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Doesn't matter why they wanted it. It is his personal proprety, locked inside a vehicle. They couldn't take so much as a piece of lint off the floormat without a warrant. Unless they bully/inntimidate you into handing it over, which they did. I'll try not to hold that against thim. Probably because of the bad press. Wouldn't be the first time somebody got hung out to dry by an organization they were a member of until the moment the reporter called.

I would've told them, politely, to go fuck themselves. They have no right to my property without a warrant, and they had ZERO probable cause for a warrantless earch- which is why they asked him to GIVE them the camera, hoping that like most citizens ignorant of their rights, that he would just do it. Unfortunately, he did. You'll notice he wasn't arrested or even detained and transported to the station for further questioning, meaning even the two thugs in front of him knew he'd committed no obvious crime and couldn't even stretch one (like the usual catch-all, "disorderly conduct") to cover the situation. More bullshit. If they think there was evidence that needed photographing, they can do it themselves. Or- here's a crazy thought- give him a business card and ask him for copies once he downloads them off the camera! They're stalling, because they know that there is absolutely no face-saving way out of this. Then don't bust somebody else's balls for not doing the same thing! That would pretty much be the definition of "freelance," wouldn't it? Any moron can make up an ID card for themselves, how is that better? And a salaried newspaper photographer at the same scene would be different.... how exactly? Your personal sense of morality is irrelevant. Any "newsworthy event" can be photographed by anyone, professional or not, freelance or not- protected 100% by the First Amendment. The cop would have had no more right to take a camera away from you or me had we been there while passing by on vacation. Disciplinary action against the office for exposing his department to a lawsuit is more than justified. Criminal charges if he took it by force would be a distinct possibility as well. In a time of budget cuts in all sectors, including the media, stringers are infinitely cheaper than professional photographers (my local NBC station's cameramen are unionized, for example). But the media still need on-scene coverage of breaking news to stay relevent. Stringers and freelancers fill that gap. Whether we like it or not, they're going to continue to show up on our scenes. I suggest being very careful with how you and your law enforcement collegues deal with them. A little cooperation can go a long way. Like the saying goes- never get in a pissing contest with people who buy ink by the barrel.

OWNED....

Thanks for the help D-bags. My original post should have said "luck" not "look". No wonder this forum blows. Also EMTCity fowards their posts to twitter and facebook, I didnt post this question on any of those site. And lastly it's nice to know you people have time to write BS resonses to a post. People like you are the ones that give EMS a black Eye.