Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the opinions of KOB-TV, of its management, nor of its owner. This morning here in Albuquerque, KOB-TV photographer Rick Foley was physically attacked, handcuffed, and cited by an unknown Albuquerque police officer that apparently didn't like being photographed.
Foley was shooting video in the east Central area after a suspect who allegedly shot at police had been found in a dumpster.
At the beginning of the video you can hear Foley acknowledge the officer's order to move to a different intersection. Foley, a veteran in the Albuquerque TV news market, continues to record as the officer gets physically aggressive:
Here's a link to KOB.com containing the raw video of the encounter.
The overzealous officer then cited Foley for "refusing to obey," and placed him in the back of a patrol unit while cuffed. Foley claims the officer then searched his news unit without permission and refused to release his name and badge number (which is required by law).
Below is a scan of the original citation (the officer failed to print his name clearly) and wrote "Foley was asked several times to move as he filmed me sticking his camera in my face." (Click on image for a bigger picture.)
Foley, who has been a news photographer for 25 years, says this is the first time he has been handcuffed and cited by a police officer while on assignment.
This unknown officer clearly overstepped his bounds, abused his authority by physically attacking a photographer who was just doing his job.
This type of behavior is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by the Albuquerque Police Department, nor should it be tolerated by other citizens who practice the right to free press.
Police have an extraordinary amount of power. They can detain and charge people at will. This power should not be abused merely because a police officer doesn't like being videotaped.
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jeremyjojola.com
15 comments:
Robocoop can't print his name clearly, yet he can describe the photog's action's by printing THAT clearly?
APD better be ready to suspend this overzealous idiot. If not, KOB better be ready to hound this tool for, at the very least, a face-to-face apology with the photog.
And cops wonder why people dislike them more than they respect them?
I had the same thing happen to me years ago. The station aired the tape on the evening news, 2 days later I was down at Internal Affairs filing charges. The officer was suspended then fired.
There is justice for some of us.
FAILED TO OBEY A POLICE ORDER AND GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED. USE THIS EXPERIENCE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. THE PRESS IS OUT OF CONTROL IN THIS COUNTRY AND HAS BEEN FOR ALONG TIME.
Police Officers dont have time to try and convice people that they need to leave the area. They give an order and the public is expected to follow. If there was a man if a gun and the camera man got shot, everyone would be blaming the cop for not having the camera man leave. It comes down to the camera man did not listen and he got what he deserved.
I was a news photog and I am very familiar with their disdain for my profession. Other than the department spoksperson the beat officers can tend to be very rude and disrespectful of news photographers. It is probably due to the news teams who capture them beating suspects and breaking laws themselves.
Regardless of what the photographer said to the officer, he did not threaten the officer.
The photographer should have every right to file criminal assault charges against the officer involved. He clearly attacked the photographer because he didnt like his "tone".
If "tone of voice" were grounds for assaulting someone I could have beaten down many an officer.
When an officer is shot, killed, or injured in the line of duty, their department has an expectation of citizens to rally behind them and support the department loss. Officers like this one make it very difficult to sympathize with when they act like this. Unfortunatly this is NOT uncommon.
I do not dislike the police. I am not a criminal. I just understand where the photographer came from when while dealing with non-communicative police officers.
I would absolutly recommend that this guy persue criminal charges against the officer. This is not China and contrary to the beliefs of many officers your job only exists because we allow it.
Danny
Fate, TX
"Failed to obey a Police officer and got what you deserved..." That's professionalism right there, folks. Your "lawful" protectors in all their glory.
Ever hear of just cause, there Barney Fife? We as citizens are not bound to obey "unlawful commands" by sworn officers or deputies (just in case you forgot your academy training.) That was an unlawful command.
This poor excuse for a police officer just violated that journalists civil rights three ways to Sunday. Just because you carry a gun and a badge does not mean you can act on your over-inflated sense of self-importance.
Once the courts get a hold of this this guy will be writing parking tickets for a few years.
Failing to obey an order by police and interfering with a police investigation. The camera man should have listened. A lot of them don't and look what happens.
As a police Officer myself, I will agree that the lack of communication was the major cause of the problem, which eventually led to the Officer's misconduct. However, contrary to popular belief, Officers are not required to give their badge number or, in many cases, even their name to anyone and everyone that asks. This Officer should have cited the cameraman, however he should not have gotten physical. Also, I would caution you on statements such as "your job only exists because we allow it." This becomes immediately offense to me and has a very condescending tone to it.
-Anonymous
I hope they fire the cop. People like him don't need a badge with a gun. APD cut your losses and fire the thug.
I had a very similar incident happen to me with Rio Rancho's finest. Unfortunately I didn't have a video camera in my hand and I suffered injuries that I had to be treated for. Nothing ever happened to the officer involved.
I have no faith or trust in the Police. This is the same type of thing that happened to the Unser brothers. It was only their celebrity that saved them. Being that I'm just another Joe Citizen, I had to spend $5,000.00 to defend myself against a bogus charge of interfering with an officer.
My injuries were never questioned by "the system".
There are responsible, compassionate, hard-working police in this city. I know because I have worked with and respected some great cops. I think that theirs is one of the hardest jobs we as a society can ask a person to perform. But this is all the more reason to hire qualified people AND do them the favor of providing adequate training and opportunities to recover from the stressful, often life-threatening situations they're put in. Is it too much to ask that cops demonstrate excellent conflict de-escalation and stress management skills before they're handed a badge? The fact that I have witnessed and been subject to essentially this same situation with far worse unprovoked brutality ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS is horribly wrong. I wasn't lucky enough to have a camera with me the time I was assaulted, and I can't help but wonder how many others are out there being treated like this or worse, with no recourse. And to the good cops out there: I wish you luck stying true to your morals in the midst of a system that is obviously degrading to everyone involved--cop and civilian alike.
ok once again reporters hiding behind the freedom of the press the officer told this guy the location he should have gone and the "veteran reporter" responds with was that so hard to do!!! thats very professional the right thing to have done was thank you sir and pointed the camera down while still rolling for audio if he was that in fear for his life. why dont we see what happened before this video actually starts I could guess that the officer asked him to move to a different location and he refused but then again i would expect this from this news station its nothing new!!!
Not every order an officer gives is lawful. Many of them seem to be a bit unclear on what they can "lawfully order" and when. There's a lot of latitude, but there are limits, which the judge that dismissed the charges pointed out.
I'd say that most of the distrust of police would be assuaged if the function of the IAD was separated from the police. It seems like an overt conflict of interest. What other agency gets to judge whether it's obeying the law?
Make it a Justice Dept function, rotate the postings often to reduce shenanigans, and offer the feds on the review board incentives for convictions, much as the police get to confiscate property. Lots of problems would shake out in short order.
The COPS get Fired and then hired by his buddies at another department. The cops are out of control.
"Refusing to OBEY" is not a reason to get arrested you NAZI cop bastards.
Chief Ray Schultz issued a new policy to the department last week, instructing officers that they are not to charge someone with "refusing to obey" unless that person is already being arrested on another crime or is physically keeping the officer from carrying out his duties.
The only firing this cop needs is a bullet fired into his head.
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