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Posts Tagged ‘Police’

As protests continue in the US, journalists report being targeted by police

02 Jun
A photograph of the state capital building in Lansing, Michigan, during the protest on Sunday, May 31.

Over the past week, protests have been taking place around the United States (and across the globe) after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in police custody. The officer concerned has since been charged with his murder.

Nearly every major city in the United States has seen some kind of protest in recent days. While many stayed peaceful, others have resulted in disorder, which has seen special police units, SWAT, National Guard and even federal agencies deployed in an effort to keep things under control.

When violence erupts, regardless of where it happens in the world, the media are on the front lines – with all of the risks this entails. For example, during violence in Minneapolis over the weekend, Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson had the lens attached to his Canon 1DX Mark II destroyed by a ‘protester wielding a crowbar’.

Most experienced photojournalists could tell similar stories, but increasingly, members of the press are reporting coming under threat from law enforcement officers, too.

From television news anchors being arrested live on air to camera operators and photographers being targeted by non-lethal rounds, credentialed members of the media and freelance photographers covering the protests have found themselves under threat from law enforcement. So much so that the matter has attracted international attention.

One of the first instances of police apparently targeting the press came in Louisville, Kentucky when officers started firing non-lethal projectiles at a reporter and camera operator for local NBC affiliate WAVE 3 News:

Linda Tirado, a freelance photographer, was covering the protests in Minneapolis on Friday night when she was hit in her left eye by what she believes was a rubber bullet fired by police. Speaking with The New York Times, Tirado said she ‘put [her] camera down for a second, and then my face exploded.’

Tirado was carried away by protestors and was taken to a hospital, but has since been told by doctors that she is permanently blind in her left eye.

It’s unclear whether Tirado was deliberately targeted, but it seems that some members of the press have been. According to data compiled by Neiman Labs and others, during the ongoing protests, photojournalists and other members of the media have reported being attacked ‘at least 100 times’ by authorities, in many cases despite presenting press credentials.

The Columbia Journalism Review has shared a comprehensive summary of police attacks on the press throughout the recent protests:

CJR: The Police Abuse the Press. Again.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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New UK bill would enable police to stop, search and seize drones

30 Jan

The United Kingdom is cracking down on the unsafe and potentially illegal use of drones via the new Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, which went before the UK’s Parliament for a second reading on January 27. According to an announcement from Parliament, this bill would give UK Police the power to order a drone to land, inspect it and, when applicable, seize it.

This new bill would grant the UK police a variety of new powers, including the option to stop and search drones being operated around airports and prisons, both sensitive locations where drones can be used for everything from drug smuggling to wreaking havoc on society.

As part of an amendment to the Police Act 1997, UK Police forces, as well as ‘senior prison authorities,’ will be granted the powers to use counter-drone measures in cases where drones are being used illegally. As well, this bill would make it possible for police to fine drone operators ‘on the spot’ if they commit certain offenses, including failure to prove that they have the right permissions or exemptions that authorize them to violate any rules they’re caught breaking (flying too close to a particular building, for example).

The UK government stresses that this bill would only impact drone operators who are illegally flying UAVs and who are putting other people at risk. Photographers are specifically mentioned as one of the groups of people who will still be able to operate drones, assuming they follow all of the local laws and regulations, of course.

The full bill, as well as minutes of the proceedings, can be found on Parliament’s website.

Via: DroneDJ

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Miami Beach police use camera blimp to get around drone surveillance ban

15 Jan

The Miami Beach Police Department found a loophole to circumvent Florida’s 2015 ban on police drone surveillance — a tethered, relatively immobile blimp with a camera attached to the underside. Officially called a ‘tethered aerostat,’ the helium-filled vehicle was used to monitor the approximately 15,000 people who attended the Capital One Beach Bash over the New Year’s holiday.

In 2015, Florida passed the Freedom From Unwanted Surveillance Act, which banned the use of drones for police surveillance. In a letter to the city commission on January 3, City Manager Jimmy Morales explained the police department’s use of the camera blimp, citing necessity due in part to ‘the legal restrictions on police departments under Florida law and because of limited battery life and flight time’ associated with drones.

Morales went on to call the blimp ‘a new technological solution for aerial monitoring,’ one the police department felt was necessary due to “the emergence of new threats of terrorism seen around the world in such large gatherings…”

A Miami Beach Police Department spokesperson told the Miami New Times the department doesn’t believe its tethered aerostat violates state law. Use of a lighter-than-air vehicle for aerial surveillance has proven controversial, however, with critics saying there is little difference between a stationary floating camera and a remote-controlled flying camera.

The region’s law enforcement has repeatedly demonstrated interest in camera-based surveillance, including the Miami-Dade Police Department’s attempt in 2017 to deploy a wide-area surveillance system involving Cessna planes equipped with cameras. That plan, which was abandoned following heavy criticism, would have monitored the entire county using technology developed by the U.S. Air Force for use in combat zones.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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A happy ending: Police recover stolen limited edition Leica from The Camera Store robbery

27 Dec
Shattered glass from the break-in. Photo: The Camera Store

You could look at the story of the recent robbery at beloved Calgary camera shop The Camera Store as a play in three acts. Act 1: the store is robbed of over $ 27,000 USD worth of high-end camera equipment. Act 2: Local and worldwide media attention helps police nab two suspects and recover most of the gear in just 48 hours.

And now, Act 3: The final piece of stolen equipment—a rare, limited edition Leica M-P Edition Safari—is returned to the shop, making this particular theft a complete failure.

Act 3 took place just before Christmas, when the Calgary police executed a search warrant—ostensibly at the home of one of the two suspects arrested previously, 60-year-old Tan Xuan Hung Bui and 36-year-old Justin Ross—where they found the stolen Leica M-P Edition Safari worth $ 13,000 CAD (~$ 10,250 USD).

Posing with the recovered Leica M-P Edition Safari Photo: The Camera Store

The Camera Store announced the recovery on its blog at the same time as the news broke in The Calgary Herald. And, as promised, the tipster who alerted the police to the sketchy online gear sale that led to the two suspects’ arrest will receive a $ 5,000 CAD (~$ 3,800 USD) shopping spree at The Camera Store as a token of thanks.

According to The Calgary Sun, the ‘winner’ is “a gentleman from Edmonton.”

But this happy story is not without its one gray cloud. That rare Leica M-P, a collectors item, was scuffed somewhere between its theft from and return to The Camera Store. Then again, given the amount of attention this particular story has gotten, maybe that’ll make the camera even MORE valuable.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Calgary police catch suspected Camera Store thieves, recover most of the stolen gear

22 Dec
Photo: The Camera Store

Earlier this week, we reported on a high-profile burglary at Calgary’s well-known camera shop “The Camera Store”—best known for its popular YouTube channel. Well, thanks to sharp-eyed tipsters and the fast-acting Calgary police, it only took 48 hours from when the store was robbed to catch two suspects and recover most of the stolen gear.

As we reported on Monday, the thieves made away with over $ 27,000 worth of cameras and lenses, including a Hassleblad X1D, three Hasselblad X lenses, and a limited edition Leica M-P Edition Safari. This is the first time The Camera Store has experienced a break-in in over 20 years of business, and owner Julian Ferreira was both upset and determined: offering a $ 3,800 shopping spree “for any information that leads to a conviction.”

Fortunately for Ferreira, he need not have worried too much about the break-in. The same day that the story was spreading like wildfire across the blogosphere, the police were already tracking down the majority of the stolen gear.

Photo: The Camera Store

According to The Calgary Sun and The Camera Store’s own website, once the story went live on local news last weekend, tipsters alerted Calgary police of a Hasselblad X1D and three Hasselblad X lenses that had just been put up for sale on the website Kijiji. Undercover officers responded to the listing, meeting with two men—60-year-old Tan Bui and 36-year-old Justin Ross—at a Calgary mall on Monday afternoon, and taking them both into custody after it was confirmed the camera and lenses ‘for sale’ were the same ones stolen from The Camera Store.

Both men have been charged with possession and trafficking in stolen property, although it is unknown if police believe Bui and Ross are also responsible for the break-in. The $ 10,000 special-edition Leica M-P Edition Safari has not been recovered… at least not yet.

As for that promised shopping spree, The Camera Store writes:

Multiple tips from the public lead Calgary police to the Kijiji listing that helped them recover our equipment and to arrest the two suspects. Once convictions are made, we will contact the person who was first to provide the information to CPS that allowed them to take action quickly, to collect their $ 5000 [CAD] shopping spree reward.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The Dutch police have shut down their drone-catching eagle program

14 Dec

Dutch police are retiring their drone-catching eagles due to a combination of performance issues and a lack of need, according to a report from NOS. The eagles were originally deployed as a way to intercept wayward (and potentially dangerous) drones, but training the eagles is reportedly too costly, and the need for them is too low.

Various solutions have been developed to deal with the issue of drones flying where they’re not allowed, but the eagles were probably the most interesting, and definitely the coolest to watch in action. In fact, you can see a demonstration of one of these trained eagles in the video below:

Other drone-control solutions involve police drones that launch nets to capture the unwelcome drones, and jamming devices that disrupt a drone’s ability to communicate with its remote control, causing the device to return home. The Netherlands, however, chose to experiment with eagles instead.

Unfortunately, despite intense training, the eagles didn’t always act as intended, reports NOS, citing a statement from a police spokesperson. Given these training troubles, officials worries that the eagles might not perform as expected when used outside of their training environment.

Between this possibility and a (surprising?) lack of demand for drone-catching eagles, the program is now officially shut down.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Proposed UK bill will let police officers ground and seize drones

28 Nov

The UK has unveiled another drone bill proposal, one that will grant officers the power to seize drone parts when they are necessary for proving that the drone was used to commit an offense. Under the bill, officers will also have the authority to order a drone operator to ground their drone when needed.

This marks the latest bill out of the UK that focuses on tightening drone security and safety. Back in July, the UK government revealed that it would soon require drone operators in the nation to register their UAVs and to complete a safety test before operating the device.

The new proposed legislation, simply called the Drone Bill, snowballs into the previous announcement, with UK officials saying in a statement that mandates will require operators to register their drone and also to use apps for planning a safe flight. The upcoming law may also include a ban on operating drones near airports or above 400ft.

The Drone Bill is scheduled to be published next spring.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Ohio photographer shot by police officer who mistook camera for gun

05 Sep

New Carlisle News photojournalist Andy Grimm was shot by Sheriff’s Deputy Jake Shaw on Monday after the officer mistook Grimm’s camera and tripod for a gun, according to the news organization.

Per New Carlisle News—a local news organization in New Carlisle, Ohio—and Grimm’s statements about the incident, Grimm had left the company’s office around 10PM to photograph lightning. At some point after this, Grimm witnessed a traffic stop being performed by Shaw, which he decided to photograph. Grimm says he pulled his vehicle into the parking lot of a restaurant near the traffic stop, where he began setting up his tripod and camera “in full view of the deputy.”

Despite this, Grimm said, “I turned around towards the cars and then ‘pop, pop,'” referencing the gunfire he heard before being shot in the side.

The photographer underwent surgery and is expected to recover. Grimm states that he knows the deputy who shot him and that he doesn’t want him to lose his job; however, he says Shaw failed to give him any sort of warning before opening fire. New Carlisle News says that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is now looking into the incident.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Federal Court confirms (again): Police can be photographed in public

11 Jul

Following in the footsteps of the US’s First, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, judges for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals have unanimously ruled that individuals have a First Amendment right to photograph and video record police officers in public. The decision follows multiple cases involving law enforcement retaliation against individuals who were recording police activity in public.

The ruling, which was filed on July 7, 2017, details two cases in which Philadelphia police officers interfered with individuals who were recording public law enforcement activity.

The first case involved Amanda Geraci, who was filming the arrest of an anti-fracking protester when an officer ‘pinned’ her against a pillar, blocking her ability to record the arrest. The second case involved Richard Fields, who was arrested after refusing to stop recording public police activity.

On behalf of the court, and per the document filed last week, Judge Thomas Ambro wrote, “Simply put, the First Amendment protects the act of photographing, filming, or otherwise recording police officers conducting their official duties in public.”

There may be exceptions to this right, the judge notes, such as times when a “recording interferes with police activity.” However, in the absence of that concern, the Court finds that “under the First Amendment’s right of access to information, the public has the commensurate right to record—photograph, film, or audio record—police officers conducting official police activity in public areas.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photojournalist Mannie Garcia awarded $45k settlement in police lawsuit

10 Mar

Back in June 2011, photojournalist Mannie Garcia was arrested by Montgomery County police while filming officers on a public street. He was charged with disorderly conduct, but the charge was dropped sixth month later. The following summer, Garcia filed a lawsuit against the police department alleging civil rights violations and abuse by the officers, among other things. The photographer is now being awarded a $ 45,000 settlement.

In the lawsuit, Garcia claimed his arrest was unlawful, and that the Montgomery County police officers violated his 1st, 4th, 8th, and 14th amendment rights. The lawsuit had sought $ 500,000 in damages, and posed the question of whether the public has the right to record police activities in public places.

Speaking about the settlement, Garcia recently said to the NPPA, ‘I’m extremely relieved that it’s come to fruition after five and a half years. I think this lawsuit has given attention to the fact that police departments need to pay attention in regards to an individuals’ rights.’ 

Via: National Press Photographers Association

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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