RowdyReptile wrote in post #5746295
I have a problem with this line of thinking. In general you're saying
1) the photographer has a right to be there
2) the officer thinks he doesn't, and tells him to leave
3) the photographer leaves, and makes a complaint later
Even if a 3rd party (the officer's supervisor?) later agrees that the photographer had a right to be there, it's too late. With an emergency situation, the photographer can't go back and get the same shot later.
I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of this scenario and you're certainly more experienced than me in this regard, but when you've got two parties disagreeing on a time-sensitive matter, and you always favor one party... well, I just don't like the sound of it.
While I agree that media/photographers/videographers have a right to be there, within limits as I explained earlier, my primary concern is not that you be able to take pictures. My primary concern is whatever situation called me to that scene in the first place and the safety of everyone there, including the media. That's the blunt answer.
As I see it, we are talking about two basic situations: you, the photographer, needing to get photos for your job (if we are talking about the media, for example), and me, the officer, needing to protect life, protect and collect evidence, and investigate a crime (basically, do my job). Understand that I don't believe that your job isn't important; far from it. However, I will always chose to protect life, protect and collect evidence, and investigate a crime over letting you take a picture if push comes to shove.
Please don't misunderstand, though. I meant what I said earlier that I don't have a problem, generally speaking, when the media shows up to capture footage of the scene, but there are going to be limits, even if for nothing else than situational control and safety.
Let me give you a scenario based on something that happened to me. I am working a wreck on an interstate. It's a bad one. As a result, the media shows up in flocks. They all get out and set up their camera equipment, and before you know it, the entire roadway is blocked by camera trucks, camera equipment, and camera operators. So, I walk over and tell them that they need to move somewhere else, and the response I get is "We have a right to be here and you can't tell us to move."
In all the excitement to be the first news agency to get the lead story with all the graphic pictures, they didn't even stop, for just one second, to consider that they are all standing in the middle of the roadway. They didn't care for their safety. However, I did. It's my job. So I made them move. I'm didn't make them leave, but they were going to move to another location whether they liked it or not.
Also, I am suggesting that you file a formal complaint not so that you can somehow go back to get the pictures, because as you pointed out it would be too late. No, I am suggesting that you file a formal complaint because if that officer crossed the line, he needs to be reprimanded. And even if your goal isn't to get that officer in trouble, you should want to make sure the officer is properly educated on what is acceptable and what is not. You should want to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. That is the reason I suggest filing a formal complaint instead of arguing right there on scene.
One last thing... in my experience, we have never told someone they had to leave. What we have told people is they need to move to a safer location, and usually even suggest a location with every intent for them to be able to get decent pictures so they can do their job. That is speaking strictly for my agency, however, and I am sure there are others that just simply tell people to leave, no questions asked. That I don't agree with.
