1. Members of the service are reminded that photography and the videotaping of public places, buildings and structures are common activities within New York City. Given the City’s prominence as a tourist destination, practically all such photography will have no connection to terrorism or unlawful conduct. [...]
2. Members of the service may not demand to view photographs taken by a person absent consent or exigent circumstances. [...]
Full Order is (here). via, Gallery Hopper.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, it’s about time. This memo needs to be spread to other cities. I hope its a trend. (London are you listening)
Rosh
@Newmediaphotographer:
They’re not listening. Police here are too busy arresting tourists for photographing bus stations and the like.
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=857894
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=852634
@SimonInLondon,
I’m sorry to hear that. Feeling like you’re in a casino just walking down the street in London with all of the cameras. (Just don’t point a camera back)
Well it’s about time that rationality came back into fashion. Thank you for this post.
cheers to nyc! good old common sense seems to be back in fashion. let’s see how long it takes to trickle down to the average cop on the street.
Net result: Cops seek “consent” to view photos, as in, “If you consent to me looking at what’s on your camera, I won’t put you in handcuffs and stick you in my squad while I think of a reason to arrest you. Thanks. Hey, that shows me doing something wrong. Guess what? I lied.”
Good cops don’t do stuff like this. Bad cops will find a reason to bust you. Changes nothing.
Although I am happy to see this Operations Order, I’m not sure it goes far enough. I think that the “exigent circumstances” statement leaves quite a bit of leeway for each officer’s individual interpretation.
“when there is probable cause to believe that the camera, film or other media contains evidence of criminal activity, the item may be seized and a search warrant must be obtained in order to view its contents.”
It”s good the NYPD is finally getting smart over photo rights.
I wonder if the Port Authority cops saw this too? They seems utterly convinced that someone would blow up that bus terminal, when really people are photographing it because it already looks like a disaster.
All I know is I’m making a copy of that page and keeping it in my camera bag.
If only every officer would follow their orders…
But glad to see they are saying it isn’t a crime and photographers aren’t terrorist.
It’s important to print this order and carry it with your camera in NYC. BUT it’s critical that you have a plan on how you’ll use it when the time comes. I’ve been following this closely and I’ve written some thoughts on when and how I’ll whip out this document and show it to a cop.
Its about time we have some common sense.
I wonder what the policy is in Los Angeles…
{ 3 trackbacks }