[Leica] FW: We are not the only one's harrased by the cops.........

[telyt at earthlink.net (telyt@earthlink.net)]

(forwarded from another list) can anyone confirm this story?

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com

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.........for legally taking photos.
   
    ABC7 Reporter Detained Trying To Cover Grass Fire
      Camera Briefly Confiscated   NEWS  NAPA, Calif., Jul. 11, 2007 (KGO)
- ABC7's Wayne Freedman and his photographer were detained by Napa County
Sheriff's deputies while covering a grass fire in Napa this afternoon.
    Wayne, his photographer Craig Southern, and other members of the media
were stopped at a checkpoint where they were told to stop taking
 pictures of the fire from that location. 
  When our crew questioned the officer's orders, their camera was
confiscated and a cell phone broken. 
  Both Wayne and his photographer were handcuffed and placed in the back of
a squad car for 15 minutes. 
  A sheriff's department captain later apologized and both were released
without being charged. 
  State law allows the media to report and take pictures from within police
lines, as Wayne tried to do today. 
  ABC7 plans to file a complaint against the two deputies tomorrow. The
station will also pursue all legal options. 
  Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.



****************************************************************************
******

Here is the reporters side of the story:
   
  Events Leading Up To ABC7 Wayne Freedman's Detainment      By Wayne
Freedman
  As a person who covers stories, it feels very uncomfortable to be the
subject of one. 
A few seconds of sound on another channel, or pictures in the paper cannot
present the entire picture. 
  Here is what happened based on the raw tapes, the full sequence of photos
by Kim Komenich of the Chronicle, and as photographer Craig Southern and I
remember it. 
  We arrived in the neighborhood of the fire at approx 3:30. I called
managing editor Greg DeRego to tell him we were close,
 and moving up. He said we already had good video from the helicopter. 
  Stopped
and cleared through first police checkpoint on Atlas Peak Road. CHP
waved us through, warned us to be careful and not to block fire trucks.
I replied that we knew how to stay out of the way. We have trained for
such events. We respect firefighters and officers of the law. 
  At
a second checkpoint, we encountered a sheriff and CHP officer. They
asked us to pull over. We waited while the CHP officer checked to see
how much farther we might drive. Meantime, we interviewed a resident in
a pick-up truck who hoped to get back to his house. Then, I chatted
with Sgt. Chris Perry of the Napa Sheriff's office, and noted that his
badge looked 'well worn'. After a pleasant conversation between two
guys who have been around for three decades, I asked if we could
continue towards the fire. He cleared us ahead. 
  We found
a third checkpoint in the driveway of 2610 Atlas Peak Road. It was
manned by two sheriff's deputies, Jones and Hallman---one on a cell
phone, and the other watching the fire. They asked us to park behind
their cruiser, and we did. 
  Craig
pulled his camera from the truck. I took the microphone. We approached
the deputies standing in the driveway, as we would on any story. One of
them commented to me that the fire had been dangerous, but that the
worst had passed. Craig, meantime, continued with camera and tripod to
the front of the driver's side of their cruiser, no more than the
length of their car. The second deputy, Jones, I believe, over-reacted
by using a command voice, warning him to stop.

Craig did stop,
although he had every legal right to continue. He put the tripod down,
moved a few feet to the side for a better angle, and tried to roll
video. 
  I told the officer we had every right to be there.
He said we didn't know the law in Napa County. I pointed out that state
law applies in this situation. We could shoot, and we were pros. We
weren't going to get in the way. 
  About
then, the first deputy, Jones, I believe, became agitated for no good
reason. He grabbed Craig's tripod, and became more upset when Craig
took his picture doing so. 
  I asked Hallman why he was
being difficult. He replied that we were 'out of there' because we
hadn't been cooperative. I told the officer that he was being more
uncooperative than us, but moved to the back of the cruiser, trying to
avoid further escalations. As this happened, still photographer Kim
Komenich of the San Francisco Chronicle forward and past us, without
incident. I remember warning him facetiously that he might be, "putting
his life in danger."
  At about the same moment, one deputy ordered his partner to take Craig's
camera, saying, "He's out of here."
  Second deputy, Officer Hallman, said to me, "I'll ask you one last time."
I moved back a bit. 
 
 Meantime,
Jones grabbed Craig's camera from behind. Craig tried to keep the
camera from hitting the ground. Jones pushed Craig headfirst into the
cruiser, and ordered him to put his hands behind his back. 
  Craig
would not let go of the camera because he was trying to keep it from
hitting the ground. While doing so, Jones cuffed his left hand. Craig
said repeatedly that he was not a threat---that he wanted to put the
camera safely on the ground. 
  The deputy forcefully took the camera from Craig, and cuffed his other
hand. 
  As
I saw this happening, I walked forward with my cell phone camera to
document the officers handcuffing Craig, and their unnecessarily
treatment of him. One of the officers, Hallman, I believe, told me to
step back, and threatened to put me in jail, as well. As I tried to
take pictures, he ripped the cell phone from my hand, breaking it in
two, and threw it to the driveway. He sneered and half-laughed. In my
surprise, I called him by an unflattering description. They were way
out of line, and over it. I reminded him that we were doing our job on
a public street. 
  The officer warned me to not resist. 
  I replied with a few more choice words. 
  Hallman forced my hands behind my back, handcuffed me, and tried to take
my reporter's notebook and my microphone. 
  I
refused to give them up. I told him that if he wanted to take me to
jail, then take me to jail, but I was not giving them up. I told him
that if he took my notebook, he'd be going to court. I told him I
wanted a lawyer.
  He took the items, and led me away. Then he took my sunglasses and press
pass. 
  
The
officers tried to take Craig away, but he refused to leave without his
camera. As he leaned down, Jones in the black vest said in his ear,
"You don't want to struggle with me, you little bitch," or words to
that effect. 
  Hallman put me into the back of the cruiser,
and then Craig joined me a few moments later. We should note that while
this was going on, other citizens walked well past the driveway, and up
the road. Kim Komenich shot much of his photo sequence from well beyond
where the officers had asked us to stop. 
  It
was hot in the cruiser. The windows were closed. We remained cuffed.
After about ten minutes, another officer came over and rolled them down
for us. A few moments more, and they released us. 
  Captain Gene Lela arrived and apologized. "What happened to your guy?" I
asked
him. Lyerla said that he knew our rights as well as anyone, and that the
officers thought they were following orders. 
  I
told him I wanted to file charges. It's not personal, but the reactions
of those officers, and Jones in particular, causes me to question
whether they should have badges and carry guns. 
  I have
been a reporter since 1971, and have covered every kind of story, in
every imaginable situation. This is the most flagrant example I have
ever seen of peace officers losing their cool, and abusing their power.

  Their
actions were without just cause, and overly forceful. They confiscated
and broke newsgathering equipment and private property, including a
camera phone. They restrained the news media from covering a story when
we had every right to be there, and broke my equipment as I tried to
document their actions in detaining us. 
  If this is how
those Napa County Sheriff Deputies deal with accredited journalists
carrying cameras and microphones who know the law, how will they treat
average citizens in other situations?
  Napa County Sheriff Doug Koford came to ABC7 today to discuss the
detainment of our ABC7 journalists. News Director Kevin Keeshan has posted
a blog on the meeting. Click here to read
 his post.



    Posted on July 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBack (0) 
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