Officer: What you got in your bag?
Citizen: None of your f***ing business. That’s what I got in the bag.
Officer: Alright. (turns to leave)
Citizen: Honor your oath, scumbag.
Really? That’s the dialog we want with police now? Watch the video below to see that in a real life situation. (**Language warning**)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEmgSetYK2M&w=700]Listen. I get it.
I appreciate the need to exercise our rights, especially when we are talking about the ability to record video or take photos in a public place.
The officers in this video did nothing wrong in spite of this guy’s video title – Unlawful Search Defeated in 7 Seconds.
It is not unconstitutional for a police officer to ask what is in your bag or what you are doing. In fact, acting militant to the officers like the guy in this video did is a great way to send up red flags to the officers that something might up with you. Why? Why would someone act like this?
Maybe he just wants YouTube views. If that’s the case, he’s doing fine then.
At what expense though?
What happens when he actually runs into a really bad cop (unlike the guys in this video) someday? The kind of bad cop that makes national news for doing bad things?
The overwhelming majority of police officers are the good guys and they are all just as human as you and me. They spend their days working accident scenes, answering calls on domestic violence, child abuse, robberies and other real problems in society.
You know what police officers don’t want to deal with?
Noise complaints, parking violations and calls about some guy taking photos of a building, subway or strangers in the park. But that have to respond to calls on photographers because some nosey Nancy called 911 to tell them that a terrorist is plotting their next attack with a DSLR and a large white lens.
And then, they get this guy.
An encounter with the police can be a scary thing. But maybe, just being human can make it a positive encounter for both you and the officer before they head back to someone who really needs their attention.
Save the outrage for the bad apples who are actually violating people’s rights. If a police officer asks you what you are taking photos of, chances are that he doesn’t really care. Feel free to share your passion about photography. If he tries to shut you down from a totally legal action, feel free to stand up for your rights.
I still recommend remaining respectful. If need be, ask for the officer’s supervisor. And, if push comes to shove, you alone have to decide whether it is worth it to go to jail for disorderly conduct – even if the officer is completely in the wrong by ordering you to stop photographing and/or leave.
Just don’t be the guy who is such a jerk that you give everyone holding a camera a bad name.
[via DIYP]
There’s far more to this than you apparently know. This fellow was beaten in the past by a cop who objected to his recording an incident in the NYC subway. He was doing nothing wrong and was about thirty foot or more away from where the police officer was. When another officer showed up, he got right in his face with his smartphone and confronted the guy. The guy stood firm and defended his rights but the cop kept violating them and escalating the situation. When the fellow walked out of the subway, the cop followed him to the street and then beat him. There’s a history here, at some point people get tired of being abused by cops who violate citizen’s rights and the oaths they took.
That’s f**** up. Another of many stories of injustice. Still, doesn’t excuse a human from acting like a human to another human though.
While we should be able to expect a level of respect from those who “protect and serve” we will not further the conversation in any constructive way by acting this way toward those we expect to treat us with dignity and respect if we can’t do the same. Sure, we can hope that people will be “the bigger person” and brush it off like this cop did (props to that dude) but regardless of the backstory, this makes the photographer look like an a**hole, while the cop looks like the sane, calm, rational one.
What good is the photographer hoping to accomplish with this one? This is the type of crap that will justify to the common observer who’s never been wronged by a police officer, the unlawful search and seizure of personal property and violation of rights.
At some point we have to abide by the rule we all learned as a kid and treat others as we wish to be treated right? No matter how pissed off, or wronged we’ve been. Otherwise, we just continue the cycle.
Sorry to hear about the photographer being beaten. No excuse for that, and hopefully the cop in question, if true, is punished.
There are about 34,500 police officers in NYC. Sure, there are going to be some bad apples in there, but that hardly gives you the right to treat all police officers the way this guy does in this video.
Back to the point of this video though… THESE two officers did nothing wrong to justify his verbal assault.
If police officers were on camera talking to a photographer the way this guy is talking to them, photographers would be in uproar over the police officers’ behavior.
I understand your point but I disagree with your statement that the cops did nothing wrong. The one officer had no cause to search the videographer yet he said that he needed to see what was in his bag. That was a violation of the man’s rights, the officer had no right to see what was in his bag. I am not condoning the manner in which the videographer interacted with the police but I support the “spirit” of what he did. We are not servants of the police officers, they are supposed to serve us. They take an oath to defend the Constitution so we shouldn’t take it lightly when they violate our Constitutional rights as they attempted to do to this man in the video.
I stand by my assertion that this video shows the officers doing nothing wrong. This is Constitutional Law 101.
The officer doesn’t need “probable cause” to ask someone what’s in his bag. He didn’t attempt to search it and simply asking him what he had in his bag was absolutely NOT a violation of his rights.
*He did NOT say “that he needed to see what was in his bag.” Had he said that, then I think we would potentially be in the area of an attempted unlawful search. But he didn’t.
When the guy responded (very rudely), the officers did not push the issue and turned to leave as the guy berated them further.
The Constitution protects us from unlawful search and seizure of ourselves or our property – neither of which were depicted in this video.
As citizens, we are permitted to waive our requirement that the police demonstrate probable cause to conduct a search. That then becomes a consensual search, and there is nothing illegal or unconstitutional with a police officer asking for consent.
You don’t have to consent, but it is not a violation of your rights if a police officer asks you tell him whether you are carrying something on your person that is illegal.
I guess I’m one of those few who would object to a cop walking up to me and asking me what’s in my bag. I don’t believe it’s proper for police to randomly approach people and ask permission to search them or their belongings. If we are not doing anything wrong, we have a right to be left alone. I would view that as harassment if I wasn’t left alone.
It seems like author of this piece did not do his homework.
See my responses above.
This is wrong. Absolutely wrong. I was harassed by an undercover cop once at a street fair. (He was afraid I was going to blow his cover, but he blew it by announcing he was cop. Go figure.) But I don’t paint all cops as bad because I had a bad run-in with one. Cops have the hardest job in the world and we have to give them breathing room and proper respect.
If you want respect, give respect.
In so tired of ungrateful Americans not doing a thing to help this country but they are the first ones to cry “I’m American I have rights” tools. Go pound sand.
Did the writer mean.”goes a long way”? Learn up, Eric!