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Avoid Being Hassled By The Cops While Shooting Pictures

Shortly after 9/11 I was working with a small crew shooting an advertisement for Microsoft Mobile on a street corner in downtown Seattle directly across from the Federal Building. Within minutes of breaking out a couple large reflectors and clicking away a few frames, two armed officers came over and shut down our operation saying “you can’t photograph federal buildings”. I assured them the building was not the subject of the image. Nonetheless they shut us down. And in the many years since 9/11, we’ve of course seen and heard numerous incidents/reports/cases of cops unjustly and illegally harassing photographers for similar stuff.

Although this approach was systematically the standard for almost a decade, that treatment was officially laid to rest between August and October 2010 with a settlement between the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Feds that stated it was okay to photograph Federal Courthouse buildings. TODAY however, the NYTimes Lens Blog reports that the NYCLU has received a redacted and updated version of the directive that was sent to all law enforcement agencies nationwide indicating that it is officially legit to photograph ANY AND ALL exteriors of federal buildings from “publicly accessible spaces such as streets, sidewalks, parks and plazas.”

I encourage you to download and print this updated version of the directive and keep it in your camera bag in case you ever get hassled.

In addition to illustrating that you can photograph buildings from public spaces, it mandates that “absent reasonable suspicion or probable cause…officers should not seize the camera or its contents, and must be cautious not to give such ‘orders’ to a photographer to erase the contents of a camera” as this constitutes and illegal seizure or detention.

Good news for us all.

[via the NYT Lens blog]

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51 replies on:
Avoid Being Hassled By The Cops While Shooting Pictures

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  1. Mark Griffith says:
    January 30, 2011 at 8:32 am

    Just so you know, this same does not apply in China. ;).

    http://blog.niffgurd.com/2010/12/one-hell-of-long-day-first-off-before.html

  2. Karl says:
    January 30, 2011 at 7:58 am

    Looking in from the outside (from Ireland), it seems to me that the “Land of the Free” has as many ridiculous restrictions and inhibitions as many of the supposed “suppressed” cultures your authorities and/or media seem intent on building a culture of fear of.

  3. Ben Pettit says:
    January 29, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    Printed and in the camera bag. I thought about laminating it!

  4. Jeremy Bales says:
    January 29, 2011 at 11:18 am

    Absolutely. It’s important to know the law. Maybe you could give some insights to your followers on how to use this document when the time comes. I would avoid waving it like a flag in the face of authority.

    Regardless of who is in the right a blown photo shoot is a blown photo shoot. A night in jail is a night in jail. Nobody likes being told what their job is or isn’t

    I usually explain to police what my understanding of the law is and politely ask them to contact a supervisor for clarification. The next step would be to use this document, or NYPD Operations Order 14. It’s always a good idea to vocalize the officer’s point of view: “I understand that you’re just trying to keep everyone safe…” etc.

  5. The Spaniard says:
    January 28, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    good its nice to see peoples rights honored these day. its about time people stand up for thier rights. no matter what it sounds rediculous that we live in a world where we get hassled for doing our jobs especially taking a picture. good for you for puting this knowledge out there

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