San Diego Photojournalist Arrested For Doing His Job; Camera Confiscated

January 16, 2012 @ 4:14PM

San Diego Photojournalist Arrested For Doing His Job; Camera Confiscated

Topics
News

A San Diego news videographer was arrested Saturday and had his $40,000 camera confiscated, preventing him from doing his job until he gets it back.

Edward Baier, who freelances for various news stations in San Diego, was following a story on the scanner in which police were chasing a suspect.

The suspect ended up jumping into the San Diego River where he disappeared underwater and did not come back up until a bystander jumped in and pulled him out.

The bystander then proceeded to give him CPR, according to Mickey Osterreicher, general consul for the National Press Photographers Association, who sent out a letter of protest to the San Diego police chief today.

“The cops told him to move back, which he did, then they set up the tape and the public was allowed to remain inside the tape,” Osterreicher said, adding that Baier is an NPPA member.

When Baier began making an issue about this, he was arrested on a charge of resisting arrest.

I just got off the phone with Baier but he declined to comment until he spoke with his attorney.

Read Osterreicher's letter here.

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

Comments

Shawn Wright

4 months ago

"In the meantime please accept this letter as a formal compliant." Er, "compliant"? The grammatical error aside, I agree with the content of the letter.

alonglens

4 months ago

My biggest pet peeve when I was shooting news was that the perimiter would often get magically wider once I arrived. Didn't matter if the scene was 10 minutes old or 2 hours.

Ryan French

4 months ago

I can relate.

"Sir, you're going to have to move down the end of the block."
"Why? The crime scene tape is here."
"Give me any more lip and it goes down another block."

Frank

4 months ago

That's the kind of stuff that needs to go on YouTube and brought to the attention of judges.

rspeed

4 months ago

"he was arrested on a charge of resisting arrest"

*brain explodes*

Bergman

4 months ago

This sort of thing bothers me greatly. If a false arrest is both illegal and invalid, and one cannot resist arrest until after an arrest attempt begins, and it is lawful (according to the US Supreme Court) to resist a false arrest...

How the hell can someone be arrested for resisting arrest as a stand-alone charge? It's obviously a false arrest if it's a stand-alone charge.

Joe Murray

4 months ago

You're over-analyzing it. The intent was to get him off the scene and punish him for disobedience; the pretext is irrelevant. The charge will be dropped, but the arrest served its purpose. The cops know they won't be held accountable. If standing up for your rights means a night in jail, most (but not all) people will back down. Simple as that.

nigmalg

4 months ago

This!

It's not about actually going to trial or "winning" against the arrested individual. It's about summary punishment in the moment. The cops word is gospel and shall not be questioned.

And added benefit about not going to trial is that no precedent is set. The case is dropped and the cops are free to do it again the next day. In the rare event that the subject of the arrest files a lawsuit, it will have virtually no impact until disposition.. potentially not for years.

Scott

4 months ago

This is ridiculous!

I was threatened by police after I filmed a fight. They threatened to arrest me if I didn't give the my camera because it contained "evidence of a crime". I am lucky I didn't get arrested!

I made this video - please share it freely.. enough is enough with the arresting of citizen journalists! I put an app on my phone that allows me to livestream and my recordings are uploaded in real time. I encourage everyone to get an app like this!

And I hope this guy sues. We need more rulings like the Glik ruling so that there's no more question about our right to free press! (Not like there should be any question to begin with)

http://youtu.be/Q9F3xNdkzDk

Roberto V

4 months ago

Scott, that was a great video, but what happened when you were threatened with arrest? Did you inform the officer(s) that they needed a subpoena and a warrant to confiscate your video into evidence?

MarkKalan

4 months ago

We NEED cameras that automatically upload to a server! Eventually these criminal-cops will learn that confiscating a camera will not impede making the cops look like the jackasses that they are!

io-io

4 months ago

The letter from the NPPA was nice, especially about helping with the retraining of the police officers. I think that the only retraining necessary was for the chief of police to read the officers their rights while he slaps the cuffs on the and arrests them for false arrest.

Where is the DA in all of this? Where is the State Attorney General? Where is the Department of Justice? This is simply outlandish and illegal behavior on the part of the police.

Where is equal justice?

Yes, sue the city and make it hurt to the tune of multiple millions that they can't afford. That is the only thing that they understand. Putting the police officers on paid leave - paid vacation is a joke and makes a mockery of the justice system.

Frank

4 months ago

You've got equal justice. It's just that some animals are more equal than others. Especially the ones who wear a tin-plated patent of nobility.

They're not going to get the message until we start building guillotines on the steps of the court house.

Roger

4 months ago

The only training the officers need is a ball bat up side the head. I note that the NPPA letter got his equipment returned.