Pixiq

apparently the “cop” was moonlighting for the mall at the time and not on official duty even though he was wearing a police uniform. apparently, that’s a big no, no to many people who now are asking how can Rensberger be charged with battery on a police officer when Basford wasn’t officially on duty for the police department. Basford even admitted that he was working for the mall when the incident occurred.

Not really surprising. It’s always a pedo or a terrorist.

Oh lawdy no. Please help us from the terrorist. He took a picture of my child. Like the eleventy million security cameras in the mall.

Lawsuit. Immediately. Now. I think I need a stronger blood pressure medication. AARRGGHH.

cha-ching. SORRY, Charleston City taxpayers, you’ve just been pnk’d.

When that cop asked “Why are you taking pictures of kids?” he should have answered “because I live in America where it’s legal to have photography as a hobby”.
That cop was an ass, he should go to jail for assaulting the photographer and be sued for violating the photographer’s rights.

I’d love to see how the police department tries to spin this one. The father, for one, should have his ass kicked for being a dumbass to begin with, but the cop should definitely spend his holiday suspended without pay for false arrest and assault.

If a cop bruises his knuckles while breaking your jaw with his fist, he will invariably charge you with assault/battery of a police officer.

h/t Radley Balko’s The Agitator:

http://wvgazette.com/News/200912090794

RC: forget that, he should be forced to work a desk job over the holidays without pay. Or be on the prison guard detail over that time (without pay). Something that punishes him instead of letting him sit at home with his family over the holidays.

Whatever happens to him, I agree it should be without pay. Unfortunately, the laws in this country don’t allow making someone work without pay unless it is ordered by a judge as “Community Service”. Make him go to the local animal shelter and clean up dog crap for all I care, but something should be done.

(By the way, I think sitting at home with the family is punishment enough when you tell them you aren’t getting a paycheck 2 weeks before Christmas/Hannukah… My wife would nag me to death)

i woulda smacked him on the head with my nice new magnesium D3S!

It’s too bad that all the munis in WV are part of the state-wide shared risk pool, so the local taxpayers won’t feel the pain.

Possible responses to “Why are you taking pictures of kids?”
a: Because I’m a professional Photographer and thats what I do.
b: I wasn’t, I was taking pictures of Santa and the kid jumped in the picture, go harass him for interfering with my job.
or c: Because Internet Peadophiles don’t pay for pictures of trees….well maybe not c

Mall cops like this clown really should be taking the cameras to the teeth, so they know what a *real* assault is.

But in any case, I hope Rensberger gets a nice hefty settlement, that they town can later take out of the police department’s hide. (No new equipment for you guys for a while!)

So yeah…not only do I live local to this story (around 20 minutes away from the mall) but I was at the mall for a good portion of Tuesday. And I apparently missed this lovely interaction. I’ve never been harassed by CPD, and actually know one of their Detectives, who I’ve told about this site. Anywho, all that aside, a correction. It is simply Charleston, not “Charleston City.” I know I don’t live in a popular or heavily populated state on the cutting edge of anything, but having our place names mislabeled or being asked “is that close to Richmond” and other such questions rather bothers me.

MK42: the LEO in question is not a “Mall Cop.” The Charleston Town Center Mall employs a private security force (without lethal weapons or cuffs) and CPD is a separate entity completely.

On a side note, I did notice an increased police presence this evening between 5:20-6:45pm when I was at the mall. I asked two officers if everything was quiet and was informed they “had just got there.” They were quite polite, but I wonder at this point what their reaction would have been if my DSLR had been around my neck…

For anything like this, bitching here is great — I do it all the time, but make sure you contact your elected (and appointed) officials and remind them that you don’t want to pay for these abuses of power.

Think about it: When LEOs do something like this and are found to be in the wrong, rarely do they ever pay. Literally. They /might/ lose their job, but if a lawsuit is won, it’s the taxpayers of the community that pay.

I just wish everyone would wake the f*ck up.

Another great case of stranger danger. I’m glad I don’t live in these people’s world where everyone around me is a possible danger.

Statistics show that children are much more likely to be assaulted by a family member than a stranger.

This is one of the reasons I avoid taking pictures of children, or scenes with children in them, like the plague.

I think this is ridiculous like everyone else, but don’t forget for a second that that was private property, you actually don’t have the right to take a photograph there without permission do you?

LET ME REPEAT, I am NOT condoning the behavior of the cop regardless, but this is an important point that no one has mentioned yet.

Although shopping malls are private property, they are open to the public.

Unlike, say, your home or my home which is private property and not open to the public.

There isn’t exactly an expectation of privacy as you would have in your home.

So taking a photo inside a mall should not be an arrestable offense. Especially when I’m sure he wasn’t the only one taking photos of the sitting Santa Claus.

Every time I go to my local mall, I see tourists taking pictures and they never get harassed because it wouldn’t make business sense to harass the people who are spending money in your venue.

Granted, I live in Miami where our economy depends on tourists.

Also, if photography is forbidden inside malls then there should be signs posting this.

The malls do post signs that state smoking is forbidden and shirts and shoes are required, but I’ve never seen one that forbids photography.

So why should we assume that photography is forbidden when it isn’t outside the mall?

Reason.com mentioned your blog today.

http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/14/chicagos-thick-blue-wall

Thanks, Rob. It’s an honor to get mentioned in Reason.

I live and work minutes from the mall in question. Photography, as mentioned in the article, is not forbidden in the mall (except inside specific stores, which do have signs posted).

Professional photographers are asked to alert the mall prior to taking photographs but customers are allowed to snap pictures at their leisure. As Rensberger was not working but was there shopping, he was well within his rights.

This is one of the reasons I avoid taking pictures of children, or scenes with children in them, like the plague.

I hear you-I had this happen to me many years ago (I live in Toronto). I took a picture of some kids bathing at a wading pool near my apartment, and all of a sudden the city’s employees were on me accusing me of pedophilia. Of course, I deleted the picture, even though it was harmless.

The actions of brutal people like this put all police officers at greater risk: the man committed assault and battery with no justification. The more often that I read that the police act in this fashion, the more conditioned I become to the expectation of criminal behavior on the part of any ‘authority’.

I believe that this guy should be sentenced and put in prison with the full support of his ‘brother’ officers.