3/23/13 Philadelphia International Incident with Tinicum Police

Here's this month's episode of "pick on the young-looking Asian kid". I was parked on the side of Hog Island Road, well away from the edge of the road (and across the road from the fence), photographing Runway 27R arrivals at PHL. It's the same place everyone's been photographing from for decades. Two spotters I was with, left, and after about an hour, a Tinicum Township cop pulled up next to me. I looked at him, and he had his window shut, and he just looked to be staring at me. I looked away and then at him again, and again, nothing. I asked him if there was a problem, and he finally rolled down his window when he saw me talking. He said "there's no parking anywhere along Hog Island Road", and pointed forward. There are zero No Parking signs in that whole stretch (there are on the 9L side, 2 miles away), and about 5 police officers passed before that, without even slowing down (they are used to us being there). I didn't mention the fact that there were no No Parking signs there, but said everyone always parks here, and the police just pass by and are fine with it. To that point he said "have I seen you here?", and he loudly said "GO!". And so, I did. Too bad I wasn't parked 300 feet forward, where I would have been out of Tinicum and in Philly. Amazing, at an airport where usually, the only worry is falling asleep during the parade of USX RJs.

What the hell man??? What time was this? We were shooting 27R all afternoon, not a single cop stopped, nothing. In fact, I just this afternoon explained to two newer folks that 'people don't get harassed at PHL anymore'.

And, that's not Tinicum township, if I know the spot you're talking about, that's PPD territory. Sunoco tanks right behind you?

I was wondering where you went when I got back after getting lunch.

This was around 12:45pm. I was where the shady-looking red cat is in the picture below. I could be wrong, but I think Paul said the dividing line is where the green dog or rabbit are. I used to think it was further west.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...psd1e6b45e.jpg

That totally sucks man, sorry about your luck. There were several of us and like I said there were no issues. I would have just ignored the guy unless he made an effort to talk to me. He could be on his radio for all I know. Heck, you could have left your ride in one of the lots and I would have come and gotten you!

Feel free to call me when you come to town. With my last name I'll be damned if a Philly cop is going to give me trouble(hint: the notorious Mayor of Philadelphia in the 70's) lol

Cary forgets to add the tidbit where he flipped the officer the bird!!! :tongue:

In any case, there is NO SUCH thing as jurisdiction when a crime is clearly in view of an officer. The jurisdiction thing has to do with a crime perpetrated in one jurisdiction being charged or prosecuted in another.

Say you are at the border of state A and B and in state A there is an officer watching you and you commit a crime in state B. Said officer has a duty to perform his job given reasonable and probable cause. Usually it is for a generally accepted criminal offense such as Murder or Robbery or Larceny or DUI etc. You will likely be charged in the proper county but, there isn't a magic line like most would have you believe.

Of course there is also the intimidation of law abiding citizens like you and I that we all endure and allow the liberties to be trampled on because we are either not in the mood to go "through the system" just to prove a point and because we really don't know what our rights are. Officers who like the game, enjoy the ignorance and fear.

I say you play a game of knowledge and next time toss a few facts around that will make him/her think twice about stepping to far outside the norm. It works wonders in NYC ... once I was in the Subway at 14th st A Train station taking pictures of the art work throughout. An officer said I wasn't allowed to take pictures and I promptly reminded them that it is indeed completely legal for me to photograph the entire platform as long as I didn't shoot into the tunnels or into sensitive areas... he then tried to tell me I was too close to the edge and I would be in violation of code if I stepped on to the yellow line near the platform.

Since he was now really reaching, I asked him to arrest everyone in the station when the train arrived and all the pax got off. His partner took it from there and promptly grabbed the officer by his arm and pulled him away to the other end of the station. Sometimes it is that kind of silliness that gets me in trouble... Remember this:

A police officer who knows the law will simply arrest you without first warning you if you truly are violating the law.

Plain and simple. The minute you are warned, they are making $ h i t up!! I never heard anyone get warned for breaking and entering LOL.

Haha, thanks William. That's crazy, right? He wouldn't even roll down his window at first! Then when he yelled at me to go, he didn't budge until I started rolling. I had to put on my safety belt, take my keys out of my pocket, start my car, and he was just staring at me like I wasn't doing anything. He went ahead of me, and then I just turned into Fort Mifflin. I wonder if he doubled-back when he didn't see me in his rear-view mirror anymore :tongue:

These officers have nothing better to do? How many actual crimes were committed while you were harrassed?

Sorry to hear about that Cary. That really sucks.

Cary ..... the shady red cat totally explains it! LoL Really sorry to this kind of stuff happens to you Cary. Like Manny says ..... they make up this stuff, and just try to deter you. The key thing is to know your rights and dish them out. I remember one of the first times shooting at Baywater, the parks guy just happened to be around and told me I couldn't taken photos, as which point I stated that on the parks department website stated I could as long as it wasn't for commercial use at which point I would need to get a permit. Give the fact that I knew this (which I don't think he knew), he didn't bother me again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gonzalu

Cary forgets to add the tidbit where he flipped the officer the bird!!! :tongue:

In any case, there is NO SUCH thing as jurisdiction when a crime is clearly in view of an officer. The jurisdiction thing has to do with a crime perpetrated in one jurisdiction being charged or prosecuted in another.

Say you are at the border of state A and B and in state A there is an officer watching you and you commit a crime in state B. Said officer has a duty to perform his job given reasonable and probable cause. Usually it is for a generally accepted criminal offense such as Murder or Robbery or Larceny or DUI etc. You will likely be charged in the proper county but, there isn't a magic line like most would have you believe.

Of course there is also the intimidation of law abiding citizens like you and I that we all endure and allow the liberties to be trampled on because we are either not in the mood to go "through the system" just to prove a point and because we really don't know what our rights are. Officers who like the game, enjoy the ignorance and fear.

I say you play a game of knowledge and next time toss a few facts around that will make him/her think twice about stepping to far outside the norm. It works wonders in NYC ... once I was in the Subway at 14th st A Train station taking pictures of the art work throughout. An officer said I wasn't allowed to take pictures and I promptly reminded them that it is indeed completely legal for me to photograph the entire platform as long as I didn't shoot into the tunnels or into sensitive areas... he then tried to tell me I was too close to the edge and I would be in violation of code if I stepped on to the yellow line near the platform.

Since he was now really reaching, I asked him to arrest everyone in the station when the train arrived and all the pax got off. His partner took it from there and promptly grabbed the officer by his arm and pulled him away to the other end of the station. Sometimes it is that kind of silliness that gets me in trouble... Remember this:

A police officer who knows the law will simply arrest you without first warning you if you truly are violating the law.

Plain and simple. The minute you are warned, they are making $ h i t up!! I never heard anyone get warned for breaking and entering LOL.

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Manny ive experienced something in the subway too back in 2008 if im not mistaken. I was at the 42nd Street Grand Central taking pictures of the advertisements on the R62A Shuttle trains when an officer walking by told me I wasnt allowed to take pictures of the trains However I mention that theres no law against taking pictures according to MTA and he said it is illegal and to look it up on the site, which theres nothing about it.

Thanks, everyone. In this incident, the officer never saw my camera or mentioned photography (although he probably knew what I was up to). He simply said that there's no parking along Hog Island Road (although there are no signage stating that on the Eastern end), and kicked me out. Funny how virtually all my interaction with police have been in the pursuit of photography.