A couple of months ago, I wrote about a photographer who was detained for taking pictures of the BART system in California. RKB also linked a similar story in the comments. I was hoping that things would have cleared themselves up and the authorities would’ve realized that some people just like taking pictures. Was I ever wrong.
Sharma was in America on a screening tour of his film across several universities since March 22. He arrived in New York May 12 from Los Angeles for a screening of his film at the New School, and was staying at Hotel Bedford on 40th St.
The next day he was out about 2:30pm with his tourist-grade Sony palmcorder. “I walked around the block and found an interesting visual—yellow cabs emerging from the underpass and receding against the backdrop of tall buildings,” said Sharma.
That is when his troubles began. “I took several shots and started walking to the next block, en route to Times Square when I was approached by a gentleman wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt, who flashed or rather rapidly flipped a badge and identified himself as Detective Elimeyer of NYPD,” Sharma said in a complaint filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent mayoral agency which reviews police conduct.
Now mind you, he’s done nothing wrong at this point. He’s videotaping traffic and a building. Observe the silliness of this story progress into stupidity:
“The detective told me he found me suspicious because I had been shooting at the spot for half an hour,”
…
“He insisted that I was shooting a ‘sensitive’ building. He said ‘it was okay if you were walking and shooting for a minute or two,’ at which point I asked him whether there was a law I had broken or it I needed police permission to take candid shots on the streets of Manhattan or whether there was indeed a ceiling on the number of minutes I could shoot at a spot.
“He said less than five minutes was fine but when I asked what about 15 or 20 or more, he said, ‘Buddy, that’s going to be a problem’.” By standing in one spot, the officer told Sharma, he was engaging in “suspicious behavior.”
This is the problem. It’s not the law. The law is what it is. It’s the fact that the law is interpreted (or in this case invented) at the whim of the person enforcing it. Now this would all be bad enough. A foreign filmmaker being held for no reason and being threatened as if he did something illegal when he didn’t. This alone would be enough to get the juices flowing for most normal people. So now we continue the story. After asking Sharma (and being allowed) to look into his shoulder bag:
At that point, according to the complaint, the officer walked over to a patrolman when Sharma turned on the camera to offer to play back the recorded footage, when, he said, the officer charged him, shoved him, snatched the camera and said, “We know how to deal with you guys.” The officer then said he was authorized to punch him if necessary, Sharma said.
For nearly two hours Sharma was made to stand on the sidewalk outside a Starbucks, coffee shop with his camera and passport in the detective’s possession, not allowed to move, not allowed to use his phone or buy water. He said he was humiliated in front of hundreds of passers-by and onlookers.
Now mind you that while this insanity is going on for two hours, and the police are hoping that this darkskinned man will turn out to be the next big surprise terrorist bust, the job they’re really supposed to be doing is not getting done.
Sharma ended up being taken to a precinct after further questioning, and because of Google he was able to prove who he was.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m all for the protection of this country and tightening laws that put people in danger. However there is no law on the books that backs the harassment of this man. Yet again, as with the case on the BART, an overzealous police officer seems to be making a play to find the “next big bust” and trampled all over the rights of this guy.
I’m willing to hear the other side of the story if it’s presented somewhere, but frankly I don’t see how the NYPD’s actions here can be considered proportional or reasonable.
Source: Indypress NY