Re: ACLU tangles with Philadelphia MTA over rail photography
Author: Richard
Date: 06-02-2011 - 22:35
I know Joe and I am really sorry that he feels this way. I live on both sides of this fence. I have worked in law enforcement for the last 25 years and a railfain for even longer. I have had several encounters like Chris had. Showing your ID does not always bring an end to it. I however have never refused to show my ID. Even after giving my ID, the BS often continues. I have even showed my police ID and the BS continued after that. Chris did not refuse to ID himself. He told the officers who he was. Cops like this who BS people about the law and try to bully them turn my stomach. I have also been contacted by lots of good cops while out railfanning as well. Those are the ones who know the law and are just doing their job and making sure nothing illegal is going on. They come by say Hi, ask some questions and when they realize you are not a crook they go on their way. Chris was extremely polite during this encounter. If you had watched the second part of the video you would have noticed how the conversation turned when another cop showed up and started chatting with Chris about trains. She had no problems talking with Chris. Chris did absolutely nothing wrong. Sure he could have showed the cop his ID, and it might have gone differently but then it might not have. The important thing to remember is that under the circumstances Chris was not required by law to give it to the officer. Just the other day someone Joe and I know was stopped while taking photos of airplanes in public parking lot where people often stop and watch planes at a local airport. The cop thought the activity was suspicious and came to check it out. Our friend was polite and not only gave the officer his ID, but also his home phone number, the name of his employer and his work phone number. However that was not enough for the cop. He then demanded to know his cell phone number. When he questioned why he needed that, the officer told him to put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him and detained him in cuffs for about 20 minutes. Finally the officer said that he was going to let him off warning for not cooperating with the police but he was going to sending a report on the incident to the DA to review. That is total BS. Tomorrow our friend is going to the police department to talk to that officers superiors. I am all for cops doing their jobs and citizens cooperating with them to help make their jobs easier but if cops want respect from people they have to do their job withing the boundaries of the law. Cops are here to enforce laws, not make them up get whatever they want.