My night in jail after photographing police against their wishes

[RagingInMiami]

The most humiliating part of my arrest was not necessarily the way the five Miami police officers slammed me down on the hard sidewalk and bashed my forehead against the concrete. Nor was it the way they tightened the handcuffs on me until they cut off the circulation in my wrists. Nor was it the way one officer twisted my right wrist backwards until I yelled out in pain. Nor was it the way an officer threatened to taze me if I did not shut my mouth.

It wasn’t even the way the sergeant taunted me at the precinct by saying, “I don’t know what police department you’re used to dealing with, but this is Miami PD and we don’t put up with that kind of crap here.”

No, the most humiliating part of my arrest was when I was ordered into a small dark room at the Miami-Dade County Jail and ordered to drop my pants, bend over and spread my cheeks while a jail guard with a flashlight ensured that I was not smuggling any contraband into the jail.

Read the rest of the http://www.magiccitymania.com/2008/07/14/jailhouse-jaunt/">story here.

[Fovea]

1. How is your camera?

And the Miami police don't need no steenkin badges.

Get a lawyer.

[babylonsister]

2. No! That must have been some heinous crime you committed, RIM.

I'm so sorry to read this. Must be their way of additional punishment, but that doesn't make it easier to deal with.

[Heidi]

3. If they're bustin' you for shooting photos, I wonder how many others are in jail

for doing nothing more than upsetting the wrong law enforcement officer?

:kick:

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. So glad to see you posting

I have been wondering how you were doing.

[lpbk2713]

5. K&R

Anyone who thinks the law is on our side is much too naive for their own good.

[Joanne98]

6. The perverted police state moves forward!

[indepat]

7. America, America, land of the free and home of the brave, God shed his grace on thee

:D

[lonestarnot]

8. Still wondering about the Rag'n Defense Fund,

And what the need is there, if any? :hug: Rage on in the face of the swallowing machine, as they cannot have it right in freedom isn't free. My ass muthafuckas!

[Mythsaje]

9. Oh, don't worry...

I'm sure there are any number of DUers who would rise up to defend the police no matter WHAT they did. They've got a "hard job" don't ya know?

[crimsonblue]

10. sue and file a criminal complaint against the fuckers

false imprisonment leading to sexual assault, kidnapping and being an all around douchebag of a PD.

[countryjake]

11. That's a great piece!

I'm sure hoping you can win your appeal. I think that "resisting arrest without violence" has got to be one of the most bogus charges ever filed and I'm inclined to believe that the more humiliating aspect of your experience is the monies you've had to actually "donate" to support such a corrupt system, in order to fight this outrage. They empty our pockets while their hands are up our asses.

Good to find you here posting!

[EFerrari]

12. That happened to me, Carlos, after dealing with a schizophrenic person

for days, and finally being arrested on his paranoid report of assault with zero visible evidence of an assault or even of any violence whatsoever.

While I was dropping my jeans, the matron cried out when she saw my bruised up carcass and, proceeded to continue the search.

Gotta love our "justice" system.

[dickthegrouch]

13. You might want to compare FL law with CA

This was fairly recently enacted in California:

It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to
protect the state and federal constitutional rights of the people of
California by establishing a statewide policy strictly limiting strip
and body cavity searches.

Calif Penal Code

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Very well told, Raging...

I knew you were a great photographer, but your writing knocks me out. :thumbsup: Are you all done with this legal hassle now? It's shameful the way you were treated.

[Hugabear]

15. There's at least one DUer who thinks you got exactly what you deserve

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3628936

Someone else got arrested elsewhere for taking a picture of a cop. You don't have to go very far in that thread to find someone who thinks that you got exactly what you deserved. :sarcasm:

[benEzra]

16. Photographer's rights...

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

The War on Photography:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/06/the_war_on_phot.html

[Evoman]

17. Well, that is what you get for being a stupid idiot who *gasp* points a camera at a cop.

The degradation will teach you. Point ANYTHING at a cop and you get what you deserve.

*note: I am being sarcastic. I support you with every fibre of my being. Moreover, I hate cops.

[EOTE]

18. You may be being sarcastic, but there are those here who

would agree with that sentiment. Ones who don't think the cop did anything wrong, but the person 'had it coming' for pointing anything at a cop. It's sick, sick, sick that even some DUers are becoming so accustomed to the police state that they think the cops are in the right for this shit. SICK.

[Evoman]

19. I know...that's why I said it. Those are almost the exact words of another DUer.

[TrogL]

20. I think you misunderstood the poster in the other thread

I've worked with law enforcement in Canada as a volunteer. Granted, things are less crazy here but their motto is "shit happens". This translates as both "some things are just too stupid to require further police involvement" and "be careful because you never know what some idiot's going to pull next".

One of the training videos shows a session where police were attempting to secure a room and someone walked in carrying something. The trainee "shot" him. The "something" turned out to be a black napkin brought for "shit happens" reasons from the dinner table.

Given America's gun culture, US police officers are waaaay more paranoid about things being pointed at them and may react badly or impulsively perhaps going so far as to shoot first and ask questions later, hence it's probably a "bad idea" as opposed to illegal.

Whether a specific police officer thinks it's illegal is a whole 'nother discussion beyond scope.

[EOTE]

21. The thing is, he was justifying the behavior.

The cop knew damn well that it was a camera being pointed at him and that's what he arrested the guy for. There was no confusing of the iphone for a gun, the officer simply thought that he was so important that it was illegal for him to be photographed. There's a difference between advising behavior and excusing the cop for doing something that very well should have him out of a job.

[Ignis]

25. Bollocks. That poster was simply saying "Might makes right."

And that is NOT a Democratic value in my book. :thumbsdown:

[NNN0LHI]

22. Why do people go around photographing police officers?

Is it a hobby? Like a game. Break the boredom?

Whats the deal here?

Don

[niyad]

26. you don't understand why people would want to photograph cops? how about showing them beating

the crap out of protestors who have committed NO infractions? how about showing that officer in south carolina, caught on video, abusing a person he stopped for a supposed traffic violation? how about keeping them honest? what part of this do you not understand?

[annarbor]

23. Photographing the police....

I've been a member of DU for several years and I've been a cop for the past seventeen. I have been videotaped, photographed and audio taped...none of which bothered me one bit. Every cop on the department that I work for knows that the possibility exists and quite frankly it's generally welcomed unless the person doing the photographing gets so close that they interfere with a cops' ability to make an arrest. And if that were to occur, a simple "step back please" usually suffices.

If an arrest resulted from you simply taking a photograph of a cop, then contact your attorney ASAP.

ann arbor

[Generic Other]

24. Really captured the essence of this horrifying experience

The judge's nonchalant dismissal of the cops' behavior really makes it easy to see why police are unafraid to abuse the system.

A well-written piece.