While this does sound like another abuse of police powers, and I think that the police are FAR too often getting away with violating our rights, I think the facts are not quite straight here.

Conover might be telling the truth about why he was taking the photo, but he is definitely lying about the gear he used. Take a quick look at the EXIF data from the photos, they were taken with a norcent DCS-760, the flash was fired in auto mode, with red-eye reduction mode enabled. This was NOT taken with an iPhone.

Unfortunately I have to ask, if he’s lying about the equipment used to shoot the photos, what other truths are being bent to make him sound like an “innocent victim” here?

I honestly believe that there are far too many cases of police abuse of power, especially in regards to the right to take photos and document illegal police activity and abuse of power, which is one of the only things we can do to bring this behavior to light.

Unfortunately we do not know what is really going on here as we are just having to trust his statements, which we know are not completely true now. How do we know if this was a legitimate attempt to document the police abusing their power? Perhaps it was a chance to “set them up” to win another out of court settlement against the PD for “harassing” his customers and trying to “harm” his business.

When someone with questionable motives is getting into lawsuits over photographing the police, it hurts everyone who is trying to do so. It gives the chance for precedents to be set to “protect” the police from people trying to set them up. People have tried to file false claims against PD’s and sue them for potentially huge damages in the past, what makes anyone think that people still aren’t doing that? Having photographic “evidence” of them committing whatever “offense” you are accusing them of can be pretty helpful in court….

All that said, people should be able to document their interactions with the police, just as the police should be documenting their actions with the people, this provides for the evidence of abuse from BOTH sides, with a lot less risk of either side having “lost” whatever they recorded when they don’t want it to be seen. The police should be able to their jobs without fear of being set up and sued, and the citizenry should be safe in the knowledge that the police AREN’T corrupt and are actually DOING their jobs. Maybe there will be some future where this is actually the case, if there is, I think photo and video documentation will play a very large part in exposing the criminals and corruption and weeding it out to get us to that eventuality.

Actually, cops do this for big guys (like me…265 lbs., 6′) because we usually have wider shoulders and it makes it less uncomfortable for us. They use two sets linked. They’re still restrictive, but won’t pull any muscles.

But, everything else in the article I agree with.

As much as I dislike what this deputy did, I do not wish him to get shot over and over again.

Do you have the cops home address so we can start sending him mail about this? Maybe some 20 pound postage due packages of cowmanure or buffalo chips?

What a moron. Maybe syphilitic dementia is kicking in early as there isn’t any rational explanation since “Photography” is not against the law in Tennessee.

Thanks,
E.

So more than half of all cops are corrupt John? > 51% ?!?! Really?

You could make the argument that more cops are corrupt in Miami than elsewhere and I would agree with you, but MOST cops EVERYWHERE?!?

People who make those kind of sweeping generalizations reveal themselves to have problems with authority. ALL authority - usually as a result of unresolved daddy issues (or lack of a daddy). John, have you had problems with your boss at work? How about you church pastor? Teachers in school? I bet you have.

Cops are people who are willing to go into places they don’t know, to defend people they don’t know, from unknown danger. There are easier jobs out there. How about this - why don’t we agree that SOME cops are bad and that when those bad cops do wrong it is the responsibility of the good ones to help.

Wrong. Most cops know who the bad cops are and keep their mouths shut about it. and worse, they back up the bad cops when they are pressed between exoneration of the innocent and telling the truth about their fellow cops. That leaves the bad cops free to do a lot of bad things and, in my book, that makes the cops who keep their mouths shut just as bad.

I’m not suggesting anything except maybe before I go poking my local policeman in the eye, I might want to consider

1) if there isn’t a better way to be vigilant.
2) what is it really going to accomplish.

It’s neither correct or productive to presume that the police are a bunch of power mad thugs out to harass the citizens. I agree there are bad cops. Most are not.

Good point, Time Traveler, but if you read the whole story you see that Our Hero has a history of issues with the local police. He witnessed a beating, and was asked by the police whey he was getting involved. (don’t they want citizens involved?) They harassed his business and he sued, successfully. It’s obvious he’s know to these officers, so it’s probable that the cop knew who he was jailing. Conover kind of egged them on it with his statement, but the police still need to understand what the laws are. It’s obvious this one doesn’t.

18 USC 242 calls this “deputy” a felon, and since a kidnapping was committed, eligible for a sentence of death.

18 USC 241 says the same of any of his cop buddies who knowingly helped the first felon in the commission of his crime.