Marnie wrote: > In the second place, most police officers are reasonable people.
Police officers frequently commit crimes, violate civil rights, fabricate evidence and assault suspects. I fear the police far more than I do criminals. I think your assessment of cops is extremely optimistic. > As I carry a camera everywhere I go and regularly photograph whatever I > find interesting, obviously I would be nervous about any situation in > which the "authorities" were going to pick on photographers. Women and men have entirely different experiences at the hands of cops. I wouldn't expect you to understand the macho bullshit that cops inflict on us. > Despite all > your paranoid ranting on this thread, that story you cited doesn't > describe such a situation, and such a situation does not exist in San > Antonio, Texas. I don't think anything he said was paranoid. > On the OTHER hand, if there is a pervert going around taking > pornographic pictures of young girls without their consent, and > collecting sexually explicit information about pizza delivery customers, > and carrying weapons in his vehicle, and furthermore this is happening > in the district in which I, my daughter, my cousins and several friends > live, attend public events and order pizza, I'd appreciate it if there > was a way to stop him. At best he's invading people's privacy; at worst, > he's dangerous. Pornographic pictures? He was taking snapshots of people in public places. That does not constitute probable cause in my opinion. He didn't harm anyone. > It's necessary for laws to strike a balance between allowing a person to > do just what he feels like doing, and protecting the privacy and safety > of other people. The law does not offer protection of peoples' privacy. There is no such right guaranteed in any government document. I would rather take responsponsibility for my own safety and live freely than live in a state where police are a bigger threat than the criminals. Tom Reese
