to have to arrest you."
When I stated this is covered by our constitution".They stated,"You can't take picture of a police car in action." I replied,"what action?" and took a picture.
They then stated "we're taking your camera." I said "if you touch my camera you might as well arrest me because I am NOT going to release it and you are attempting to restrict the freedom of speech and press,otherwise known as the 1st amendment."
I took another picture from the rear with the license plate,city emblem,and lights then walked away. For months I was harrassed by those bimbos,pulled over for nothing,etc,until a new mayor listened.

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dillonuser,

You must be a student of Henry David Thoreau.

I guess LEO's word carries no weight around here anymore.

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uhh, he was told at the time of arrest he was being taken into custody for illegally photographing the police with his camera phone.

Maybe it's just me, but when someone lies to me from the get-go, I generally don't put much faith in anything else that comes out of their mouth.

dillonuser,

You must be a student of Henry David Thoreau.

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No,just studied journalism and the 1st amendment for a few years.

Cruz, a Penn State University senior, said that after about an hour police told him he was lucky because there was no supervisor on duty, so they released him.

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I commend the police for their efforts in bringing peace to the city by arresting Penn State seniors rather than wasting their time on muggers, rapists, burglars, and murderers.

They already have tiny tiny cameras that can do full color as other people said

Use on of these and post snapshots of "interesting" cop actions on Freenet so they will not know who is taking them nor can they stop the distribution(once something in on the net it cant be taken back)

This will allow people to take action once they have evidence of cop abuse.

Cosmoline said:

Isn't that the same PD that arrested tourists for asking directions?

Edit--apparently that was Baltimore. One east coast stink hole is very much like the other.

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Not to hijack the thread but, are you insulting a whole coast? If so, I bet I could think up of plenty of reasons why where you live sucks.

I'm guessing by your sig that you call Alaska home. I've been there a few times and my stomach was more thoroughly turned by both the behavior of some members the local drunken Inuit population, as well as the way the "locals" treated them, than by anything I've seen in Boston, Manhattan, Baltimore, or Philly. It'd be narrow-minded of me to judge Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, or the whole west coast by those experiences, wouldn't it?

If you weren't insulting my coast, or you are not from Alaska, then... nevermind.

[/HIJACK]

Oy vey...

To all you folks saying this is an example of Nazi, Gestapo, Third Reich tactics, I've really got to say that you are either just spouting meaningless hyperbole, or you are completely, totally, and utterly ignorant of what a real police state looks like.

The cops overstepped on this one.

But guess what?

Here in the USA these cops and this department WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE for their actions. They will be sued, big time.

They will be disgraced. I predict at least somebody will lose a job over this one.

If we were living in an actual, real police state, the cops would have arrested this guy, tortured him in custody, quietly killed him, and dumped his body in a garbage can.

Or they would have buried him in a grave in the woods that they made him dig first before shooting him in the back of the head.

Can you tell the difference?

Free country.....Police overstepping results in citizen suing the crap out of the police and public humilation of the offending officers.

Police state.....Police can't overstep bounds, because there are no bounds for them, and anyone who gets uppity just disappears.

So please, can the "Nazi" and "Police State" rhetoric.

It just makes you look silly, or totally ignorant.

hillbilly

What I don't understand is that the government takes legal action against those who protest against them, but think pornography is perfectly legal? Isn't that the whole concept of how freedom of speech originated in the first place, to be able to protest against the government? Didn't the founding fathers not like it how Great Britain would arrest people for exposing the government or protesting or making fun of a policy? If someone sees an arrest being made and takes pictures from a distance because they don't agree with everything going on, isn't that part of the bill of rights to protect the citizens from a government that wants to become to controlling? I hear about guys who use powerful cameras from the road to take pictures of women undressing inside their houses (through the half closed windows) and then making money off of the Internet. When lawsuits are brought against these guys, they say that they weren't on the womens' properties and that they have their freedom of speech. Hmmm, kind of interesting how interpretations change. These guys shouldn't get just a slap on the wrist, being sued a million dollars won't do much to the cops. It needs to be more serious. Unless if a guy is getting right up the police, making comments, and in the way, he should have been able to do that. Someone from a distance (it said they went to his gate to get him) taking pictures so that he can protest an arrest is part of what the bill of rights originally meant in the first place.

GuyWithQuestions said:

What I don't understand is that the government takes legal action against those who protest against them, but think pornography is perfectly legal?...

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First of all, nice double post. You should edit.

Second, the Founding Fathers/Bill of Rights/freedom of speech will protect the guy. He wasn't convicted, just arrested. There's a big difference.

Hillbilly was spot on. The very fact that we even know about this precludes the statement that we live in a police state. Shed the tinfoil people. Bad/incompetent/inexperienced cops make mistakes; then they pay for them. If the facts are as they have been stated in the article, this guy is at worst free as we speak, at best he's in line for a big settlement.