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| Re: Railfan photogtapher has extremely violent run in with Miami-Dade Metrorail security (1200354) | |||
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Re: Railfan photogtapher has extremely violent run in with Miami-Dade Metrorail security |
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Posted by Nilet on Thu Jan 24 12:36:34 2013, in response to Re: Railfan photogtapher has extremely violent run in with Miami-Dade Metrorail security, posted by Train Man Paul : Metro-North's Best Conductor FOR ALL 3 LINES!!! on Thu Jan 24 09:37:38 2013. Oh come on folks, all this guy does is provoke these guys. It seems he goes out of his way to provoke an incident. If photography is legal, as it has been mentioned here before, on MDT, he could have simply left, having the names and identities of the officers in question, and used this video as evidence that they are trying to enforce a policy that does not exist.Look, Paul, I'm sure you mean well and everything but this strategy simply doesn't work. At first, I tried to be as deferential as I could— what the nutters would consider "polite." I offered ID on demand, answered every question, shut off the cameras, explained why I was there, what I was doing, what a railfan was, and when told photography was illegal, I apologised and moved on. The result? One cop kicked me out of a train station, one pair handcuffed me and deleted all my photos, and one searched through my pockets, examined every slip of paper therein, and quizzed me on their contents before ultimately telling me that they really wanted to arrest me, but unfortunately I hadn't actually done anything illegal. Success rate: 0 out of 3. Then I tried your strategy— do everything to deescalate the situation at the time, but get badge numbers and report them to the CCRB later. The result? I was kicked out of a train station, had photos deleted, and over a year later, the CCRB sent me a letter telling me that the cop had probably done something wrong, and so they were going to make a non-binding recommendation that the cop be sent back to the academy for a quick lesson on photography laws. Success rate: 0 out of 2. And Miller wouldn't even have gotten that; Miami has no civilian oversight. Ultimately I settled on Carlos Miller's strategy— keep the cameras rolling at all times, explain that photography is legal, don't relinquish any of my constitutional rights in the name of temporary convenience. The result? One cop stole my memory card, two kicked me out of the subway, but six backed down and left me alone— and those that didn't ultimately yielded monetary settlements for my trouble rather than mere pieces of paper with non-binding recommendations of wrist-slaps. Success rate: 6 out of 9 on the scene, 9 out of 9 overall. I don't see any point at which Carlos Miller causes any escalation— the cops approach him looking for a fight, he politely tells them he's heading home and photography is legal. When contradicted, they escalate the situation by ordering him to go downstairs; he politely explains he's waiting for the train and prefers not to, which is his right. They then physically assault him. |
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