Pixiq

Hello, I would like to say that I was introduced to this site via that Gizmodo article and i love this place.

I’m a long time videographer and TV news stringer in the LA/Inland empire California area and I cant believe i have not come across this site until today.

Thank You!

Andrew,

I used to live in Redlands when I was a cop reporter for the San Bernardino Sun back in 1999, so I am familiar with the Inland Empire.

Welcome to the site!

Its funny – I stopped reading gizmodo over a year ago because of a lack of ethics, journalist integrity, and complete lack of knowledge of business and the market. Their actions over the lost iPhone proved without a doubt they haven’t improved any.

and a facebook group has stemmed from it
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Photography-Is-Not-A-Crime/126298060726621?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Photography-Is-Not-A-Crime/126298060726621?ref=ts

But.. but..

If they aren’t doing anything wrong – they have nothing to worry about right?

Right?

I wasn’t introduced to the site through the Gizmodo article, but I did post it to my Facebook page, and saw a hot debate ensue. It was great. This is a wonderful topic, and it’s worth the thought.

Carlos, thank you for running a great site and shedding light on a variety of police abuses, and the issues we face as photographers in our society.

Keep up the good work!

If you like Carlos’ site, you might want to check out http://www.injusticeeverywhere.com/ , too

Shortly after finding this site I assessed the value of it and made a donation to Carlo’s legal defense fund. I urge all others here to do likewise.

The Gizmodo article was very well written. Grats Carlos, I hope your reader base keeps climbing because of it.

“…at least three states have made it illegal to record on-duty cops.”

It’s a real shame that this is where our country is headed. Ever since the Rodney King incident, the authorities have hated the thought of cameras pointed at them.

I can’t honestly say I would feel completely comfortable with being filmed constantly while trying to do my job, but that’s always a possibility when you work out in the open. Heck, in any job, your employer has the option to watch you like a hawk.

As long as officers treat the public with respect and obey the law, they don’t need to fear the camera toating populace.

Unfortunately, by outlawing the cameras they are just brining us that much closer to a totalitarianism.

Being someone who filed suit against a local govnt agency only to have an off duty cop sent to ” make me go away”, I always hit record when I see a cop car, law be damed I’m protecting my own ass.

I suspect the SCOTUS will knock those “no videographing cops” laws right in the head when the first case appears before them.

Had cops sent to make me go away too Iroc. It’s an unnerving feeling the first time – like being sent to the principal’s office.

I was filming in a historical society and was told I had to pay a $50 digital camera license fee to do so. Told them (politely) to get lost. THREE cops were sent out!

When asked what specific law they would be arresting me for they could not cite one. I’ve learned from Carlos’ site that if you are not filming when the cops arrive you will be charged with disorderly conduct.

Their non constitutional licensing fee was changed two weeks later after I contacted the ACLU. We must each police our own backyards for this nonsense.

Taking into account the latest SCOTUS miranda ruling, I’m not so sure.

Well Johnny you got the easy treatment. The cop they sent tried to cause a side by side accident so I could be shot in a road rage incident. The only thing that saved me is the fact I’m a professional driver. To be expected when the suit could cost them 1 years worth of their budget, I guess.

Yeah, that was not at all encouraging.

I don’t understand how those states that ban filming a cop work. Do they not allow dash cams either? Or do they have the “special” exception for the short bus boys in blue?

Linked via Gizmodo and am so happy to have found your site. I plan on coming back very often and participating in this forum.

I found your blog thru the Gizmodo site, although I am not a regular reader there. I am happy to keep up here…and added you to my own blogroll.
Labrys´s last blog ..The List – Third Quarter – June 2010

Funny enough the two sites I read everyday are Gizmodo and PINAC. My brain almost exploded when I read the Gizmodo article…

I also donated when I found it. Carlos is mostly on point and does not overreach. Yes I agree that running such a site is expensive and we should help. $10 or $100 whatever you can afford. He does appreciate it.

I’m honestly not willing to bet on common sense or justice prevailing there.
Michaelk42´s last blog ..LAPD update

Not only are the laws on the citizen’s side in Idaho; but the Boise Police Department even acknowledges a citizen’s right to photograph Officers in the performance of their duties [ http://www.porcupinepicayune.com/2010/05/boise-police-department-approve... ].

Even a Boise Police Lieutenant conceded that Officers need to accept the fact that cameras are everywhere now and that they may be still or video photographed multiple times in the course of the day by citizens.

How is it that Idaho – a State so conservative they’d elect Dracula so long as he was on the Republican Ticket (no… Really!) – and other State’s Police are able to function just fine with such – gasp! – liberal laws as they pertain to photographing Police Officers; but others paint the rise of photoactivism as some imminent threat to the Republic?

Oh yeah… That’s right… Police have Political Action Committees too!
Porcupine Picayune´s last blog ..Boy’s Don’t Cry – I Wanna Be A Cowboy… TGIFF!

It’s moronic, but ultimately, the Police and the DA who side with them, in collusion will do what they want, in FULL knowledge it is a perversion of wiretapping laws, until it is challenged on the highest levels. Let’s see, a PUBLIC employee, not a PRIVATE CITIZEN, operating and acting IN PUBLIC has an expectation of privacy because it may be later determined that those same acts were illegal? HMMmmmmmmmmm…

Ok!

They can record you, you cannot record them. They can lie to you, you cannot lie to them. They can be forceful with you, you cannot touch them, etc., etc., etc. Why don’t we all just get it over with already and just totally submit to the power of the State! Ridiculous!

Hey Mr. Miller,

S. Randall Thomas here, the guy arrested by Homeland Security in NYC.

There have been some developments in the case. I’ll have to scan some document and email to you. I’m making a note to do that now.

But I also wanted to tell you about this site that I created as a result of the arrest. It’s http://www.thekeychaincamera.com.

Because of my experience, I started selling video cameras that look like a regular auto alarm remote controls.

Check out the site, if you’re interested in the device just send an address and I’ll send one for free.

Thanks again for blogging about my arrest.

S. Randall Thomas

P.S. Email sent to you bounces back

While I respect your right to make a buck, I can get this exact unit on Ebay for $13.99 direct from Hong Kong

I get nothing but a blank screen from your site, but NoScript is auto-blocking things from “wix.com” … did you create your entire website in flash?
Michaelk42´s last blog ..LAPD update

You can find anything on eBay at a fraction of the price you may normally pay. The spy shops sell this device for as high as $300.00

Yes the site is entirely flash. I’m a PC user and just discovered (because I’m looking at an iPad) that Apple users may not be able to view flash sites.

Apple macintosh users (such as myself) can view flash. iPhone and iPad cannot. However, flash has many security holes and many sophisticated users have turned it off, or blocked it. NoScript (referred to by Michael) is a firefox extension used to block flash on multiple platforms. While I can understand the visual appeal of flash, it has many limitations including access by the disabled and indexing by search engines. If you are looking at trying to expand a business, exclusive use of flash is more of a hinderance than a help. Use flash only for small demos and make sure the rest of the site is in HTML so that it can be easily found and universally viewed.

Very good point.

Yeah, NoScript (mostly) defaults to blocking flash that originates from a different domain than the site you’re loading if it’s not already specifically marked as trusted. This helps kill flash-injected-into-ad attacks for example.

So most people using NoScript aren’t going to see it, either, unless they decide to temporarily trust wix.com.
Michaelk42´s last blog ..LAPD update

Or ‘”offer to sell,’ anyway.

Here’s the link to the original article, published in a libertarian magazine that goes back over 50 years:

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/headline/are-cameras-the-new-guns/

Here’s the author’s blog, which focuses on privacy, cybersecurity, political philosophy, civil liberties, and similar issues:

http://www.wendymcelroy.com/

I’ve known Wendy for several years. I trust her articles.

Wow! Not only Gizmodo one of the top-trafficked blogs – over 220 million page views – in the world, it’s one of the most respected tech blogs in the English language. At least that’s the what the New York Times said in the interview of the creator of Gizmodo, Brian Lam, after he ran a scoop that got him sued by Apple. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/one-on-one-brian-lam-of-gizmodo...

A man after Carlos’ heart.