Accused of taking Inappropraite Pictures while Filming trains

G

Ghostryder

QDRN CEO
Last Friday i was out by the railway line not far from home with the intention of filming 4MB4 (Melbourne to Brisbane Superfreighter) It had been delayed by a go slow in Melbourne. I had been tipped off that it was coming my way and was gonna be through in daylight as it normally comes through in the dark.

here is the video i shot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sashmos_pics/5817227525/in/photostream

There is a nearby park that overlooks the line and i turned up there set the camera on the tripod pointed it towards the rail bridge checked the focus and and waited for the train. I had not been there more than twenty minutes when two plain clothed Detectives appeared. The cops straight out asked me was i taking pictures of kids their mothers and other ladies in the park. I replied no i am a railfan i have been told there is late running my way and i am going to film it. (Seems some narrow minded petty person had called the cops on me and made the claim i was filming children their mothers and any other ladies that were walking through the park.) The two cops looked at me as thought i used the railfan story as a cover and were not buying the idea that the reason i was there was to film trains. So one cop looked through my laptop and the other before he looked through my camera asked there are no images of ladies on this camera are there? to which i replied there maybe some in the background but the main subject are mostly rail related. Both cops when finished looked rather disappointed that i was telling the truth and my camera and laptop were clear.
The impression i got was that the arrival of two Detectives the cops felt i was guilt the attitude of the cops the entire time they quizzed me showed they thought i was guilty and the look on their faces when they found nothing was priceless. I had nothing to hide i had done nothing wrong. as they walked away they said sorry but in this day of terrorism and stuff we could not take a chance. And they quickly walked away. Had they mentioned terrorism at the start i would not have minded the search but it was added at the end to cover their tales.

i thought i would warn everyone just in case you pull a camera out in the presence of ladies and kids you might get accused of being a sick perverted terrorist.

ghosty
 
No ... They probably misunderstood ... The police radio probably said: "Some wise guy is down at the park taking movies of some "Gull's" ... that feathered bouy'd type of animule' that flaps its wings and screach's. They thought they said "Girls" ... not "Gull's" ... schtoopid coppers.

What's the difference between a Bay Gull, and a Sea Gull ?

Bagels have holes in them !:hehe:
 
Did you ask for their proof they were police & photographer's rights

At Ghostryder;
some links: Sydney Morning Herald Blog by a journalist: http://blogs.smh.com.au/photographers/archives/2007/02/photography_is_not_a_crime.html

Photographer's rights: http://www.4020.net/words/photorights.shtml

Ghostryder said:
There is a nearby park that overlooks the line and i turned up there set the camera on the tripod pointed it towards the rail bridge checked the focus and and waited for the train. I had not been there more than twenty minutes when two plain clothed Detectives appeared.
Click to expand...
They may have been plain clothes police, but did you ask for them to show their proof they were plain clothes police/detectives, with their PHOTO I.D. attached, and looked at their ID carefully?

Ghostryder said:
one cop looked through my laptop and the other before he looked through my camera asked there are no images of ladies on this camera are there?
Click to expand...
Unless you're suspected of committing a crime, that is illegal for them to do that.
 
Last edited:
That's happened to me as well... without the camera! I was sitting in my car in a park awaiting a train when a plainclothes approached me and told me to leave, as he had a complaint that someone suspicious was sitting in their car!
 
Red Rattler
Once the cops left i stayed and filmed the train, i was not gonna be denied. I went back on Saturday and filmed another train i was told was coming and i will continue to use the location while ever i reside in the City.

And thanks for the links i will have to copy them and keep a copy in my camera bag, I will also have copies of the address for the flickr site written out for insurance. And it seems having a few older shots on the camera helped too. The shots dated back to May 21st 2011 so that helped, so it seems was there were no gaps in the sequence of shots.

ghosty
 
I've had it happen a few times too in Kansas City. It seems you get the best videos or photos in the worst neighborhoods. I guess I don't mind them asking. Just don't ask me to leave if I'm not on private property.
 
Euphod said:
That's happened to me as well... without the camera! I was sitting in my car in a park awaiting a train when a plainclothes approached me and told me to leave, as he had a complaint that someone suspicious was sitting in their car!
Click to expand...
Sitting in your car!? Oh man you should've been arrested on the spot. That is a federal crime ya know:p A good 50 years hard labor outta do.
 
But Ghostryder, you have not said wether you asked for these "plain clothes" detectives for any ID, or if they showed any ID.

Doesn't matter if you have trains on your computer/laptop, as I stated in the above, they are aren't allowed to look on your laptop/camera, unless they suspect you of a crime.

If they weren't plain clothes police, how do you know they weren't going to run off with either you laptop and/or camera?

If you are unhappy about what happened, why not go to the local police station and put a complaint in?
 
Unlucky

It must be the way you look. I filmed (Video-d) every train, station and anything of interest in Britain a couple of year back and never was approached once or told not to film. Good to be Mr Invisible sometimes!!:D
 
Graham
i had a camera on a tripod on a table in plain view to everyone that was in the park. Had i been hiding in the bushes and acting weird or strange then fine i would have said i understand why the cops were called.

ghosty
 
A sign of the times....or not....only in America...!

:cool: Duh....by the way, we need a poster boy for the cover of the book of "Duh!"

We know about "Homeland Security," the dudes hired to protect us because the CIA(off-shore), FBI, ATF, DEA, Cookeville Police Dept, Putnam County Sheriff, TBI and especially those dudes down at Border Patrol...................:(

If you leave your house, expect to be the "story at eleven...":hehe:
 
Euphod said:
That's happened to me as well... without the camera! I was sitting in my car in a park awaiting a train when a plainclothes approached me and told me to leave, as he had a complaint that someone suspicious was sitting in their car!
Click to expand...

well...It is Euphod We're talking about here:hehe: :hehe: :o :D

(Just kidding, don't mean any harm by this).
 
Seems backwards to what happens in the USA. Here you can take pictures of people in public places all you want. However people are getting into trouble for filming rail traffic.
 
Several years ago my wife and I were trying to photograph some of the remaining ATSF depots and, whenever possible, follow the old mainline through central and eastern Kansas. Early one morning, somewhere around Newton, we picked up a westbound BNSF freight on the scanner. We'd passed a grade crossing a few miles back so I did a quick 180 and got back just in time to catch a C44-9W in ATSF Superfleet (Warbonnet) livery pulling a mixed freight behind a couple Heritage scheme BNSF's. Just as I snapped my last picture a county sheriff's car pulled up, the deputy got out and asked for our ID's and an explanation of what we were doing. After we'd provided both he smiled and said that they'd gotten a report of a suspicious vehicle around the tracks, but he'd decided we were probably rail fans as soon as he drove up. He pointed toward our vehicle and said he didn't think even "a crazy terrorist would be driving around rural Kansas in that!"

http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/5228/2006sfrhms208.jpg


Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Last edited:
MAN those stupid cops don't know ANYTHING about railfanning.
And if one reads this: Railfanning- the harmless photography of railways and trains. Railfans aren't stalkers- there is a big difference so don't mistake them for stalkers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
I'm trying a new punch recipe.
Replies
0
Views
314
JonMyrlennBailey
J
P
Why do British steam locomotives have small headlights, or none at all?
Replies
15
Views
2K
TSwenson
T
F
Signal question UP former SP territory
Replies
5
Views
621
frogpipe
F
H
Questions about emergency stopping
Replies
11
Views
807
blueodessey
B
J
Looking for bent tracks
Replies
2
Views
249
JAGG
J
Back
Top