According to police chief Jim McDonnell, who spoke to The Long Beach Post, if officers find someone taking photos “of something like a refinery… it is incumbent upon the officer to make contact with the individual.” Basically, if you’re not taking photos in “regular tourist behaviour”, the local Californian police feel they have the right to stop and question you.
This comes after a Long Beach Post contributor, Sander Roscoe Wolff, was detained by a local police officer for taking the above photo of a refinery. Now, it’s important to point out that the police aren’t trained photographers, nor have they been educated in what makes for suitable photographic subjects — the officers make a judgment “based on their overall training and experience”, falling back on their Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) guidebooks which state the policy is “to make every effort to accurately and appropriately gather, record and analyse information, of a criminal or non-criminal nature, that could indicate activity or intentions related to either foreign or domestic terrorism.”
Ah, terrorism. As PetaPixel’s Michael Zhang points out, “what if some terrorist is an awesome photographer?” [Long Beach Post via Pixiq via PetaPixel]
Commander Shepard
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 8:48 AMSo they question you if you photograph them?
Muhammad
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 8:49 AMThis comment has been deemed inappropriate and has been deleted
Scott
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:31 AMMuhammad, I have read your recent spate of incitive comments.
A. Are you just a low life troll?
B. Are you just pretending to be sympathetic to the terrorist/Anti western bunch to stir up trouble?
C. Are you actually sympathetic to the terrorist/Anti western bunch and if so please respond letting us know why and what you think should be done?
Muhammad
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:45 AM@ Scott
I thought about what to write here for quite some time in response to your comments; Do i tell you the truth? do i troll again? No. It doesnt matter what i say here, and if you want an answer i would say that i am all 3 of your options combined.
Scott
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:59 AMGizmodo moderators,
I offered him a chance to make some sense of his comments.
Go and read his recent comments. They dont serve any constructive or entertainment value that is not outweighed by the troll aspect.
This is as good an example of someone who should be banned or at least start to screen his comments. I cant speak for others but while I am very tolerant of different views and people string the pot in the comments I don’t come to Gizmodo for the stuff hes been posting. They make less likely to want to keep reading Giz posts.
Frank
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:48 AM@ Scott
You are part of the problem
Scott
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:28 AMIf your going to make a comment on something as inflammatory as this, don’t leave a 6 line comment that does nothing except to just fuel it. Care to explain your statement? or were you just trolling for a response also?
Scott
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:31 AM“6 word”
Bob
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 12:56 PM@ Scott – You are part of the problem. Get a fucking life and leave the troll alone.
Brent
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:42 AMI thought his original comment was just a wry jab at decaying personal freedoms in Western countries. Broad post-9/11 laws restricting activities which have no inherent malice (such as photographing ‘ugly’ buildings) are an unecessary restriction of personal freedoms – freedoms which AQ/Taliban/Hezbollah/Iran etc despise. America is still a long, long way from being anything like those regimes, but it is gradually becoming more authoritarian like them.
TL;DR No Scott, No.
olearymo
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:54 AMBrent, Scott was talking more about Muhammud’s recent comments elsewhere on Gizmodo.
Scott I gotta agree with you, Muhammud’s comments of late have been deliberatly provocative and definitely ‘trolling’. I’m not sure how we bring this to the attention of Giz staff? Perhaps emailing them.
Frank, if it’s the same Frank, has also recently made at least one very inflammatory comment of a highly suggestive and illegal nature: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/08/cops-use-wi-fi-detector-to-bust-kiddie-porn-pervs/
Danny Allen
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:08 PMHi there, Giz Au editor here. Please keep comments on topic from this point on. Muhammad — looking at you, and some of your recent posts here.
Don’t want to go troll hunting, it’s too cold out.
Paul
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:06 PMAhaha, it’s laughable.. Look our world of AAA countries, with modern medicine practices. Not forgetting the fact we’re no longer barbarians who taument and kidnap people. We don’t practice brutal suicides, we don’t get justice by stoning people to death or hanging them. Science will prevail, god will be proven non existant.
Hopefully we can rid the world of silly police ethics too.
Commander Shepard
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:13 AM@mohummad Um “our” osama?
wsDK_II
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:18 AMI think he might be islamic and refering to Osama as a freedom fighter. But he has a point – america sucks these days, i dont want to live here anymore :(
Heisenburg
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:14 AMwe’re going to choke ourselves with political correctness
Pauly
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:18 AMYep, crazy people in every corner of the world eh.
Cameron
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:19 AMAmerica, Fuck Yeah!
EckyThump
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 9:55 AMI’ve been saying for a while now that the US was becoming a ‘Police State’, well guess what Mofo’s!! #{
light487
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:46 AMNo more dancing in public areas around monuments.. no more taking pictures of anything that isn’t a tourist attraction.. yer.. land of the free? Land of the conspiracy theorist politician more likely.
Kyle_Katarn
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 2:57 AMNo more flying without being molested.
Ramsey
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:07 AMThat’s not even legal, wtf.
Data-Cain
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 1:21 PMAs a 3d artist I love thoes sorts of pictures!
And I’ve seen quite a few 2D artists who use them too.
fkn jerks!
Tim
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:00 PMI guess in this case atleast it probably had something to do with trespassing too, I don’t imagine a refinery would be on public land.
cflow
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 3:55 PMIf you rock on down to Geelong in Victoria or any docks you can get “refinery” pics.
As a graphic designer I have taken all kinds of pics to use as reference for work, some as backgrounds and textures and some as full realised pics. I wouldn’t want to be hampered by a police out to make an anti-terrorist statement.
Everyone knows Google Earth/Maps is the best thing for terrorists anyway, why take photos when you can go to street view?
wallygaw
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:34 PMWhat happened to “Home of the brave and Land of the Free”.
Sounds like rampant paranoia and smacks a bit of McCarthyism.
Who the fuck are the state to tell anybody what has aesthetic value?
Just because the odd nut case roams free, doesn’t mean the general population has to be penalised.
Kyle_Katarn
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 2:55 AMReally stupid. What if you’re a 3D artist, looking for references on a 3D Model you’re trying to texture for a game, or a movie?
Freaking plebs.
Kyle_Katarn
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 2:59 AMAlso,
“what if some terrorist is an awesome photographer?”
Not unlikely, considering that the SPLC have basically come out and branded everyone as a terrorist.