New Jersey Cops Detain Man For Walking Down Street With Cameras

January 23, 2012 @ 1:10AM

New Jersey Cops Detain Man For Walking Down Street With Cameras

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It took Todd J. Dreyer three minutes after he was confronted by three New Jersey police officers to lift his camera to their faces.

But once he did, they were on their best behavior.

Dreyer was walking along a sidewalk in South River when he was stopped by the cops who began demanding his identification because they apparently found him suspicious because of his cameras.

The cops were threatening him with arrest until he brought his camera to their faces and reminded them of the recent Glik decision.

That is when they backed off from harassing him.

This is how described it on Youtube:

Stopped for walking down the street with cameras in a High Crime Area looks like an average small town main street to me. Was threatened with Obstruction of Justice if I did not ID myself. Meet Officers #54 Pinto & #21 Monek as well as Sgt. Gartner #16 of the South River NJ police department.

He has been updating the story on his blog.

Please send stories, tips and videos to carlosmiller@magiccitymedia.com

Comments

Elliott

3 months ago

His only mistake was bowing to their asking for identification. I looked up NJ, it is neither a stop and identify state and their obstruction law requires physical action, lack of action or words (unless they are physically threatening) don't appear to meet the limits. So while they could come up and chat, the guy could legally have said, no, I'm sorry. Unusual does not equate to suspicious and that is basically what they were pushing.

Odin Zifer

3 months ago

Even then refusing to identify in a "Stop and Identify" state seems to only be unlawful after after "reasonable suspicion" of commuting or witnessing a crime/infraction.

Elliott

3 months ago

I would have to agree, the Hiibel decision (and previous decisions) required reasonable suspicion no matter what the law said, the Supreme Court has clearly said that a cop walking up to you without reasonable suspicion cannot demand you name yourself.

The wiki article is somewhat incomplete and it pays to read the actual decision..

Phred

3 months ago

There is no law in any state that requires anyone to carry ID when walking in public. If you don't carry any ID, you can't be forced to produce it. Just don't carry it unless you absolutely have to, like when you're driving.

kilroy238

3 months ago

He shouldn't have asked him for permission to take stills either.

Elliott

3 months ago

Right, forgot about that..

HONORYOUROATH

3 months ago

Some times I will ask cops permission for something I'm going to do any way. Its a a tactic to expose whether or not they know our rights. Not sure if that is what Mr Dryer was doing here.

Harvey

3 months ago

I like how they slipped on the hurting gloves in front of him before they unlawfully forced him under threat of violence and kidnapping to give his name.

HONORYOUROATH

3 months ago

This encounter really makes my blood boil! Specifically that thug cop at the 3:00 min mark. He looks like the typical storm trooper type that would just blindly follows orders regardless of any rights or basic morals. Where do they get these mindless robots?

Thank you for covering this Carlos.

JdL

3 months ago

Where do they get these mindless robots?

As far as I can tell, there's a check box on cop application forms, "Are you a mindless robot?" and you get hired if and only if you check Yes.

I had an exchange several months ago with our favorite cop troll here; he explicitly stated he doesn't worry about committing morally criminal acts in support of the "law" because he's sure he'll never be called to answer for them.