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How much should you charge for a photograph?Pennsylvania Cop Threatens To Arrest Man Recording Him On Baseless Wiretapping Charge
A Pennsylvania cop told a Ron Paul supporter that he would arrest him on wiretapping charges if he continued recording him.
The only problem is, Pennsylvania’s wiretapping law has an expectation of privacy provision, which means the cop was just talking out of his ass.
But as we know, that’s nothing new.
The incident took place on Monday in Exton, which is just outside of Philadelphia, a city whose police chief recently issued a memo reminding his officers that citizens are allowed to record them.
Obviously, that memo never reached Exton.
A group of Ron Paul supporters were holding up signs on a busy street corner. One of them was standing in the median, which prompted the cop’s attention.
The cop told him he was not allowed to stand on the median because it created a “blind spot” for drivers.
Then when he learned he was being recorded, he began threatening the videographer with arrest if he did not delete the footage.
The videographer turned it off, but did not delete it, allowing us to see the cop acting like a douchebag.
Comments
I tried to find a phone number for the police department so I could call and express my displeasure but couldn't find one in a Google search.
UWCHLAN TOWNSHIP POLICE
717 N. Ship Rd.
Exton, PA 19341
Police Administration FAX
610-363-6947 610-524-1088
Offices open
8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday
It's west whiteland police, not uwchlan, they are close, but this had to be west whiteland, they cover that area!
Chief Stephen J. Meacham
Chief of Police
chiefpd@westwhiteland.org
Police, Non-Emergency
610-363-0200
Office Hours:
8:30 AM - 5 PM
Monday thru Friday
I once photographed Chief Meacham when he was honored for becoming the head of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
He is an incredibly professional and decent man.
Please, if you are going to contact him, be respectful and polite.
How come we keep having to come back to, if it was illegal to tape then you are ordering the destruction of evidence.
If I had the time I would spend it just recording cops to see how they react. I could make a living out of it. How many lawsuits would it take before they either stopped being stupid or I could retire..
http://www.copblock.org/ does this, so far they have run into no end of police stupidity.
I just couldn't help but notice how much this cop acts like Dane Cook in one of his overly animated stand-up routines. Watch it again, but just squint your eyes and imagine Dane. Its hilarious. Waving his hands about, puffing his chest out in a show of bravado. Funny stuff.
Accidental duplicate.
Omg, this hits close to home, since I lived there for almost 5 years! This is unbelievable. Exton Police will be getting a call on how they SHOULD act.!
Just called, first the chief was there, then after I told them why I was calling, He wasn't available, Left message. we will see what will happen...
Chief Joseph Pontarelli's email address is jpontarelli@uwchlan.com.
Wrong police station, Try West Whiteland Police, they cover that area..
It could be either or both. Lots of town clowns cross lines and club up. I remember cops at a busy intersection in Montgomery County a number of times from three different townships at the same time, all writing tickets. My mom got pulled over three times in three days for "your inspection sticker looks funny". It was a new sticker. After the third time, my father called all three chiefs and threatened to call the TV news crews and ask why three townships were being left uncovered to write tickets there.
The next day no cops.
What a poor attitude on that cop.
I just watched it again and I think he's displaying roid rage. Either that or he just found out his wife is cheating on him. What a prick!
It is not surprising the Philadelphia PD memo never reached Exton - SINCE IT IS 35 MILES AWAY, IN ANOTHER COUNTY, AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PHILLY PD!
Exton is not Philadelphia and that cop ain't the only douchebag here, Carlos. How about you bone up on geography so you don't sound so moronic the next time?
Veritas, why don't you go fuck yourself.
I know they are different entities but the memo from the Philly PD just clarified the actual law, so it should be taken into account in all police departments, especially one 35 miles away.
That is just plain stupid. The memo was circulated within Philly PD. It was not circulated to every PD in Pennsylvania.
Speaking of things to be taken into consideration, why don't you try considering reality for a second and blame the jerk actual responsible- the cop in the video.
The Phila PD has NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH THIS. The memo you mention has absolutely no rational bearing on this incident whatsoever. The proximity of Exton to Philly in no way changes the fact that they are controlled by different governments, in different counties, by different people from different political parties.
Sure, I'll go fuck myself, just as soon as you're man enough to admit you're wrong.
Well, the cop was pretty stupid considering he had never heard of Ron Paul, so I guess I shouldn't expect him to keep up with local news about the largest police department in his vicinity being told they had to allow people to record them and how that could affect his job.
After all, he was spouting off wiretapping charges that surely would apply to Philadelphia PD.
But keep fucking yourself, asshole.
Hmm... you know, I've only been lurking around here for half a year, but I'm pretty sure that when Carlos tells you to go fuck yourself, you probably said something stupid.
Veritas, is it hard for you to imagine that Philadelphia officers might occasionally come into contact with Exton officers? That they might communicate on message boards, newsgroups, BLOGS, the radio, the telephone, or other newfangled inventions? Is every municipal PD an island?
There is of course the chance that they might KNOW each other and that the infamous PHILLY memo would end up in the email inbox of one of EXTON's finest, which is certainly a RATIONAL BASIS for Carlos mentioning the memo in his original post. I personally found it interesting.
What I want to know is: what is the officer's name? Seriously, this guy is the jackass cop of the week.
It takes 50 minutes to drive from Exton to Philly.
The fact that you people think that means there is some connection between the respective police departments says a lot about magical thinking and nothing about reality.
In Miami, Exton may look near to Philly. In Pennsylvania, they do not look near each other at all.
I really do not care how often you guys swear at me, or attack my character. Exton still is not going to be Philly, no matter how much you guys act like 15 year old boys.
I honestly do not know which is more amusing, the original stupid post, or your complete inability to admit there is no connection other than in your simple mind.
Veritas, if you disagree with something I write or if you believe I have written something inaccurate, all you have to do is point it out to me and I will address it.
If you do it in a respectful manner, I will treat you accordingly.
If you come in here and start insulting me, I will tell you to go fuck yourself.
Just because I maintain this blog doesn't mean I have to subject myself to insults from anonymous readers. Anybody who believes I should can go fuck themselves.
A few months ago, I wrote a story about an incident in Illinois where some teens were arrested on wiretapping charges.
Initially, I was under the impression that it took place in Iowa because it was reported by an Iowa news station, so I questioned the validity of the arrests, considering it is not illegal in that state to record cops.
But then a reader pointed out that it took place in Illinois just across the border from Iowa, where it is illegal to record cops.
So I thanked the reader and corrected the story.
You can see that comment and my response at the top of the comments section here.
http://www.pixiq.com/article/iowa-police-arrest-teens-on-wiretapping-cha...
Now do you see the difference?
You're an asshole and he wasn't.
I was mistaken in that story.
However, in this case, I stand by what I wrote because I knew Exton is not part of Philly.
But I also know the cop was referencing a state wiretapping law which he said made it illegal to record cops.
Considering the Philly police chief came out with that memo and it was picked up by all the local media, I figured the Exton cop might have heard of it.
Even if he doesn't watch the local news, I would imagine it would be discussed among fellow officers.
Even if cops don't pay attention to the news, they do when it involves police officers. That's just natural. I pay extra attention to stories involving journalists.
You obviously don't get my logic and that's fine. I made my point, you made your point and there's nothing else we can do.
We could have had this entire conversation without the insults. But you wouldn't have had it any other way.
I think I might know who that reader was.. ;)
What a shock, a blogger who does not find it necessary to have his facts straight before he posts, acts like a middle-schooler when confronted by his apparently consistent difficulty with geography, then blames someone else for the resulting conflict.
Your logic is actually very simple for anyone older than 7 to grasp. You said something dumb in a ridiculously facetious manner and then when your mistake was pointed out in an equally facetious manner you doubled-down rather than man up and admit your mistake. Very much like the cop in the video actually.
.
Veritas, the post (at least as it appears now) is not plainly actually wrong. At worst it suggests Exton's a little closer to Philly than it actually is, but not by much. For whatever it's worth, I grew up in that area, and don't consider it particular wrong to call Exton "just outside of Philly" ("just outside" is of course a subjective measure of distance, not objective). Exton's certainly not close to Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg, or Pittsburgh.
Philly is the largest city in the state and the one non-locals are most likely to be familiar with. Helping people figure out where Exton is in the state by calling it just outside Philly isn't much of a stretch.
As for the memo, it's quite likely that other PA PDs would have heard of and read the memo since it was featured in the news and it discusses state law, not just something specific to Philly.
Basically you're quibbling over trivialities, and being self-righteous about it.
No, when Carlos tells you a person "fuck yourself," it means that he is drawing from the same well of incivility as the cops he criticizes. There is NEVER a justification for that sort of talk in a public forum, and it brings the entire enterprise into disrepute.
gee, why are people hating cops and shooting at them?
They aren't shooting cops. Being a cop is a very well paying easy job with mad bennies. It's not even in the top 20 most dangerous jobs. This makes it even more staggering that they are such raging dicks. They should all be smiling with their 12 year pensions and entire families' medical bills paid on our dime.
I think you meant to say it's not in the top 10 most dangerous, not the top 20. Because at #13 (or #14, depending who is conducting the study) it's certainly in the top 20.
You can just look at this guy and see what an asshole he is. $300 shades and slicked back hair like he's the fonz. Please somebody run him over while he's on the side of the road giving a citation to someone who has not injured any other party in any way. Classic dickhead pig. I wish the Ron Paul sissies hadn't turned off their cameras like bitches. The BEST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN is for you to get beat up and thrown in jail for not doing anything. Much easier to can the bastard and it's payday time.
Every time I see a jerk with a badge I get sick to my stomach. I'm surprised this police dept. feels forced to hire dimwit assholes. Surely there are NICE people out there that would want this job?
Remember when being an officer was something to be proud of? Not so much anymore. It's guys like this that's changing perception. Troubling, because once the good officers leave because of the reputation changing, only bad ones will want the duty. :/
I'm starting to think maybe the war(s) have changed things too much. We're NOT at war here boys! Stand down and relax~
Pixie - first, any update on your problem with the Park Service puke? Here's hoping it went your way.
Second, this video just made me ill. A ramped up moron with a badge and gun threatens citizens with arrest on non-existent violations of the law, and everything about his body language (waving his arms in the air, rocking his head from side to side, the phone smile) and his actual speech suggests he's just aching to start thumping these fellas but good. It's so terribly sad that the training this officer received didn't include anything on how to diffuse a situation when asked a polite question by a member of the public with calm simple answers. Instead, his superiors allowed him out on the street with the attitude and arrogance that he is "the law", when in fact he's a caricature of everything people hate about cops.
I've watched so many examples of this sort of thing lately that I can't express any confidence in "law enforcement" at any level. I've found that when ever one of these officers says....
"You know what...."
"If I have to talk with you again..."
"Me and you are going to have a problem..."
"So now you're a lawyer?"
"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry..."
"Turn that camera off...."
"I'm telling you right now..."
...that what is going to follow is going to be a disgusting abuse of police power, and more than likely a serious breach of the rights guaranteed to every citizen.
My only regret at watching this is that the officer wasn't identified by name. This individual ranks right alongside Derek Colling, Mario Masic, David Capretto, and Art Michel, in my book. A disgrace to the badge and uniform.
Tragic, any way you look at it.
....and the cops wonder why most people (honest, law-abiding citizens) distrust, avoid and even hate the police, when they say that they are they "to protect and serve".
Now, I have family who are police officers (1sgt. And 1 local, and 1 state), and I have to say that off the clock ( family get togethers, weddings, funerals, etc) they seem normal and like everyone else.
However, I know that once they put that badge and uniform on, they have a complete change of personality. They become aggressive, opinionated , one-sided and refuse to lose an arguement or listen to anyone who is not in uniform. They actually become automatons, bullies and some of the biggest assholes you would want to meet.
I truly think it is in the way that they are trained, that they MUST control every situation and make snap judgement calls, and they buy into that fallacy that the only ones they can depend on are other police.
....and the cops wonder why most people (honest, law-abiding citizens) distrust, avoid and even hate the police, when they say that they are they "to protect and serve".
Now, I have family who are police officers (1sgt. And 1 local, and 1 state), and I have to say that off the clock ( family get togethers, weddings, funerals, etc) they seem normal and like everyone else.
However, I know that once they put that badge and uniform on, they have a complete change of personality. They become aggressive, opinionated , one-sided and refuse to lose an arguement or listen to anyone who is not in uniform. They actually become automatons, bullies and some of the biggest assholes you would want to meet.
I truly think it is in the way that they are trained, that they MUST control every situation and make snap judgement calls, and they buy into that fallacy that the only ones they can depend on are other police.
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