Panera 6-19-15

All,

Just a quick post with a great encounter myself, my girlfriend, and Mark (Zee71) had this past Friday at Panera. With Vets in Blue on final (and after being in the spot for a few hours) a Nassau County officer pulled up behind our cars and asked us how it was going. After confirming that we were photographing arrivals, he seemed to be more disappointed with the fact that he had to bug us than the fact that we were out shooting. The initial officer took our IDs and names for a call report, apologizing the whole time for bugging us. We made small talk with him as two other officers responded to the call and joined the conversation. They seemed curious about what planes we were excited to see and if we were getting good shots. Mark took some time to show them his photo album and educating them about the special liveries that we get so excited about.

All in all this was the best encounter I can recall. The officers were friendly, professional, and more than happy to let us go on shooting. If only every interaction was this polite... A big thanks to those three officers for being so understanding and curious!

Mark

So they got a call from a "concerned citizen" as opposed to just driving by on patrol?

That's affirm Gerald. There had been a handful of officers stopping by and patrolling the lot throughout the day that hadn't so much as looked twice, but someone called us in as "suspicious". So suspicious... three people standing out in the open, eating off the roof of a car with big scary cameras pointed at the sky getting all excited every time a jet passed by.

I've had numerous encounters with NCPD at Panera - even back when it was "Firestone" and were almost always friendly and professional. Most of the time, they were responding to some "concerned citizen" who reported us. Yes, it's annoying that people do that, but I'm glad the police check out the calls, and I'm gratified that they understand what we're doing. I even had one officer drive up to me and say "Looks like a great day for taking pictures...just do me a favor - if you see anything suspicious, give us a call."

Agreed Moose, it's great that they're out checking, though, in the words of the original officer who responded, it's a bit ridiculous to be out here taking our info when he could be out patrolling for something that actually needs to be checked out. I can't help but agree with his sentiment.

Glad to hear of another friendly encounter at Panera. The last time I was there I was stopped because I was called in. I was seconds from pulling out the lot to go to a prior commitment when I was blocked in. After some quick questions and no ID check the officer kept trying to convince me to stay and keep shooting since he thought I was leaving because of him.

That's a great one Ryan!

Glad you had a good encounter with the NCPD at Panera. About a year ago (UN Week) a handful of us had quite a different experience.

The few encounters I have had with NCPD have always been great. Out of all the different jurisdictions that we deal with around JFK, they seem to be the most understanding of what we do. I'm glad this most recent experience was more of the same.