Posted on 07/16/2008 3:18:48 PM PDT by BGHater
Nearly everyone carries a cell phone and it’s hard to find one without that camera feature. It’s convenient when you want to take that impromptu photo, but a Tri-Cities area man ended up behind bars after snapping a shot of a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop.
The cell phone photographer says the arrest was intimidation, but the deputy says he feared for his life.
“Here’s a guy who takes me out of the car and arrests me in front of my kids. For what? To take a picture of a police officer?” said Scott Conover.
A Johnson County sheriff’s deputy arrested Scott Conover for unlawful photography.
“He says you took a picture of me. It’s illegal to take a picture of a law enforcement officer,” said Conover.
Conover took a picture of a sheriff’s deputy on the side of the road on a traffic stop. Conover was stunned by the charge.
“This is a public highway,” said Conover.
And it was not a place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy as Tennessee code states. The deputy also asked Conover to delete the picture three times.
“He said if you don’t give it to me, you’re going to jail,” said Conover.
Under the advice of the Johnson County attorney, the sheriff would not comment and the arresting deputy said he didn’t want to incriminate himself by talking to us.
In an affidavit, the deputy said he saw something black with a red light which he thought was a threat. Conover was also arrested for pointing a laser at a law enforcement officer.
“At no time did I have a laser. I had an iPhone,” said Conover.
When you take a picture in the dark with Conover’s Apple iPhone, there is no flash or any light that comes from the phone that could be mistaken for a laser.
In a witness statement by a Mountain City officer, is says the deputy asked about the picture rather than looking for a laser.
“If you arrested me, wouldn’t you take the laser? If you arrested me, wouldn’t you take the camera?” said Conover.
He expects these charges to be dismissed.
“This guy maliciously arrested me, charging me with phony charges that he don’t even understand himself,” Conover said.
The American Civil Liberties Union would not comment on Conover’s case without fully reviewing the allegations, but told us there is no law that prohibits anyone from taking photographs in public areas, even of police. Taking photos is protected by the First Amendment. Conover is ordered to appear in a Johnson County court on August 6th.
---------------------------------------------------------
Documents:
How absurd, that would mean that every time the officer steps in front of his dashboard camera, he has broken the law...
This must be a young police officer...I hope...
If that is the law, it needs to be changed.
Oh great - another one of your cop hating posts to muddy up FreeRepublic.
Well, that just about says it all. Stupid, crooked East Tennessee cops!
There are a lot of jerks out there. Some of them are police officers.
And the overbearing “LEO” supporter brigade should be here in.....
The irony is that the deputy’s actions make it likely that his
picture will turn up all over the media and the net.
There is nothing conservative about police misconduct and abuse of power.
And there is nothing conservative about cop hating and police state paranoia.
No, just another typical incompetent bruiser of the LEO variety.
A "hick" first grader.
I’m as pro law enforcement officers as anyone, but I can’t see how the Sheriff can legally expect the man to give up the pictures. If you can legally ask for a Badge number., why not a photo?
I can recall the episode where the family dog was shot by Eastern TN officers....they eventually settled the lawsuit for 40,000 or so...
What is this Russia? Crazy story.
Apologies! I meant deputy sheriff.
Sounds like bullbleep to me.This is likely to be a cop with a bad attitude...or one who was having a bad day.Unless I’m given compelling additional evidence my jury vote would be not guilty X3.And if I was a juror in the civil trial I’d be inclined to award this guy serious $$$....both from the police dept and from the cop himself.
One can only just shake ones head. BTW, how did nobody’s dog get shot in this one?
I won’t paint with too broad a brush, there does seem to have been an attitude shift though, theI-26 corridor is supposed to bring all sort of lovely criminals through the area, but this is simply...stupid...
I bet it took him 40 minutes to come up with the charges..LOL!
I agree there is nothing conservative about “cop hating,” but being paranoid about a police state is very legitimate, as Obama would love to impose one.
Hell, they’re regulating what kind of restaurants can now open.
Are you the old KGB’s #1 supporter?
Guilty of Contempt of Cop, fry him..........
Is this true? Only in TN, perhaps?
No dog in the car. I’m just happy no kids were killed.
The only time I was involved with a thread that got pulled was a LEO thread. The invective runs high. I ran through a series of suggestions about using various tags such as “vehemence” under the ecumenical tag system for subjects such as this one.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2038869/posts?page=286#286
I, a middle aged white guy, was pulled over a year or so ago for “running a stop sign” where there was no stop sign. It didn’t take long for me to realize the two cops weres trying to egg me into losing my cool and saying/doing something stupid so they could cuff me, probably so they would have probable cause to do a drug search of my vehicle (they wouldn’t have found anything.) I stayed calm and they eventually “let me off with a warning” for the nonexistent stop sign.
I no longer consider the police to be on my side, and in any future encounters with them, I’ll be respectful, but wary.
In the U.K., a guy gets harassed for taking pictures of his own kids on a slide at the park. Here, a sheriffs deputy arrests a guy for taking his picture. It’s the cameras! Ban them, they’re dangerous. And that includes traffic cameras at intersections, cameras in police cars, and spy cameras along roadways. Outlaw them all!
If it turns out that there is no such law, people should drive by the cop and take pictures of him every day. Actually, he should be fired in that case.
No. Happens in Philly too. That was even crazier!!
http://www.nbc10.com/news/9574663/detail.html
You gotta know when to hold’em and know when to fold’em. If the facts are as indicated in the story, criticism of the LEO is in order. The actions and reactions of his superiors show that. There is nothing wrong with questioning this. If it were you, would you say “Yes sir” when ‘told’ to delete a simple picture on a public highway?
If the cops have nothing to hide then they shouldn’t mind public scrutiny.
“And there is nothing conservative about cop hating and police state paranoia.”
That’s what they kept telling the Jews in Nazi Germany.
Hank
If a police officer is doing something that he doesn’t want a citizen to photograph, he probably shouldn’t be doing it.
so then I guess you think it makes sense to put their lives and indentities in jeapardy by allowing the possiblity of their faces plastered all over the internet?
If the cop made a false arrest he should go to jail.
That happened to me once. The cops followed me a couple blocks to my mother-in-law's house where I was dropping off my baby daughter. A couple of young rookies out to harass anyone. I got into their face and told them they were full of crap. Also that I was enroute to a meeting with police commanders and captains, and that they would hear of this (I was a civilian working for the PD), and named names. They went pale, got back into their car and left pronto. There's good cops, and unfortunately some bad eggs.
This guy was a traffic cop for crying out loud. You’re making it seem like taking a picture of him was because he was an undercover narco cop.....It doesn’t wash....
And there also isn’t anything conservative about going along with and/or supporting police misconduct and abuse of power.
Nor patriotic. Nor noble. Nor admirable or honorable.
That is sound advice for everyone.
Just because your paranoid doesn’t mean they are not after you!
Who is lying?
Oh, they’d have “found” something if they wanted to........
The cop thought he could intimidate a guy who wouldn’t be intimidated, and proceeded to a point where his ego wouldn’t let him back down.
Why not just wear a mask? If the officer wants to hide his identity, he should wear a mask. He probably shouldn’t wear his name tag or badge number either.
These dipwads are out of control.
Unless he was undercover he is just being a tyrannical jerk.
If this incident happened at all and there is no law that prevents the picture from being taken, he should be fired.
As far as the dumb post about posting his picture on the Internet, he is not an undercover spy. He is a police officer. There should be no law to prevent his picture being taken in public.
This is not cop hating. It is anger over the abuse of a cop. I think a lot of people have had cops abuse their power and that is where this anger is coming from. The respect must be mutual, and threatening jail for taking a picture crosses the line big time.
Great, another overly-sensitive cops-can-do-no-wrong lover acting like a liberal by accusing someone of “hate” just because someone does not share your same viewpoint.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.