Coral Gables Police Delete Ladies Images

[p858snake]

Rogue Police in Free Country? Who Can Stop Police Abuse?

Civil Rights Violation by Local Police in Coral Gables, Florida USA

For the record, I was warned that I may become a target of harassment if I make a lot of noise about this, but I am writing this anyway.

In a sunny morning of June 10, 2008, I was taking a walk on Coralway in Coral Gables, just several blocks from where I live. It had rained earlier and all plants were wet and shiny under the bright sun light, so I took a camera with me. I put a big yellow straw hat tied up with a bandanna so the hat wouldn't get blown by wind. (scroll down to see photo) This hat thing was to protect my face from the intense sun light as I easily get sun spots on my face exposed to the sun. I simply grabbed this piece of fabric to attach the hat to my head to keep the hat on my head. It never occurred to me that my outfit was too exotic for some xenophobic Coral Gables police officers.

In retrospect, the problem started the very moment the officer saw my outfit. But the more apparent problem started when he saw me taking a picture of the police motorcycle. Immediately I was treated like a terrorist/criminal/illegal/lunatic, with a series of interrogations. He ordered me to hand over my camera, just to discover that all display on the camera was in the Japanese language. This offended the police officer, not being able to read a thing, in a great deal, fueling to his xenophobia. He had me help change the language setting to English, and after that he would not let me see what he was doing with my camera. He actually ordered not to move.

I kept saying to him that he could delete only the pictures with the motorcycle but other digital images should be left alone. He kept saying he wouldn't delete the other images. Before giving me back the camera, he opened up the camera, took out my 1GB (one gigabyte) memory card, and threw it to the ground. At that time I was just coping the situation because I was frightened with this big officer with abusive attitude. I said, "Would you please not to do that?" as I picked up the memory card from the ground. I offered him to put the memory card back to the camera, but he still didn't allow me to touch my camera.

Finally he handed my camera to me, and again, scared me by shouting "Leave now!" Naturally I left the area in shock. I had walked about a block away from the site when I discovered that my 1GB (one gigabyte) memory card was totally erased. I am a visual artist and there were large number of high resolution images of my work and also my personal pictures in the memory card. All gone. For what?

Abuse of power by law enforcement officers is an ongoing national problem. I don't care how small and trivial my problem may seem. I refuse to accept police abuse of any scale and any content.

Postscript

June 10, 2008: As I noticed the entire memory being erased, I turned around and found the officer gone. He plotted so I couldn?t complain to him about the memory erased. The other officer was driving away with the police vehicle, and I run as fast as I could to catch up. I told this officer that the entire memory?s gone. As I tried to get the name of the officer who did all this and took off with the motorcycle, the only thing he could tell me was ?Rodriguez.? There are just too many Rodriguez in Miami, so I tried to get the first name, but the officer would say, ?Just Rodriguez.? He really didn?t want to be a part of this. I tried to remember the name of this officer but I forgot it because I was very upset. I had no pen or paper. I didn?t even have a cell phone with me.

I decided not to continue taking a walk and went home to call the Coral Gables police to place a complaint against this "Rodriguez." Internal Affair of the police, Sgt Vickie Perez, took my complaint and made a report. I was basically explained about the bureaucratic process of how such a report will be processed. According to the phone record, I placed a call to the police department at 10:14 AM, and the call lasted 30 minutes. I felt very invadJune 20, 2008:ne 20, 2008: My "informant" (AKA friend) who had a direct contact with the police chief left a voice message on my mobile phone, telling me that the police admitted the officer's wrongdoing and would punish the officer. He also added that the chief expressed an apology. I asked this informant what exactly the punishment would be, but I never got the response tJune 24, 2008:ne 24, 2008: The Internal Affairs of Coral Gables police called me, expressing, as an agency, a concern over the negative connotation this report may give to a public, as well as acknowledging the other blogs and sites featuring the contentJune 25, 2008:ne 25, 2008: I don't feel like walking on a street as of now. I feel creeJune 26, 2008:ne 26, 2008: I cannot figure out why people who had worse experiences with police than my case don't come forward. Some of them don't want to talk about it at all, and some of them complain to me about their experiences, but they don't disclose the incidents to the large number of others. It is frustrating and also annoying to see them getting lost. But somehow I understand why. By speaking out, one gets into more troubles and harassment.

I was able to retrieve the photos! I ended up in spending $27 to recover them. I had chosen the cheaper program.Not all images were retrieved. Some of them became corrupt. When the officer deleted, there were approximately 150 files that were directly deleted by him. The deleted images consists of my personal photos such as cat, plants, myself, and also work related photos such as my painting installed in a restaurant in South Beach and also high resolution oJune 28, 2008:ne 28, 2008: My advice to people: Carry your mobile phone with you at all times. If I had a phone with me, this incident could have taken a different path. It sounds silly to call the police when being harassed by a police, but you can certainly call someone to get help, I guess. But I don?t know what to do if my phone is also takeJune 29, 2008:June 29, 2008: Yes, I hear you. ?It's not xenophobia,? you might say. A lot of readers have the ?stupidity theory,? not that the theory is stupid, but it is the theory that the officer is stupid. I buy that ?stupidity theory,? yet I cannot forget the way he first looked at me. He gave me the What-The-Hell-Is-That look. Now we have "Stupidity Theory," "Intoxication Theory," and &qJune 30, 2008:."

June 30, 2008: "Jerk" is the most frequently used word (by readers) to describe this officer. When something bad happens to you, you call the police. The police dispatch a ?jerk? that comes to yoJuly 1, 2008:u like that?

July 1, 2008: Today, a local journalist, who is writing an article about police abuse, has finally got the full name of the officer, "Nelson Rodriguez," also noting he had received nothing more than verbal counseling as a result of my complaint. In other words, he was not "punished" like July 3, 2008:aid he would be.

July 3, 2008: Tomorrow is the 4th of July. This year, the 4th of July sounds like a joke to me. It's just too much of a work to "defend" my freedom. Well, I couldn't defend it because I was afraid of being arrested, and that's what it is. Today, law enforcement officers can confiscate your electroniJuly 4, 2008:way with it.

July 4, 2008: I want to challenge the notion that there's nothing we can do to stop it. The fact that there are more occurrences of such police abuses in certain parts of the nation indicates to me that there are solutions to it. I believe it has to change internally, by improving educational/training curriculum.

Prior to this incident, I had known, through my friends and acquaintances, about unlawful arrests, intimidations, unjust citations given by Coral Gables Police officers. That?s why I thought I was going to be arrested if I didn?t corporate with Rodriguez. As far as I am concerned, Coral Gables Police has been known for rouge and unprofessional attitudes towards civilians. That, unfortunately, includes violence. Frankly I am very afraid of July 5, 2008:am not criminal.

July 5, 2008: Some readers suggest I should sue the police department. In this country, lawyers don't take cases that don't generate one million dollJuly 7, 2008: do what I can do.

July 7, 2008: I need a break from this issue that haJuly 8, 2008:and draining me.

July 8, 2008: Today I have July 9, 2008:[/u]questions.

July 9, 2008: If a little bit of abuse is okay, then just a little bit more abuse is also okay, then it somehow becomes like "abuse of power by law enforcement is okay." That's wLinkst's no okay.

Links

• Comments at "Photography is not a crime"
  
• Comments at "artblog.net"
  
• Comments at "Critical Miami"
  
• "MiamiArtExchange"
  
• Cop Commandeers Camera in Coral Gables
  
• "War on Photography"
  
• Internal Affair of Coral Gables Police
  

Source: Momoko (the artists official site)

Link Reddit - Photography Is Not A Crime: Coral Gables Police Delete Woman's Images

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Wow, the way this is written turned me off immediately. Way to play the victim and overdo it. Sure the cop was a nob - but meh!

[Prince Charming]

Yeah, totally unacceptable behaviour by the policeman, but it is written a bit over-the-top.

[Marshalus Veteran]

Well, she's upset. Wouldn't you be upset to if a cop violated your civil rights?

(Hell I got ###### when a friend deleted a picture I'd taken of him off my camera without asking.)

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

100% but I feel it's getting embellished a little - making her seem saintly.

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

as i learnt last friday, argue with the police and they will get on your back, which is why i got a warning from them

[moloko]

Yes she never did say what photos she had taken that made such offense? Was she on public property or not. I take it she is Japanese since the camera was in that lang, which is ironic since many many Japanese are also xenophobic to non Japanese in Japan.

Still the officer has no right to delete the files on a camera. It might of been a hassle but she should of just let him take her in if he saw she was committing an offense. I feel bad for her. Some cops or security guards can go on a power trip at times or have a bad day too.

If he was a good cop this would only warrant a verbal warning from superiors.

Lesson to her. Back your files up!! especially if they are for work.