Vidiot, someone I know from Flickr, was down in Georgia taking pictures (as we Flickrites are apt to do). As he took a picture of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals building, he was stopped…
Cop: “Who do you work for?”
Me: “Who do I work for?”
Cop: “You heard me. Who do you work for?”
Me (wondering what possible bearing my employer has on anything…perhaps he was waiting for me to say “al-Qaeda, and what’s it to ya?”): “[my employer].”
Cop: “Don’t do that.”
Me: “Do what?”
Cop: “Take pictures of that building.”
Me: “I’m sorry, Officer. I wasn’t aware that taking a picture of a building from a public street was against the law.”
Cop: “It ain’t illegal. They just don’t want you to do it.”
Me: “Okayyy….” as I walked away.
I guess when you’re in a strange city, the last thing you want to do is tell a cop to go F themselves, however, it would’ve been warranted. If it isn’t illegal, a police officer has no right to stop you. Simple as that. Imagine, though, a police officer said with a straight-face that what he was doing wasn’t illegal, but he had to stop it because “they” didn’t want him doing it.
What a great standard to go by! If I don’t want you doing something, the police will stop you whether it’s illegal or not!