Crown Control Miami Style...

[r_b_p]

Point & Shoots<div></div>

[al_kaplan1]

Yeah, Miami was an exciting place a few months ago. That's The Torch of Friendship in the background. The Miami Herald is still full of stories about the police over-response to peaceful demonstrations, and several investigations are underway of the police chief and various agencies involved. The law suits alone from innocent people who were tear gassed, roughed up, and jailed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time is going to cost a fortune.

 

I think the only really happy person was my friend Al Crespo who likes to photograph demonstrations. Not Leica, but digital Canon. I don't think he has any Miami shots on his website yet, but if you like protest photos he just published a book of them. Here's his website: http://www.alcrespophoto.com/main.html

[jay_.]

Looks like both the photo gear and the police gear have been updated since the 60's but the confrontational mentality is the same.

[crackers_.]

Son of a gun. I thought this was Child Services.

[keith_merrill]

I can't tell on my screen, but is robocop's finger on the trigger? It be a shame if that scattergun "accidently" went off.

[charles barcellona www.bl]

Keith, sure is on the trigger, and look at the eyes... total distraction. BTW, they fire low-vel rubber balls outta those 12gauges, not lead.

 

I'll take the "My country, right or wrong" stand here, as one who lived the 60's and early 70's rebellions as the son of a police officer. Not all you see in the media is as it seems.

[crackers_.]

I don't know the story here, but no hitting in the face...<div></div>

[hadji_singh]

It's interesting to note that over the years, the police have adapted more and more

military-style tactics. Gone is Officer Friendly with his little six-shot revolver. Here in

NYC, the ESU (Emergency Services Unit) cops are always armed to the teeth -- body

armor, automatic rifles, helmets, shields, etc. They resemble some sort of para-

military organization. At the myriad number of anti-war and anti-Bush rallies I've

photographed, they look like they're expecting a full-scale coup or something. I'm

not knocking the police (they have a rough job and I certainly wouldn't want it), but

their tactics seem more and more confrontation (at least here in NYC).

 

I can't wait for the Republican National Convention. That could get really ugly...

[hadji_singh]

I just realized my last comment may be construed wrong. I'm not hoping that bad shit

happens at the GOP convention. Obviously, I want the demonstrations to go off

peacefully and with no one hurt (protestors or cops). But judging from past

demostrations, tensions run high and things could definitely get ugly.

[scott squire nonfiction]

Is this photo yours? Can you describe some of the

circumstances? If it's not yours, could you tell where it came

from?

[kevin m.]

Yikes! When the police start dressing like commandoes, it's time to leave town.

[fotografz]

Unfortunately, some of the criminals are also dressing like that, and are armed even

better than the cops... like those bank robbers in California.

 

So, I guess to please everyone the cops should have a walk-in closet full of different

outfits. Desk Sergeant barks out the dress code for the specific duty and the swat

team dons the appropriate duds. "Peace Rally duty today, everyone into their tie-dye

uniforms... and don't forget to lock and load those jelly bean riot guns boys".

 

But, there's no excuse for excessive force no matter how the authorities are dressed.

[crackers_.]

I can speculate but i don't know what's behind it beyond the conclusion of damage from ammunition used indiscriminately because of it's non-lethal moniker. This represents an impact of four inches from blindness and an intolerable consequence, in the absence of a threat, of being in the wrong place at any time.

 

Endless protest pictures are irritating and these folks don't have the right to disrupt what they want when wish but I have done the gun and pickle suit tour, tolerate the antis who have credentials and purpose, and am utterly repulsed when the police fail to restrain themselves.

[charles barcellona www.bl]

Yeah sure, its a tough job, and nobody wants it. Then again, the cops would like nothing more than for everyone to behave, and everyone to go home at the end of the day unscathed, and none worse for the wear. But folks... you might have 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 or more nice peaceful folks, and ONE bad apple that might be thowing a rock, or... is that a grenade? Is that a gun in that guys hand or just a stick? The problem is - and always will be - not a lack of restraint by the police, but the planned injection of unsavory elements into an otherwise peaceful gathering, protest or otherwise. There's a saying folks, and that is, if you play with shit, you're gonna get some on you. Similarly, if you purposefully put yourself into a situation where there's bound to be trouble, you really can't complain if some of it finds you inadvertantly. So for those who go to these sorts of events to participate in a nice friendly sign waving spectacle, think again, because there are those who are far more radical than you, who intend to make the day a bloody one for their cause. And they ain't the police.

[al_kaplan1]

Some of the people injured and even arrested were people who lived and/or worked in the area and had every right to be there. What choice did they have? Tell the boss you were taking a few days off? Tell the spouse that you're staying in a motel for a few days?

[r_b_p]

First of all, sorry about the typo. Secondly, Crackers - you are

losing me a bit. It was a bad week. The protesters were young,

idealistic kids who got beat up by bullies who totally disrepected

them and what they came to protest for: jobs and human rights

throughout the western hemisphere, etc. The picture you are

showing is hard to look at. If that was my daughter I would be

upset to say the least. Did you take that photo or did you pull it

from somewhere else? If you did not take the shot, and pulled it

from somewhere else.....that's not good. You have to respect

other peoples work who may not want it on here. I am a

documentary photographer. I just document what I see in the

best possible way as I see it....the lighting, the film, the

exposure...I just experiment. Sometimes I think I should not put

anything on the Leica forum as it just rocks the boat too much.

Best, Richard

[keith_merrill]

I tried to answer earlier in the day but photo.net apparently doesn't allow that. Anyway...

 

Charles, With my first post I was not trying to start an "all cops are bullys" argument, just pointing out that this guy is ready to shoot somebody. I have been trained in shooting and safety while shooting in the army and in civilian shooting classes, and this cop is not following gun safety very carefully. First, never point the buisness end of a weapon at somebody unless you intend to shoot that person dead. Second, never put your finger on the trigger unless you are ready to shoot the weapon. Rubber bullets or real bullets. It doesn't matter. BTW, there is no such thing as non lethal bullets, there IS such thing as less-lethal. But at the distance that Richard is standing from this guy, even if he is using a telephoto, is tooooooo close for rubber bullets. Good shot, I would really like to see more.

[kevin m.]

"The problem is - and always will be - not a lack of restraint by the police, but the planned injection of unsavory elements into an otherwise peaceful gathering, protest or otherwise."

 

Well, how hopelessly naive is this statement? So it's not possible, then, that the Miami police simply went overboard? Maybe even on purpose? Just to set an example? Read the quotes by their Chief of Police and it's hard to come to any other conclusion. Seriously, what if that was your daughter?

[kevin m.]

Oops, my bad! I didn't notice she's wearing tie-dyed apparel. Hippie b*tch deserved it! (insert sarcasm emoticon here)

[mike dixon]

<i>The problem is - and always will be - not a lack of restraint by

the police, but the planned injection of unsavory elements into

an otherwise peaceful gathering, protest or otherwise.</i><P>

At the University of Michigan, I had a lab assistant (20-year-old,

5'3" unarmed girl) who was sprayed with mace by a cop on

horseback when she tried to ask him which way to go to get

away from the protest--she might disagree with your

assessment.<P>

When I lived in Korea in '96, I used to regularly walk past

busloads of riot police waiting for the regular protests to begin

over by the university. Molotov cocktails, full riot gear, and tear

gas launchers were standard fare. The vast majority of the time,

the kids made some noise, made some fires in the street, then

settled down and went home with no serious injuries, no major

damage to the surroundings, no civilians caught in the

"crossfire." Why? Probably because the riot cops were trained

to contain any trouble rather than beating the shit out of anyone

nearby at the first excuse . . .

[dennis lee]

Good shot, I agree with Keith M; tooooo close to that muzzle.

 

Once I stuck my nose and camera into a situation that produced

a shotgun. The shot rang out as I rounded a corner faster than

my fat @ss has ever moved. I have no interest in being on the

business end of a shotgun again, and I don't care what color the

hat is. Be careful.

[Jeffrey L.T. von Glück]

This is an interesting thread and I think it's obvious to everyone that it's 2004, not the 1960s. The mentality on the part of demonstrators and police has changed dramatically. The NYC police in the 60s looked more like "Officer Friendly" than robocop and mostly carried S&W .38 Special revolvers; a smattering of "riot gear" was broken out for use during demonstrations, mostly pump 12-gauge shotguns and a few Thompson .45 calibre submachineguns here and there. Now there's full riot gear and the weapons that go along.

 

From what I remember, the NYC cops during the sudent demonstration days of the 60s cracked a few heads but no one seriously got hurt, just the usual tear gas and mounted officers containing the crowds by having their mounts push against the crowd sideways. Photogs got treated better then too. I had a relative who worked as a photog with the Daily News. He would hang out at the precinct, get the dope on where the day's action was, and even bum a ride to the riot with the cops. The police would never have thought of harassing him and he took pictures of anything he wanted. He used to say his press pass was his shield. He was more afraid of jostling by the protesters than the cops. Bottom line: things are much different today. I'm not saying what goes on now is right, but don't expect anything less. Remember Elian Gonzalez's capture? That would never have happened that way in 1967.

[kevin m.]

One last anecdote, if I may:

 

My wife and I were living in an apartment complex on the west(poor, largely non-white) side of Charlotte Avenue in Nashville, TN in 1998 (obviously pre-9/11.) We went to leave for dinner one evening but our parking lot was blocked by upwards of 40 police, including a dozen or so dressed head-to-toe in black with helmets, face masks, body armor and shotguns. We were told to go back inside our apartment. A few minutes later, snipers were positioned in several locations, including one with his gun propped on the hood of my wife's new car. Then a six-wheeled armored vehicle crept across the parking lot towards a building on the other side with half a dozen of the black-clad officers crouching behind. A helicopter hovering overhead swept the parking lot with its searchlight. Stuggling to see out the windows of our apartment, we couldn't figure out what was going on, but it was a frightening scene.

 

When we were allowed to leave 2 hours later, we went outside and saw over a dozen emergency vehicles including several ambulances lining the street, and police vehicles from many agencies too numerous to count. The cause of this rather amazing show of force turned out to be that a single middle-aged woman had locked herself in her apartment with a pistol and threatened suicide.

 

I don't think I can adequately describe how frightening it is to have a para-military force sweep into your neighborhood, especially when the reaction is so completely un-justified by the circumstances.