in front of a hydrant before heading
in to the courthouse. CBS
(CBS) NEW YORK — A picture may be worth a thousands words, but if the photo is of a police officer’s personal car parked illegally, you may need some of those words to talk your way out of a pair of handcuffs.
Three people said recently police detained them for nothing more than taking pictures on public, New York City sidewalks.
It happened to Jan Lee. The Chinatown businessman, frustrated by city employees parking illegally in front of his antique store on Mott Street, decided to start documenting the abuses.
Selective Enforcement: NYC’s Finest Strike Back?
in front of a hydrant before heading
in to the courthouse. CBS
Click here for a newscast of this event! (CBS2)
(CBS) NEW YORK — A picture may be worth a thousands words, but if the photo is of a police officer’s personal car parked illegally, you may need some of those words to talk your way out of a pair of handcuffs.
Three people said recently police detained them for nothing more than taking pictures on public, New York City sidewalks.
It happened to Jan Lee. The Chinatown businessman, frustrated by city employees parking illegally in front of his antique store on Mott Street, decided to start documenting the abuses.
Lee used his digital camera to snap photos of the most egregious violators — cops who parked their personal cars at fire hydrants. While taking one such picture, Lee said he was grabbed by a plain-clothes NYPD detective and forced to walk to police headquarters.
Lee has more than just his story — he has photos and video to prove it.
sported a placard that expired in
December 2005. CBS
Just before the detective handcuffed Lee behind his back, the quick-thinking businessman switched his digital camera to movie mode and started recording. The video captured the conversation as the detective called for back-up units and told other officers why Lee was being detained.
“This guy’s taking pictures of cars with police plaques, right? He’s taking pictures of a whole bunch of cars down the line,” the detective said.
Lee said police released him without charges and returned his camera without apology about 20 minutes after he was forced to kneel with his hands cuffed behind his back on Park Row. Lee said it was embarrassing to be arrested in front of his neighbors, especially because he had done nothing wrong.
Inquiries to the NYPD revealed the department has no record Lee was ever detained. However, he said the commander of Chinatown’s 5th Precinct stopped by Lee’s antique store to make amends.
Two volunteers from a non-profit transportation study group were also detained by the 5th Precinct earlier this year. The college students were conducting a survey of illegal parking in Chinatown for Transportation Alternatives. They said they were nabbed when they snapped photos of illegally parked private cars belonging to police officers. According to the students, police cited the Patriot Act and warned them they could be held indefinitely without charges. Officers allegedly offered to release the volunteers immediately if they agreed to erase photographs of the police officers’ personal cars. They complied and were released.
There is no law barring citizens from taking photographs on public sidewalks. Officers can stop people only upon “reasonable suspicion” of a crime. Since taking photographs is not illegal, these stops would seem on the surface to violate the First and Fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and common sense.
A VERY CONCERNED NYC CITIZEN
what have we come to, this is like the days of al capone, where all cops are a mafia, and this they can just do as they please, but they are forgetting one thing, that they are big kids with guns, who were beat up as kids from other classmates, and now they are getting even, may god curse their soul, for these useless blue uniform Ticket pushers, SHAME ON THEM.SHAME ON THEM, EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, THEIR DAY IS COMING AS WELL.
levi que.
hay thay are protecting your city
let them do what thay whant
you use shomrim anyways
I-m sorry
I’d like all who are always so hasty to claim "anti-simitism" to apoligize to the NYPD for such comments.
Instead of sounding a false alarm, talk about the real issue; corruption.
I-m losing hope
Are we in the Dark Ages?
common sense
attention webby: you should edit these horrible comments. Do you not think police officers can look up this website on their own? The same police who you’re asking to protect you? This is very irresponsible to post. Erase it!
Old Story
That is why we have Federal Civil Rights Lawsuits. It happens every day.
CPR
What goes around comes around.
Thats what happends when you don’t practice CPR.
Where is our democracy?
This is typical abuse of power shown by our government. They are trying to instill a KGB style fear into our citizens, and anyone who protests is called a traitor and unpatriotic. This is our presidents way of doing things, mafia, kgb, thug style. call it whatever you want but it is completely unconstitutional. The so called "Patriot Act" was quickly passed becuase people didnt know how to react after 9-11. The government abuses power, like their illegal wire tappings of the NSA. We need to people to write to Sen. Shumer and Clinton to protest this abuse of our civil liberties.
Defender of whats right
try living without the cops see how you fair then. Defend yourselves. You don’t run this city or protevt others from danger. If you don’t like the cops don’t dail 911. When you get robbed