NY photographer wins $30,000 in wrongful arrest case

February 10, 2010 @ 2:16PM

NY photographer wins $30,000 in wrongful arrest case

By Carlos Miller -...

It was exactly a year ago that Robert Taylor was arrested for photographing trains in the New York City subway system and charged with “unauthorized photography.”

It came as a shock to Taylor, to say the least, who works for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and knew exactly the rules and regulations when it comes to photographing trains.

He even had the gall to pull up the rules on his cell phone to show the officers, specifically 1050.9 (c) of the MTA Rules of Conduct

Photography, filming or video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted except that ancillary equipment such as lights, reflectors or tripods may not be used. Members of the press holding valid identification issued by the New York City Police Department are hereby authorized to use necessary ancillary equipment. All photographic activity must be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

But that, of course, just proved he was guilty of contempt of cop.

So the cops handcuffed him, threw him in the back of a cruiser and transported him to a local precinct where he was locked in a cell and charged with “disobeying a lawful order” and “unreasonable noise” along with the unauthorized photography charge.

Thanks to their browbeating response, Taylor is now $30,000 richer. Taylor told Photography is Not a Crime that he will probably use the money to make a down payment on a house.

But has the legal settlement made a difference in how photographers are treated within the nation’s largest subway system?

Not even close.

As a Fox news team interviewed Taylor this week at the same station where he was arrested, a man who identified himself as a “transit supervisor” told the news videographer that he was not allowed to film inside the station.

He even went as far as placing his hand over the lens, as you will see in the above video. As if that has ever worked.

Taylor first reported on his arrest on Subchat, a site where rail fans congregate. From there it was picked up by New York City rail fan and photography rights activist Jim Poulos, who operates the War on Photography blog.

And from there it was reported on Photography is Not a Crime, where it got picked up by The New York Times and Gothamist (both who linked to the PINAC story).

It was also through PINAC that Taylor got hooked up with attorney Gerald Cohen, the same attorney who helped Duane Kerzick win a five-figure settlement against Amtrak.

Kerzic, you may recall, was arrested in December 2008 for photographing an Amtrak train while participating in an Amtrak photo contest.

Irony obviously never fails to manifest itself in these cases.

Comments

Anonymous

2 years ago

Stupid Cops cost citizens money.

Anonymous

2 years ago

unfortunately the scumbag cops dont pay the 30k, i personally think they should have their wages garnished! maybe then they will learn!

Anonymous

2 years ago

Ok, so has anyone actually calculated all the money spent in all the cases like this? Even a ballpark figure? I just have a feeling it might actually be rather large sum all together just because ‘upfolding the law’ seems to be too complicated task.

Anonymous

2 years ago

You can add in court costs, costs of jailing somebody, officers’ pay. What about non-monetary costs such as crime that may have been prevented had the police not spent time booking somebody who did not commit a crime? At least prosecutors don’t always bother with taking cases to court that they can’t win.

Anonymous

2 years ago

I never thought I’d need to say this:

Fox news did a great job!

That hurt.
Tim Post´s last blog ..US National Archives Joins Flickr Commons

Anonymous

2 years ago

I’m not sure of what the cost of an RPU(police cruiser) is, but they should be given the oldest rattiest cruiser to patrol in, and told that their screw up is limiting the ability of the city to buy new police equipment.

Anonymous

2 years ago

Wowe your right Tim
Fox has done well on this story its not just your 2 min oh crap they did it again
KEEP it up carlos great research on this

Anonymous

2 years ago

The way I see it is.. “that 30k will sure buy a lot of new photo equipment, won’t it!?”

Rail Car Fan

Anonymous

2 years ago

Injustice Everywhere (see the left side of Carlo’s blog for a link) – Prackett does a really good job of tracking/compiling LEO misconduct statistics and damage amount totals. Be warned though – if some of the articles here make your blood boil, you’ll explode when you go there.
Workingindust´s last blog ..USAF MH-60A

Anonymous

2 years ago

I really wish he would have taken this to court instead of settling.
Rob´s last blog ..Custom Camera Strap For Sale On eBay

Anonymous

2 years ago

Note that there is a difference between the local news station that are part of the fox network and the fox news network.

Anonymous

2 years ago

This was bullshit. I agree that they should have their pay garnished. But in their mind… nothing was done wrong.
mepsipax´s last blog ..I am a Dick

Anonymous

2 years ago

As Tom said, there’s a big difference between Fox News the cabal station and their local affiliates. For a long time the Fox Chicago affiliate was the most comprehensive news program in the city, by far (owing largely to being a full hour instead of only 30 minutes), and was co-anchored by notably liberal gadfly Walter Jacobson.

Anonymous

2 years ago

I wonder if Rick Sanchez has seen this story and if he has, how he reacted.

Anonymous

2 years ago

The real question is has Sanchez’s producer seen it.

Sanchez can be programmed to react as necessary for desired effect.
Michaelk42´s last blog ..OH COME ON yeah you guessed it

Anonymous

2 years ago

Damage awards that come from taxpayers do nothing to deter abuse by cops or any other officials. If we’re ever going to have the Rule of Law again, it will have to start by giving victims the right to criminally prosecute these guys and put them in jail. Nothing less deserves to be called a justice system.