JohnJ
2014-09-07, 12:34 PM
Anyone who photographs at airports where law enforcement is harsh may want to give this thread a careful read.
If you've spent much time around Hartford/Springfield's Bradley Airport (BDL), you know that it can be a challenging place from a law enforcement perspective. While I haven't experienced or heard of anyone being arrested for photography there, there are many stories of being thrown off the property for taking pictures. At one time we had an arrangement like the one that is currently in place in Boston, whereby we'd e-mail operations and let them know we'd be out there. Bradley's operations were spun off to a new quasi-government agency, Connecticut Airport Authority, a couple of years ago, and things took a sharp turn for the worse. We were thrown out of our favorite location on Perimeter Road on multiple times, and also from the airport terminal.
After getting hassle after hassle, one of our photographers contacted Bradley officials, who agreed to meet with the two of us. Present at the meeting were Bradley's Director of Operations, and the Connecticut State Police lieutenant in charge of the CSP staff at the airport. The meeting was generally cordial, but at the end of it, we were told that we were not permitted to take pictures anywhere on airport property except the cell phone lot. The cell phone lot is a very poor location for photography. Our point was that we should be allowed to photograph from any area otherwise open to the general public, and both airport reps disagreed. A couple of points they made:
- Photography is illegal due to federal regulations anywhere inside airport terminals
- While the Perimeter Road is open to the public and frequently used by joggers, cyclists, walkers, etc. "we know everyone out there as they all work at the ANG base near there, so it's OK for them to be there. We can't waste police resources responding to complaints about photographers from the public, so you can't be out there."
- They felt the airport was being very generous in providing us access to the cell phone lot.
- Director of Operations: "Every time you tell me a story about getting thrown off the Perimeter Road, it makes me feel good, as that means the police are doing their job."
- Our favorite locations are hills surrounding the runways on the Perimeter Road, and they said we can't be up there due to liability concerns. Since those areas are not otherwise open to the general public, we didn't dispute access there.
After getting home from the meeting, I went to the ACLU of Connecticut web page and filled out a complaint form. Lo and behold, about three weeks later, they responded to me that they were interested in the case. Apparently airport photography enforcement is an area they're targeting lately. Long story short, they sent a letter to the Director of Operations stating that photography is a protected activity, and asking him to cite the relevant statutes that allow him to prohibit photography. The ACLU attorney expected BDL to come back with some blanket security rule that allowed them to do as they pleased.
About three weeks after that, the ACLU received this response from Bradley's General Counsel:
http://airshots.homestead.com/files/CAA_RESPONSE.pdf
The ACLU issued this press release after receiving the letter:
http://www.acluct.org/updates/aclu-of-connecticut-gets-assurances-of-right-to-photograph-at-bradley-international-airport/
Which resulted in a national Associated Press story being released, which was picked up nationwide. The AP article isn't great as it contains inaccurate statements by airport officials about the old special arrangement to let them know we'd be at the airport photographing, but the ACLU was pleased with the coverage and felt we came out ahead. Here's an example story from MSN Money - the quote from the airport about trying to provide access and us turning them down is false and makes us look bad, but the theme is that photography is a permitted activity:
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140904&id=17907230
JFK seems like a pretty reasonable place, but this tactic might be useful at places like ISP and EWR, or some of the towns around BOS where the local police have been heavy-handed. The ACLU was a pleasure to work with.
Anyway, this seems an effective means of fighting back. We have yet to see how this plays out in the field, but the ACLU has said they will back us up if we continue to get harassed.
If you've spent much time around Hartford/Springfield's Bradley Airport (BDL), you know that it can be a challenging place from a law enforcement perspective. While I haven't experienced or heard of anyone being arrested for photography there, there are many stories of being thrown off the property for taking pictures. At one time we had an arrangement like the one that is currently in place in Boston, whereby we'd e-mail operations and let them know we'd be out there. Bradley's operations were spun off to a new quasi-government agency, Connecticut Airport Authority, a couple of years ago, and things took a sharp turn for the worse. We were thrown out of our favorite location on Perimeter Road on multiple times, and also from the airport terminal.
After getting hassle after hassle, one of our photographers contacted Bradley officials, who agreed to meet with the two of us. Present at the meeting were Bradley's Director of Operations, and the Connecticut State Police lieutenant in charge of the CSP staff at the airport. The meeting was generally cordial, but at the end of it, we were told that we were not permitted to take pictures anywhere on airport property except the cell phone lot. The cell phone lot is a very poor location for photography. Our point was that we should be allowed to photograph from any area otherwise open to the general public, and both airport reps disagreed. A couple of points they made:
- Photography is illegal due to federal regulations anywhere inside airport terminals
- While the Perimeter Road is open to the public and frequently used by joggers, cyclists, walkers, etc. "we know everyone out there as they all work at the ANG base near there, so it's OK for them to be there. We can't waste police resources responding to complaints about photographers from the public, so you can't be out there."
- They felt the airport was being very generous in providing us access to the cell phone lot.
- Director of Operations: "Every time you tell me a story about getting thrown off the Perimeter Road, it makes me feel good, as that means the police are doing their job."
- Our favorite locations are hills surrounding the runways on the Perimeter Road, and they said we can't be up there due to liability concerns. Since those areas are not otherwise open to the general public, we didn't dispute access there.
After getting home from the meeting, I went to the ACLU of Connecticut web page and filled out a complaint form. Lo and behold, about three weeks later, they responded to me that they were interested in the case. Apparently airport photography enforcement is an area they're targeting lately. Long story short, they sent a letter to the Director of Operations stating that photography is a protected activity, and asking him to cite the relevant statutes that allow him to prohibit photography. The ACLU attorney expected BDL to come back with some blanket security rule that allowed them to do as they pleased.
About three weeks after that, the ACLU received this response from Bradley's General Counsel:
http://airshots.homestead.com/files/CAA_RESPONSE.pdf
The ACLU issued this press release after receiving the letter:
http://www.acluct.org/updates/aclu-of-connecticut-gets-assurances-of-right-to-photograph-at-bradley-international-airport/
Which resulted in a national Associated Press story being released, which was picked up nationwide. The AP article isn't great as it contains inaccurate statements by airport officials about the old special arrangement to let them know we'd be at the airport photographing, but the ACLU was pleased with the coverage and felt we came out ahead. Here's an example story from MSN Money - the quote from the airport about trying to provide access and us turning them down is false and makes us look bad, but the theme is that photography is a permitted activity:
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140904&id=17907230
JFK seems like a pretty reasonable place, but this tactic might be useful at places like ISP and EWR, or some of the towns around BOS where the local police have been heavy-handed. The ACLU was a pleasure to work with.
Anyway, this seems an effective means of fighting back. We have yet to see how this plays out in the field, but the ACLU has said they will back us up if we continue to get harassed.