On concern...

[kickaha]

So I'm sure most of you (at least on the Left Coast) have heard about the FBI asking for information concerning two men of, er, tan skin, who were 'acting suspiciously' on the WA ferries. Apparently they were seen by a number of passengers, and transit personnel 'acting strangely', on 'multiple ferries', and a ferry crewmember snapped a picture of them with his cell phone camera. (In which they look all scowly and mean - you know what, if someone was snapping pictures of me and I had suspicion it was simply because of my skin color, I'd be pissy too.)

Their list of 'suspicious behavior' included:

Taking photos of signs around the boats.
Intently studying the evacuation plan posters around the ship.
Pacing, as if they were 'measuring the floor'.

Okay, maaaaaaaaybe the preponderance of evidence is such that, in sum, their behavior was odd. But you know what? I take photos of signs when I travel. I *ALWAYS* read the damned evacuation posters. And sometimes, I pace. This just seems really fucking lame.

And speaking of lame... if the crew was 'so concerned', why didn't they just call the police to meet them at the ferry dock to detain and question the men, like they're supposed to? Seems like a failure of security there, to me.

Just sayin.

Seattle... please don't be as idiotic as Boston and New Haven... really. I'd hate to think the old home town had gotten that stupid in my absence.

Comments

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

One of the students in one of my photography classes (I was taking, not giving, the class. Just to be clear.) was working on a class assignment ("Take pictures of something that represents the area" or some such) and was harassed and run off by a policeperson because he was standing in a public location, taking pictures of the ferry as it pulled out of Bremerton and past the wooded hillside on the Port Orchard side.

The right to take pictures of public things from public places is specifically protected by law. That whole First Amendment thing, you know.

Winter or Spring quarter of '05, so it's not like it was September 12, '01.

The upshot? People need to find out what their rights are and be able to quote them chapter and verse, because the cops *don't know and don't care*.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

"Rights... rights... those are those things that get in the way, right?"

There's a nice little PDF floating around that can be handed to a police officer insisting that the Patriot Act and DHS forbid photography of public places, if I can find the stupid thing. Apparently that's the latest 'urban legend' in law enforcement.

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Found it!

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

[georgmi.livejournal.com]

Bert Krages is the author of the _Legal Handbook for Photographers_, the book I keep on my bedside table, and which I decided not to link above.

Since you mention him, though, here it is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584281944/lonelymount05-20

(M., if you notice, this is the 2nd edition (post-9/11), and I see that we're still linking to the 1st edition on the lonelymountain site; if you get a chance, could you update it, please?)

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

Done.