I was standing outside of a Wal Mart and saw five or six cops harrassing some african american kids,so i wanted a shot of all the cops grouped around this individual.One of the officers saw me take the pic,looked at my camera and said there was a juvenile in the pic,even though the pics were so blurry you couldn't make out what was what and the cop saw this,i even offered to delete the two i had took.The officer told me i needed to talk to the chief of police to get the camera back tomorrow,that's if they will even let me have it back they stated.
Is this a legal action for the police??
2006-10-05 17:34:36 · 16 answers · asked by P 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
I can tell you that the city I live in will not do a thing. A man who lives in my apartment complex was at the pool taking pictures of kids and someone called the police. The police came out and said there was nothing they could do. I came back out with my camera and sat almost in front of him taking pictures of him. When he asked what I was doing I told him in case any of the photos were on the internet so would his face be.
2006-10-05 17:40:58 · answer #1 · answered by JMidd 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Juvenile police records are protected under the privacy act. Laws vary from State to State, but juvenile contact with the police is protected federally. The news media knows about this, and will not identify a juvenile unless he or she has been charged as an adult in a serious crime.
As suspicious as it might seem, the police had every right to sieze the camera, especially if an arrest was made of one of the juveniles.
Go get your camera back from the Chief. He will probably just have you delete the shots showing the faces of the juveniles involved (if that isn't already done when you get it). Put yourself in the parents' shoes. Would you want a stranger to have a picture of your kid in handcuffs? Although this might not have been the specific case here, the privacy of the juveniles takes precedence over whatever involvement you wanted to take in the matter.
2006-10-05 20:54:59 · answer #2 · answered by CJ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ordinances vary from city to city, but that police officer was probably just pulling something over you. Maybe you caught them doing something they shouldn've been doing. Next time something like that happens, be sure to ask for the officer's name and badge number then go down to the police station to get the story straight. Best if you have a witness around when you do this or else they may try to bust you on something completely innocent such as jay-walking.
2006-10-05 17:47:34 · answer #3 · answered by justdennis 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Its legal to take a picture of anything out in public. The cops just don't like it when they get caught bullying people. Call a lawyer and sue the city. There's no way they'll win.
2006-10-05 17:57:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No they cant do this. Like the other person said media would lose their cameras daily. Also they probably didnt want to get in trouble for harrassing an african american kid. Since they are being prejudice.
2006-10-05 17:54:21 · answer #5 · answered by Danielle B 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes I agree with Barry DaLive. U should wait to find out the whole story before u take the kids side. Maybe he was committing a crime.
2006-10-06 04:28:20 · answer #6 · answered by Brian S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How do you know they were harassing the kids? Maybe the kids were caught in the commission of a crime and it was a confidentiality issue seeing as how they were juveniles. Why don't you wait and get the whole story
2006-10-06 01:17:13 · answer #7 · answered by Barry DaLive 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two words: Official Misconduct.
2006-10-05 17:47:18 · answer #8 · answered by pete 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes. by law you was taking pictures of a julivinel as for taking your camera no this was not legal in no way they could remove the film but gave you no reason i think you know why as well as me called legal action that was incuced by them by law . no they had no right . my opion? .......... ref. legal?
2006-10-05 17:56:54 · answer #9 · answered by the_silverfoxx 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hope you got a receipt from him for that camera, otherwise nobody will know what you're talking about when you call the police department.
2006-10-05 17:52:38 · answer #10 · answered by srt_4everyone 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋