Friday, May 15, 2009

Photography and the Police

I was reading an article in the Winnipeg Free Press about police and photography. The article talks about police seizing the videotape of a documentary filmmaker recording the destruction of a house. It is clear from the article that the police overstepped their bounds.

It reminded me of the various run-ins that railfans have had with police and railway police in particular. In some cases, (idiot) railfans have made a nuisance of themselves and deserved the attention. However, in many cases (such as this) railfans have been harassed for no good reason.

Know your rights. And follow the railfan etiquette.

2 comments:

clam502 said...

Thanks for the info Steve! I've been looking for something of this sort. I personally never encountered any problems with the law in this regard however still good to know.

Saintjohnrailfan said...

I was out in Rothesay last fall waiting for the train to roll by. I had my tripod and everything set up. A police officer came up to me and wondered what I was doing. It turned out that about 30 minutes prior, somebodys home was broken into about a mile up the road. I mentioned my intentions and he told me he knew somebody who took photos of trains as well.

That's about as close as I've gotten, even that wasn't so bad.