vverna83

But it IS perfectly legal to stand outside the playground area with a 70-200 and take pictures

of the kids.... of course those probably wouldn't be very interesting pictures so I doubt a

serious photog would even bother.

Matt, I will be filing a complaint with the Cheif of Police and the Internal Investigations

Department. I won't however be persuing anything in the courts.

Thought I'd share this quote with everyone here this is from a member on another internet

forum and it gave me a good laugh.

"Everybody grab your children and run. There's a prowler on the loose and he's shooting your

kids with a Canon."

Wow this thread really blew up in the last day! Thanks for everyones input both positive

and negative.

After speaking with my lawyer I've decided to move on with life; I'm a senior in university

and crammed with projects, my financial situation is such that some 5 year olds probably

have more savings than I do and most of all I just want to put it behind me. I'd rather just

buy a new CF card than spend thousands of dollars in lawyers fees to find myself turned

into the next ''example'' by Detroits crooked administration. These are the same police

who threw a news reporter through a plate glass window for asking questions.

Luckily I've also had the pleasure of meeting around a dozen officers who understand the

rights of photographers and I'm hoping that from today foreward every officer that I meet

is as professional as they have been.

"Olympus for those who don't need new stuff all of the time"

WOW i have that exact camera sitting on the shelf in my closet! An old friend that doesen't

get nearly the attention it should (20D and camera RAW nearly instant gratification always

seems to win out over either the olympus or my Rebel Ti Film body)

To the OP, I've been doing street photography when the mood suits me for the last 3 years

or so and I had never had a problem until yesterday. The short story is the police decided

that taking pictures of children in a public park warrented their attention. My camera and

digital media was confinscated and a detective gave me a tounge lashing which basically

amounted to him calling me a pervert. My camera was returned, my memory card hasn't

been.... yet.

I've had a good number of times where a police officer took notice of my photography and

i attribute it to natural curiosity and I'd never had a problem until yesterday. As long as

you use common sense you'll be fine.

Am I frustrated and pissed off about the events YES Is it going to stop me from engaging

in my perfectly legal and for the most part enjoyable hobby? No

As far as the New York situation as described I would obey the sign unless there was a

medical emergency and my assistance would be helpful.

Second question regarding angry parent attacking a photographer, YES as I understand it

that is battery and destruction of private property. You can't just go club some guy (or

girl) because they are doing something that upsets you.

Variation- Kindly inform them that you will gladly destroy the frame during processing if

they wish and reassure them that their childs photograph will never be published per their

request. If they take the film by force then they are breaking the law (theft) and you have

every right to sue. Being this is america and people have sued and won millions for

clumsy things such as spilling hot beverages on themselves i suppose the sky (or the

accused persons bank accounts) are the limits on what damages you could receive.

Thanks Mr. Elder

Ronaldo,

The pictures were of children playing on the parks playscapes some shots were group

some were solo with a few portraits (meaning the child smiling at the camera with an

uncluttered background) thrown in. None of them TO MY KNOWLEDGE contained anything

that could be constrewed as inappropriate or revealing in any way I add the to my

knowledge because when you have 15 kids spinning around on one of those centrifical

force rides (the wheel that kids sit on and is spun) shooting motor drive at 5 frames per

second I suppose it is possible. I don't recall any girls wearing skirts though so it really

should be a non issue.

A number of the parents there WERE encouraging my photography as i was asked if it

would be possible for me to provide a parent with a copy on more than one occasion.

Your ''moral angle'' example sounds similar to a situation along the lines of my mothers

nehibor across the street that has called the police because my mother parked the car on

the street on my mothers side of the street but the nehibor didn't want the car parked ''in

front of her house'' If your wondering about the conclusion the officer told the woman to

not bother them with the issue again.

To put it simply. If someone is doing something that they have every legal right to do

perhaps try talking to the person and work out your differences. The police deal with

LEGAL issues (at least in a perfect world they are supposed to) not petty ''i dont want, or i

think it should work this way''

"As we all know, the UK, compared to the US, is a totalitarian state. God knows what we

would do without the most perfect nation in the world showing the light to the rest of us."

Yes and that's what happens when people start to willfully surrender their rights if anyone

wishes to deny this I would suggest they spend some time at the local library in the ''history''

section.

Thanks for the continuing discussion and I think it's a worthwhile discussion to have.

For the record I'm not going to sue for ''damages'' or anything like that I just want to make

sure that nothing happens as far as anything going on any kind of record that could cause

problems for me in the future.

Let me state my opinions on some of the issues being raised, the "americans that think

they can do whatever they want" issue. When in Rome do as the Romans do, if you are

abroad you should aquaint yourself with the culture and the laws that apply. In AMERICA

the law says that execpt for military installations and a few other government buildings

anyone can take a picture of anything they darn well please as long as the subject isn't in a

''private area.'' If an american travels to India that american needs to abide by the laws in

India.

My stupidity comes into play when I wrong fully beleived that the police officers that

confronted me cared about the laws they are supposed to be enforcing and openly

cooperated with them. I wrongfully thought ''this is a pretty simple situation and i'll be on

my way in 5 minutes'' I guess I was naive, from now on if i'm ever in this situation again

I'm just gonna have to assume the worse and make sure all the hoops are jumped through

on the police officers part. (search warrents ect.)

I'd like to point out to those that think our rights as PEOPLE (not just americans) to go

about our business with out harassment are not things you should start making

exceptions too. Anyone who says that "times are changing and this is the way things are

now" Please please PLEASE think about that real hard for a while and ask yourself what

you think is going too far. Then browse some articles in newspapers from the UK. Just

last week two brothers were sent to jail for animal creulety because their dog was

overweight. (I'll see if i can find a link, it was ''The Sun'' if anyone else wants to look)

Mr. Edge,

There are no signs or notices prohibiting photography of any kind at this location.

Michael S,

Thank you for the suggesting, pending my lawers advice.... we'll see what happens.

Thanks to those who have replyed thus far, I've left a message with my Laywer already and

expect to hear back sometime tomorrow.

I'm sure you understand I was shaken up and very very angry when I finally returned home

today as I stated before I was operating with the knowledge of Mr.Krages pamphlet and

common sense when it comes to photography in public. The ultimate irony is if anyone

had asked us to not photograph their children I would have happily obliged, all the parents

I talked to during the day were perfectly fine with the situation.

We'll see what the laywer says tomorrow.