Well, I don't know how to respond to this. On the one hand I agree with you - what's the big deal about some old fart wandering around taking pictures. OTOH, you've got to understand a little bit about the communities here. Where I was today is a small community, mostly inhabited by older people and young people just moving in. I also know that over the years there have been a number of kidnappings and child molestations in the general area. Even fifteen years ago one of my staff wouldn't let her kid play outside unsupervised - and she and her husband lived in a very safe part of town. IOW, shit has happened here. In addition, Albany, the town I was in, like a few others that border it and are in the same general area, has a very strong sense of community, very similar to the community in which I grew up, where people looked out for one another. If I was goofing off on my way to school, you can bet Mrs. Snitow or Mike Lewis's parents, who weren't even good friends with my parents, would let my folks know what I was up to.
It's interesting how many people lament the passing of this type of community involvement, this kind of "keeping an eye out," but at the same time so many complain that people should mind their own business. I suppose there's a fine line between being nosey and annoying and being concerned and helpful, but on the whole, I'd much prefer living in a community where there's more of a spirit of helpfulness and concern than everyone living behind locked doors and drawn shades and not knowing their neighbors. I remember the horror of the Kitty Genovese murder. She was killed in the courtyard of her apartment building in 1964. More than thirty people either saw or heard her being murdered. No one called the police or did anything to help. No one wanted to "get involved." Dozens of people stood by and watched a woman being brutally assaulted for an extended period of time, and did nothing. This took place near where i grew up, in a quiet, pleasant, residential neighborhood - my police precinct. When you put what happened to me today in the context of the missing children whose portraits you see on milk cartons, in the context of parents afraid to let their kids play in their own front yards with good cause - not some vague fear installed by stories but the fact of neighborhood children being disappeared or molested - maybe it's a better thing that people pay attention to the comings and goings in their communities. Did I like being stopped today. No, damn it, I didn't. There's the thought that I was being harassed, that being stopped and questioned - very politely I'll add again - was uncalled for. And then I think of the portraits of the missing children on the milk cartons, that my friends moved to a safer community because of their fears for their children, those fears having a basis in reality. The world has changed, and it's easy to say that we - as photographers who wish to just make a few pictures - are being harassed and picked upon. And maybe we are to some degree. I certainly don't like it. But I also don't like living in a community where nobody gives a shit about their neighbors and friends. I like Albany, and El Cerrito, and parts of Berkeley because there are neighborhood groups that keep a watch out. A few years ago a client of mine had her home burgled. The thieves got a lot of stuff. In talking with the cops we found that there'd been a recent string of burglaries in the area - but none of the people whose homes were burgled shared the information with the community, set up a neighborhood watch, or got involved with anyone else in any way. And so one by one more than a dozen homes were hit. That's what can happen when everyone minds their own business. What is the answer? Hell, I don't know, but I do know that, if I were a parent i might like to have the peace of mind that someone is keeping an eye out on my kids, or that there's a neighborhood watch, or that the neighbors look in on and care for and about one another. I guess everyone will have to decide for themselves where they'll draw the line. It's easy for some of you to say that I should have been more assertive of my "rights," but being handcuffed and tossed into the back of a patrol car in front of a dozen onlookers can really ruin your day. That's happened to me once because I was a smart ass. Anyway, enough of this ... back to editing some pix. Shel > [Original Message] > From: graywolf > Well, one of the reasons people wind up living in a police state is that > they call the police about everything and nothing. Soon the police are > so used to inquiring about everybody's business they think they that is > their job. I still think this is a result of so many people having moved > here from countries where that is the norm (not you personally, > Eleanor), so that they do it without thinking. Of course I would guess > that most folks from repressive areas might still be leery of calling > the cops for any reason including violence to their person. However, > when I was growing up no one called the cops unless there was something > involving violence or theft. > > But being honest, these days I have learned to call the cops about noisy > neighbors, usually drunken college students at 1am. On the other hand I > submit that I try to talk to them first. And only when they make it > clear that they feel their right to make noise is more important to them > than my right to peace and quite do I call in the blue-suits My thinking > is that is a better thing to do than rearranging the shape of their > head, or removing it and placing it where it belongs. > > I really and firmly believe that short of actually seriously annoying > people, folks ought to have the right to do their own thing without > being harassed by the cops. And do I consider what happened to Shell to > be harassment pure and simple. What ever happened to presumed innocence? > How does taking photos of fully clothed kids in public places become a > crime except in the minds of the seriously deranged? > > And the fact is the police do not investigate every complaint that is > called in, they would need 10 times as many officers than they now have. > Officer there is a man walking down the street in the dark. Officer > there is a car driving slowly by checking out house numbers. Officer > there is a man hanging around in front of the convenience store. And it > is always a man, no one calls in as says there is a woman doing these > things, although women are as likely as a man to go for a walk, or drive > by trying to find a particular address, or wait for someone in front of > the convenience store. These days it seems like people are considered > guilty of what they might do, rather than what they are doing or have > done. Check out that old guy taking pictures, and resting on fire > hydrants, he must be a pervert. And it happened in a suburb of San > Francisco for crying out loud, that is the scariest part of Shel's story. > > > graywolf > http://www.graywolfphoto.com > "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" > ----------------------------------- > > > > E.R.N. Reed wrote: > > > Shel Belinkoff wrote: > > > >> ... I had no intention of turning it into a > >> pissing match with a cop who was only doing the job his community wanted > >> him to do. He was polite - almost to the point of being apologetic - > >> and a > >> gentleman, and we shook hands when the encounter was over. > >> > > See, here's a point I think was mostly missed in an earlier thread (I > > pointed it out but I don't know if anybody picked up on it) -- It's > > not necessarily a case of "police want to harass" as that some people > > get suspicious and call them, and then they have to make inquiries -- > > knowing that most of the time it's going to be "nothing" but once in > > some large number of times, it might be "something." (Like, how many > > people ever pulled over for a missing licence plate had just bombed a > > Federal building?) > > > > Personally I don't understand the mindset behind calling the cops on a > > person with a camera in the vicinity of a high school (I don't even > > get excited about "person with a camera in the vicinity of a > > playground" -- I generally assume the latter are parents, grandparents > > or otherwise connected to the children, after all that's why *I*'m > > there with my camera) but apparently that particular paranoid mindset > > exists. The police are probably about as tired of it as the > > photographers with whom they have these casual little chats. > > > > (If "strange person with camera near a playground" strikes up > > conversation with my child at a distance from me, I'd start taking a > > close interest, but otherwise, no.) > > > > I take it this story means you're on the mend physically, Shel? Good > > to hear, if so. > > > > ERNR > > > > > > > > > >
