All of these stories make me think photographers are eventually going to have to leave the US and UK if they want to keep taking pictures. Everyone else will have to rely on CCTV capture-scans for pictures of their kids.

I’m a little amazed to see so many people willing to pillory an officer on the word of some random guy who would actively interfere with an otherwise unremarkable traffic stop.

And he became irrate(sic) and started cursing just after the question “Why were you taking our picture?”
Right.. I think something else took place there.
BTW, from the affidavit it sounds like they knew it was a camera, then why arrest Connover for pointing a laser at the police officers?

I’d say very clear grounds for an appeal on false arrest.

btw, I am not a lawyer, nor a US citizen. :)

Taunting an officer makes you a nuisance at least – and maybe a threat. It is not their responsibility to sort real threats from perceived threats.

That’s what judges are for.

If he could write above junior high school level, wouldn’t he have a better range of job options? Wouldn’t cop be kind of low on his list then?

2 sets? I’m curious as to whether he was hogtied with them, or if he was so fat that a single pair couldn’t link his arms together…

Of course, the other option is… “Your honour, he looked like the Hulk and we were afraid that he might be able to break through one set of cuffs, so we used a second just in case.”

Interfering with a peace officer would be a much easier charge to try to swing (IMO) that what they kinda made up to charge him with.

Actually Cops (and firemen) have great retirement benefits… think of Drew Peterson (the guy in suburban Chicago with the “missing” wife, and whose previous wife “accidentally” drowned in the bathtub)… he’s only 54 years old but pulling down a full pension.

Hey, it’s your country: if you’re happy with what’s going on there, fine. Amazement for all my friends, on the house!

Will anything change? Will this cop be disciplined? Can it happen again, to you next? What will the police learn from this? That their officers can get away with making up more and more ridiculous offenses? That their executive potential isn’t kept in check by the judiciary? That whoever controls the police, if they only invent convenient enough charges, they’ll be able to gain great power?

About $1,500 with this guy. No satellite uplink though:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Complete-Dash-Hound-Mobile-Police-Video-Camera-System_W0QQitemZ200238837329QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item200238837329&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

And this just for your entertainment:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Philadelphia-PA-Police-Camera-Cont-Patch-PENNSYLVANIA_W0QQitemZ380047096000QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380047096000&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

Now, thanks to me, the fact that I have mentioned this means that every cop will have to assume that every camera has been hacked, therefore eliminating this option and forcing all of you to surrender your memory cards instead of merely deleting the *offensive* image.

Merely carrying a camera in the presence of a policeman will have to also be made illegal, since it is safe to assume that if you have a camera, you will use it to take a picture at every opportunity.

Furthermore, anything bigger than a flash drive will also be illegal to have anywhere near a policeman, since it is possible (nay, probable) that it contains a small spy camera, set to automatically photograph any law enforcement officer.

YES – my evil plan is succeeding.

Incriminate himself? It sounds like the officer knows the arrest was bogus.

Why is this guy in the hummer slowing down to take a picture of two cops at a traffic stop? Honestly, what is going on there? They could have ticketed him off the bat for reckless driving as well. He obviously had his attention on the cops more than on the road.

The cop also said that the guy became irate and started cursing, which to me sounds like disorderly conduct and they arrested him for it. Good. If I was sitting on the side of the road and this yuppie in the hummer starts doing 10mph to get a pic of me then I would want him to delete it too. Is there some sort of right to privacy there or can I just go to anyone’s place of work and take pictures of them without their permission and use it however I want (as long as it isn’t for self-gratification)?

The fact is when you UPSET a police officer, he will find a law to twist so he can make you a criminal. Just because everyone knows the police are half-wit adrenaline junkies with touchy egos, doesnt make it right. There are reasons for laws and police and this is surely not it. We are so fucked im sick of typing about it. The government is spying on everyone, your rights are gone, freedom is thin, the police get more confused on their abilities every day, or simply choose to abuse their power at whim, men are being tackled for enjoying their hobby of photography, people are being killed on the spot for petty crimes with the police playing cop/judge/executioner, using 100,000 volts of electricity to subdue small and frail people when its not needed. Not only that but we have a constant loom or threat of terror that is being abused and used as the catalyst driving our loss of freedoms and god given rights, destroying and tearing at the very fabric of society and wellbeing of man with a broad sword.

Yes something horrible happened 7 years ago, yes it changed america forever. No, photographers are not the cause, NO, taking our freedom and replacing it with fear will not help. Anytime I bring up the fact that we are being spyed on and lied to, someone always has to speak up and ask “well if you dont want them to listen, then what are you trying to hide?” The answer is simple, nothing but my PRIVACY. A thing I used to have a right to. I swear to you that the effects of our own government have greatly affected me more than that tragic day 7 years ago. For while I had a friend pass away that day, I have since lost almost all confidence and pride in my countries government from their actions and reactions alone. I suppose it doesnt matter anyways, I maybe have 40 more trips around the sun and my games over, by then the government will be forced to make more sense instead of cents.

I mean what the hell is going on?
milking the country dry?
people are choosing between heat and food?
millions go homeless and lose jobs?
1 millions families are affected by a son/father fighting in a war that we have nothing to do with?
3000 of them never made it back home….
3 tons of money shipped there only to disappear?
unexplained deaths of soldiers?
laws tighten around honest citizens, its getting to a point where you dont actually have to be a criminal to be labeled and treated as one.
I tell you what, Im American through and through, and I stand behind almost nothing that my government does.

If a cop doesn’t like that, he can get a new job.

Doesn that really matter? SHouldnt cops be above petty shit like this? Yeah, a guy took your picture. Not illegal, Not a personal affront to you. If a cop cant take someone giving him some minor shit (which i dont think taking a cop’s picture is), then he doesnt deserve to be a cop. My father was a cop & you know what he would do when someone flipped him off…. he’d smile & wave…and thats it. You dont get all butthurt & petty when someone shows you a bit of disrespect. You have to have thick skin & resist throwing your weight around just to get back at people.

And cops wonder why people hate them. *rollsyes*

It’s all well and good assuming he was being an ass, but if he was documenting the officers breaking the law, or engaging in activity unbecoming of their station, then he may have be correct to photograph them (at risk to his own well being).

The record of arrest and the charges remain accessible forever to law enforcement agencies internationally, forever, and merely having an arrest record for these charges (threatening an officer, etc.) may be enough for many countries to deny him entry forever, which can be pretty devastating if you have to travel for your career.

By implying that the suspect became irate without provocation, and was cursing, confrontational to the officers and perhaps endangering the two children in the back seat, they paint a picture for the judge and jury of a menace to society.

Likewise, the two sets of handcuffs are also theatre, implying that the officers had reason to feel threatened by the suspect.

(2 #20: “For those of you who dont know…. this is a common tactic to punish someone who has pissed off or annoyed a cop.”)