NYPD overreaching? Interestingly, the byline to the report in the NYT is signed "The New York Times." Presumably, he will be represented by a Times lawyer.
Read it at The New York Times
Times Photographer Is Arrested on Assignment
The New York Times
See also:
Greg Mitchell Pressing Issues
As it happens, police hassled him covering an Occupy protest last December, caught on tape up close in this video'NYT' Photog Arrested By Police--Plus a Previous Episode
Greg Mitchell Pressing Issues
Occupy Wall Street tweeted earlier: When criminalizing peaceful protest doesn't work, police will brand it as disaster or terrorism.
It's patently obvious that the police are just making stuff up, and there is often video to prove these days. Which is why they want the cameras off, of course, in spite of what the courts have said.
This is having a chilling effect across the country as people are realizing that "the man" is not your friend.
Is Commissioner Kelley losing control of the force or is this SOP? My uncle was commissioner of state police for the State of Connecticut, and knowing what I do know about how this works, I'd definitely say the later. Commissioner Kelly needs to go and the sooner the better. He is either incompetent or complicit — or just carrying out Mayor Bloomberg's orders? The fish rots from the head first.
Is Commissioner Kelley losing control of the force or is this SOP? My uncle was commissioner of state police for the State of Connecticut, and knowing what I do know about how this works, I'd definitely say the later. Commissioner Kelly needs to go and the sooner the better. He is either incompetent or complicit — or just carrying out Mayor Bloomberg's orders? The fish rots from the head first.
4 comments:
I steer clear of NYPD at all times. It's getting really bad.
Kelly has got to go. Oddly, though, he has a pretty high approval rating according to polls.
Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. There's no way the DA (an elected official who wants to stay on the Times's sunny side) isn't going to drop the charges. I wouldn't be surprised if the cops end up indicted when it all shakes out.
Kelly has been there long enough, its time to bring on fresh blood (though Bill Bratton is worth rehiring. It'd probably require Congress to foot the bill but the single most helpful reform would be requiring police officers to video (with a helmet or lapel mounted lipstick cam) every interaction with the public. It will make it easier for good cops to justify solid arrests and it will make bad cops think twice before they do something stupid like the above.
Yes, the charges will likely be dropped, however, I highly doubt the cops that did this will be indicted. The frequency of these events suggests that cops can do this without any fear of punishment and that commanders either condone this or look away, meaning that it has Kelly's approval.
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