The Crime of Photography
A few months ago there was a story about a photojournalist arrested in Miami for taking photos of police officers on the street. Now comes the story of another photographer, Walter Miller, who was questioned by police in Indianapolis for taking a photo of public art that included a portion of Indianapolis City County Building in the background (pictured at left). Indianapolis police stopped Miller and asked to view the photos in his camera as a matter of homeland security, citing that pictures of certain government facilities are off limits.
While Miller was allowed to keep his photos and was not arrested, IMPD officials say that they didn’t violate any rights in the questioning and search. According to authorities in Indianapolis, law enforcement officials are concerned about pictures of federal office buildings, military installations, major bridges, and other infrastructure that could be terrorists targets.
Following this logic, there are millions of potential terrorists
lurking among us, with blurry snapshot and snapshot of prospective
targets, like this one. Of course, Miller was not obligated to turn
over his photos (although in many cases it might be less of a hassle if
you cooperate with the police and let them see that you aren’t up to
anything suspicious). Regardless, it’s always a good idea to know your
rights in
case you are caught committing the crime of photography.
—Kathleen Davis
Assistant Editor
This is rapidly becoming an extraordinarily important issue both in the fields of photography and personal freedom.
I'm interested to see how the saga ends, but I don't think any of us will be happy with it. America is scary.
Posted by: Andrew Ferguson | June 28, 2007 at 05:51 PM
i m interested in the field of forensic /police photogaphy plz sent material & pappers
Posted by: sadaqatullah | March 02, 2008 at 01:25 AM
It's so scary to read all of this. It makes me think twice as i see a good chance for a shot. Each time i flew to usa i took so many pictures of buildings or candid shots but never realize that will end up be a little risky
Posted by: patti | October 30, 2008 at 06:07 PM