Pixiq

Much easier way to get the message across is for everyone to fill out a "Submit a Tip" form. Click "photography" and in the description write in something along the lines of "photography is not a crime" or "photography is not a suspicious activity". You can report yourself the last time you were taking photos. If they start getting 1,000 or so of those a day I'm sure photography will be removed as a choice.

Tip submitted.

I just left their website, posting a tip; basically suggesting that they remember the CONSTITUTION, and that photography is not a crime! I suggest that all of us write them via the form they so thoughtfully provided!

Hehe. I reported myself for taking Iphone photos in Spokane when I was visiting. Why? 'Cause taking good pictures with an Iphone can be a difficult proposition. :)

Hehe. I reported myself for taking Iphone photos in Spokane when I was visiting. Why? 'Cause taking good pictures with an Iphone can be a difficult proposition. :)

Tip sent...

Photography is not a crime.

Form submitted
and I'll be submitting one everyday

Your Tip has been sent to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office!

I submitted a form telling them I'll take photos of anything, as the first amendment grants me the right to do so.

I informed them that they themselves were committing a crime conspiracy to deny rights granted by the constitution. A federal crime. 1000 terrorists can slam a 1000 airplanes killing thousands of people. They can not kill what we are as Americans. ONLY the Jackbooted thugs inside our country have the power to do that.

Just sent an email to the Spokane Sheriff's Tip email addy:

Gentlemen:

As I did not receive a confirmation from your system, I thought I would write you directly.

This may come as quite a shock to you and your organization, but did you know that PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT A CRIME??? That is right, it is a CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED ACTIVITY, under the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. I know that many law enforcement officials feel that the Constitution is a pesky thing, as you must obviously feel, otherwise you would not have it listed on your website as a suspicious activity.

Did you know that there are NO DOCUMENTED INSTANCES where terrorists have used photography to help with their plans? Using common sense, something which many LEOs seem to be devoid of, you would realize that terrorists would use stealthy means of photography, such as small point-and-shoot cameras, or camera phones.

Oh, I know what the problem may be… if citizens document your staff doing something wrong, the photos would be evidence. I guess you can’t have that happening.

Violating Constitutional, aka Civil, rights is a federal offense in this country, punishable by time in the Federal Prison System. I sincerely hope that when one of your staff violate the civil rights of a photographer, that your victim prosecutes through the US Attorney’s Office, and that the offender is punished for his/her crime.

PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT A CRIME! I will take photographs of anything or anyone I desire, provided they are in public and I am on public property, as it is my RIGHT to do so. Your staff cannot stop anyone from doing so, save by intimidation, something that LEOs seem to enjoy.

I look forward to reading articles about your staff being prosecuted in the Federal Court System for civil rights violations.

Have a nice day.

Thomas McElvy
Images by Tom
tom@imagesbytom.com
http://imagesbytom.com

From my "tip":

Description of incident:
While at the local Applebees what appeared to be the father of a family including one wife and two children began taking pictures of events occurring at their table. They had some form of pastry, I believe it may have been some form of threatening terroristic device. The pastry consisted of a few layers of a "cake like" substance separated by layers of what appeared to be "icing" with some strange script on it. I believe it said "Happy Birthday" but I can't be entirely sure. The "father" began taking pictures of one of his supposed children blowing on what is either a fuse or candle of some sort. They then proceeded to sing some sort of suspicious song and were applauded by other patrons who must be part of this terroristic photography session. Since photography is now considered suspicious instead of a FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT I figured I'd report this incident immediately.

Why I believe it was suspicious:
I don't believe it's suspicious one bit, but since YOU seem to think expressing your first amendment right to photograph what and where I please I am now doing my civic duty and reporting the incident in violation of the fathers first amendment rights.

Description of person(s) involved:
Family of four, consisting of a father, mother, and two children. More than likely a terrorist cell or family celebrating the birthday of a child, I'm not sure.

Rather than flooding them with angry assertions of your rights, why not have a bit of fun with it by pointing out how ridiculous they are behaving.

I would suggest another avenue for submitting the complaints. Flooding that form everyday will drown out legitimate submissions of suspicious activity. It will be like finding a needle in a haystack

think about it, that stupid form means nothing! If anyone sees something they really thinks is a crime in progress, they really need to calling 911! dont you think?

that form....etc. is nothing but BULLSHIT!

watch out photographers are out to get you

watch out photographers are out to get you

watch out photographers are out to get you

Fill out the form and complain that the Spokane City Police Department conducts suspicious activity everyday.They have red light cameras and video cameras, which make them suspect.

http://www.spokanepolice.org/leftnav/photored/default.aspx

I just called the number listed (509-477-3181). Their claim is that it is about the "totality of the situation", citing the disclaimer above in the form: "These activities are generally First Amendment-protected activities and should not be reported absent articulable facts and circumstances that support the suspicion that the behavior observed is not innocent, but rather reasonably indicative of criminal activity associated with terrorism or other crimes, including evidence of pre-operational planning related to terrorism. Race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation should not be considered as factors that create suspicion (although these factors may be used as specific suspect descriptions)." The page also links to a PDF "guide" which under photography also stated "reasonableness" as a condition, but also included "personnel performing security functions (patrols, bag/vehicle checking)". When I asked specifically if this would apply to someone recording an officer performing his duties in public or searching someone's car in public, he told me I should contact the Sheriff's office (509-477-3181). But he did ensure me that if it was reported that someone was simply taking pictures in public, that they could care less about it.

That's just my $0.02. Maybe y'all would have better questions to ask at that number or the Sheriff's Office than me.

Talked to the Spokane Public Information and Communications Office earlier today. They had received one email regarding this when I called.

According the nice lady the contact person is:

Sgt. Dave Reagan

509-477-6612

Of course he hasn't returned my call.

The form is only one part of the story. The only reason I found out about it was because of a "See It, See It" television commercial last night on KHQ-TV out of Spokane.
The commercial featured a guy in a black hoodie taking photos with a dslr. I am in the process of trying to find a copy of the video.

Apparently the Spokane County Sherrif's Office has taken some note of this.
The form has been changed a bit, there is now a paragraph above the area where the "Photography" check box appears stating: "These activities are generally First Amendment-protected activities and should not be reported absent articulable facts and circumstances that support the suspicion that the behavior observed is not innocent, but rather reasonably indicative of criminal activity associated with terrorism or other crimes, including evidence of pre-operational planning related to terrorism. Race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation should not be considered as factors that create suspicion (although these factors may be used as specific suspect descriptions). Department of Justice ISE-SAR Criteria Guidance Part B
Now to go after the video.....

As General Counsel for the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) I emailed the following letter to the Spokane Sheriff's Office earlier today. See story at: http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2011/05/suspicious.html

May 17, 2011

Spokane County Sheriff
Public Safety Building
1100 West Mallon
Spokane, WA 99260

Re: Report It Form

Dear Sheriff;

As general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) it has come to my attention that the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has produced an online “Report It Form” “to collect tips about any suspicious activity within the region.” The area labeled “Incident of Event Description” includes a checkbox for “photography.” While that section contains a disclaimer stating that “these activities are generally First Amendment-protected activities and should not be reported absent articulable facts and circumstances that support the suspicion that the behavior observed is not innocent, but rather reasonably indicative of criminal activity associated with terrorism or other crimes, including evidence of pre-operational planning related to terrorism” we are concerned that photography has been suggested at all rather than be included under “other.”

As our organization, founded in 1946 with over 7,000 members, has pointed out to numerous groups and law enforcement agencies, photography by itself is not a suspicious activity and is protected by the First Amendment.” Unfortunately the reliance by law enforcement officers to question, detain and interfere with lawful activities by photographers under the guise of preventing terrorist activities has become a daily occurrence. The abridgement of a constitutionally protected activity because of that erroneous belief is only reinforced by your specific reference to photography as possibly being part of some sinister act.

In any free country the balance between actual vigilance and over-zealous enforcement is delicate. It is one thing for law enforcement to act when there is probable cause; it is quite another to abuse that discretion in order to create a climate that chills free speech under the pretext of safety and security. It is our position that the form, targeted to the general public, does just that.

NPPA stands ready to work with the law enforcement agencies to help develop reasonable and workable policies and practices in order to avoid similar situations. In the meantime we would respectfully request that the reference to photography be removed from the form.

Thank you for your attention in this matter. I look forward to your response.

Very truly yours,

Mickey H. Osterreicher
General Counsel

cc: Sean Elliot, NPPA President

Good grief… A portion of my form:

Description: Photography is not a crime. You have been reading too many comic books.

Location: Spokane

Suspicious Because: Based on the findings of many courts in this country, it appears that your view of photography is the only thing unusual and suspicious.

The commentary over this form needs to also be directed towards Spokane Chief of Police Anne Kirkpatrick and the Spokane Office of Emergency Management. Both are also involved in the creation of the "See Something, Say Something" campaign.

This is quite ludicrous that the city and county of Spokane now considers idle photography a potential terrorist threat. The Spokane River runs through the middle of the city and has architecturally significant dams and bridges on it in the downtown area. Is the public no longer allowed to take photographs of the Spokane River without the chilling effect of potentially having the police called on them because God forbid, they took a picture of a bridge?

http://www.kxly.com/news/26601519/detail.html

http://www.spokanecounty.org/emergencymgmt/content.aspx?c=2235

(and in the interest of disclosure since its not that hard to find out, I am a former employee of the station linked above)

Photography is no longer on the list of choices on the sheriff website, http://www.spokanecounty.org/sheriff/tips/.

Mickey H. Osterreicher, NPPA, General Counsel has also sent a letter to the Spokane Police Chief regarding her commits about photography in this article, http://www.kxly.com/news/26601519/detail.html.

Thank you everyone that helped, nothing like a team effort.

Carlos you might want to do an update.

Wow, that's teamwork!

My thanks to everyone! I live about an hour and a half from Spokane and often shoot there. I've had my own run ins with overbearing authorities while doing so and this feels really good.
Hopefuly, the television ad will be pulled or edited so that the "sinister photographer" portion is cut.

The following video presents what appears to be confusion and a lack of understanding of the "mission" within the Spokane police department. They use the promotional phrase that "nobody gets hurt when cooperating with the police", but that is totally contradicted by the case in the video…which is "report a crime and get a gun put in your face".

http://www.kxly.com/news/27565177/detail.html

Even though they have dropped "photography" as a suspicious activity on their reporting form, I fear what one of their quick drawing cowboys might do if I went there with a camera in hand.

Their "See And Say Something" campaign may have some positive aspects but this episode ("of suspicious photography") clearly shows how history might repeat itself…try having neighbors spy on one another in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia…

Be careful what you ask for…you may get it.

Carlos, thanks for writing about this. I agree that you should write a follow up piece…and send a copy of it to the Spokane PD and the NPPA.

I received an email from one of Spokane's TV stations, they are considering doing a story and asked if I'd be willing to appear on camera.
I told them I would, so now to wait and see.

As a footnote I received a very nice email from Deputy Brett Peterson on behalf of the Spokane Sheriff's Office apologizing for any offense to NPPA or the 120 people that sent complaints about the form.

Apparently they copied the form, verbatim, from the Washington State Fusion Center's web tip form and assumed that since the web form had been in existence for quite some time that it would be in compliance with all Federal and State laws.

I plan to follow-up with the Center as well as with the DOJ, who have also issued similar guidelines/criteria.

I will keep you posted.

This certainly is a wonderful example of social media/activism collaborating to quickly acheive a desired result.

My sincere thanks to Carlos for being ever vigilant and for everyone who invested the time and energy to file their complaints.

Mickey H. Osterreicher
NPPA General Counsel

As a footnote I received a very nice email from Deputy Brett Peterson on behalf of the Spokane Sheriff's Office apologizing for any offense to NPPA or the 120 people that sent complaints about the form.

Apparently they copied the form, verbatim, from the Washington State Fusion Center's web tip form and assumed that since the web form had been in existence for quite some time that it would be in compliance with all Federal and State laws.

I plan to follow-up with the Center as well as with the DOJ, who have also issued similar guidelines/criteria.

I will keep you posted.

This certainly is a wonderful example of social media/activism collaborating to quickly acheive a desired result.

My sincere thanks to Carlos for being ever vigilant and for everyone who invested the time and energy to file their complaints.

Mickey H. Osterreicher
NPPA General Counsel

As a resident of Spokane, amateur photographer and avid reader of PINAC for the last year or two I'm happy to see that this group raised this issue and brought it to the attention of those concerned, with "photography" no longer mentioned at ALL on the site. Hopefully the commercial will also be fixed so that photography is no longer portrayed as a suspicious activity.

Having once done volunteer radio work for the Spokane County Sheriff's Department I do feel it necessary to point out that the Spokane Police Department and Spokane County Sheriff's Department are NOT the same organizations. I found the Sheriff's I worked with to be much less "up tight" and much friendlier overall. On the other hand, I *did* receive a ticket from a Spokane City Police officer who lied on the ticket after setting up a situation designed entirely to set someone up for a false ticket.

I'm sure there are examples of both types from both departments, but I'm happy that the Sheriff's department quickly made changes once the problem was brought to their attention.

The MTA (Maryland Transit) does this, too. Their buses and trains have signs telling people that photography and the like is suspicious and that they should report it. It's such BS.