Why are there two sets of rules when it comes to recording public events in Rogers Park?
There's 'Big Brother' Rules. And then there's 'Big Brother' Rules.
'Big Brother' can place cameras all over the place - recording our every move. And, from last check, we pay for them. But, they won't show us what we pay for until we do something wrong.
Like the cameras that are on the CTA buses. If you get rowdy inside the bus, you're likely to get arrested, go to court - and pay a fine. If you park along a bus route and the 'Big Brother' camera catches you, they mail you a ticket for your wrong-doing.
And those new cameras on the street sweepers. They're photo-enforcing this improper fraction now also. They'll simply mail you a fine with the proof.
God forbid you run a red light. Flash. Snap. There you are - on tax payer funded film. Caught for all to see and view.
Special Service area Street tax public view cameras are being praised by the powers-that-be. And paid for us - the tax payer. Yet, we never get to see what's being recorded with our money.
And let's not forget all the blue light cameras. Everywhere you turn these day's, you're being recorded. Or so they say. But what are they recording on those cameras with our money? We never really get to see those public tapes.
So, that's where citizen journalists come in. Like our various styles or not - citizen journalists are the 21st century news.
Communication between the new media and the powers-that-be in Rogers Park are not going well. Citizen journalists are under attack.
For the record, they've never been good in the first place with any media outlet.
On two different occasions yesterday I had conversations with the police that went along the lines of telling me to stop blogging. Or else.
The first warning came from Offficer Acquilly. She's the CAPS beat 2431 officer. She pulled me over yesterday (profiling) and started questioning me like a perp. The only thing she didn't do was run a contact card on me.
She claimed someone brought to her attention I took some inappropriate child photos and put them on my web site. She said this was raised at a CAPS June meeting. (although I couldn't find this on any official CAPS 2431 meeting minute notes.)
I told her if I did anything wrong she could take me in right 'then and there.' She drove off without arresting me, but gave me a warning and a nasty glare.
A warning? For what? For taking photos in public like 'big-brother' does to us.
Then, yesterday, in front of the Alderman's office, car number 2422 pulled up on the scene and berated the photographers -- telling us to go do something else. Telling us to not cover a 911 call. Then he stood back and allowed an EMS worker to physically try to remove a camera from a photographer. Me.
They want to monitor us with cameras, using our money. But they don't want us to monitor them with cameras on how they're spending our money? What the fuck is that all about?
Blognotes: Other than the exact time frame, (I don't wear a watch and wasn't near my trusty solar clock), these facts can be verified by the 911 call records from 6:40 PM to 7:20 PM. If anyone wants to FOIA these documents, go right ahead. They should be public record too.
Related: JOURNALISTS ASSAULTED IN ROGERS PARK
29 comments:
What injuries did you two sustain during the attack?
Will you be pressing charges?
So you equate city policy of video surveillance with city employees such as police/fire/ems.
Do you think these individual fire/police/ems had any say in all the cameras being installed? They probably had the say input as you as a single voter in their aldermanic and mayoral race. You do notice that many cops and firefighter live on the edges of the city. I'm guessing they don't like the city policies just like you, so they try to seclude themselves.
Did this guy who is complaining flag down the ambulance? It is clear by your picture that he is behind a car. It seems plausible that they didn't see the guy the first time.
And of course the paramedic should never touch anyone. I'm sure he was just so overwhelmed by the public concern for this poor man lying on the ground.
I still do no understand why main stream media does not pick up on stories like this. You provide background AND video evidence yet these stories go untold to anyone outside of the blogosphere.
Regarding the cop who pulled you over, is it possible your civil rights were compromised? She pulled you over for posting pictures of children on your web site? That's absurd! You were in your car. If they suspect you of child porn then they need to confiscate your computer - oh, yeah, and that's AFTER they visit your site for themselves to see the pictures involved. In the meantime, if there is someone out there who is making unfounded charges and using police authority to harass you then it seems you may have a winnable slander suit - possibly a harassment suit.
One thing I would caution you and Tom against, Craig, is raising your voice against any police officer in Rogers Park, or Chicago for that matter. They immediately go on the defensive and you have no chance of reasonable conflict resolution after that. Your video opens with Tom in a heated argument with the police officer - it's not a good scene. The police and most certainly the EMT were wrong to interfere with your coverage but as citizen journalists, it is important to record the event without becoming part of the event. I'm not saying you were wrong to ask questions - that's part of investigative journalism, a very important part. I'm just saying don't raise your voice and don't talk over the person you're interviewing - try to stay cool and collected. It will make for a much better story and won't call into question any personal agendas.
O.K., O.K., I know. You're not asking for a seminar on Journalism 101 here. I guess I'm just getting enthusiastic about this whole idea of Citizen Journalists and I want the rest of the world to see that what you are doing is as important as I believe it is.
- PEACE -
Nice, let's go bully the paramedics too! Let's accost them for not seeing the guy on the first pass. How does this help anything? Oh, everybody's heros, Mr Broken Heart and his sidekick The Bench, hey ya! The loyal readers are a bunch of pig brains. Pig brains! Ooooh, it's so intense!
I still want to know if Craig is pressing charges for the "assault" or if he sustained any injuries?
the paramedic should have been more level headed and ignored you guys. if he didn't see the guy, then its not his fault. maybe the improper address was given. as I said before, did someone flag them down as to the location of this person behind the car?
if a citizen or journalist has a problem, they can yell and file a complaint. the paramedic should have just done his job after finding the man on the street.
I still think it was unnecessary for the citizen or any journalist to harass them. I see them run around all day and the last thing they need is a know it all saying how they should have gotten the guy the first time around.
Lil Danny Boy, you want that information? Go down to the police station yourself.
Ask them to view yesterdays police files.
Ask to speak with the officers on duty.
See what they have to say.
See how cooperative the police will be with a 'skilled' blogger like yourself. I'll be pealed to your blog for your 'award winning' report.
But, if you want the masses to read your findings, you can post the report here on the 'Broken Heart'.
Through this whole ordeal, what I find truly amazing is....
It wasn't just one EMS that missed Scottie down the first time around. It was two.
It wasn't just one Fire Department personal that missed Scottie down the first time around. It was two.
It wasn't just one Policeman that missed Scottie down the first time around. It was two.
Six professionally trained, first responders with twelve eyes, arrive on a small open street corner of the city during broad daylight -- and can't even locate a 'man down'. THEY ALL DRIVE AWAY.
Then, a small time blogger pulls up on his bike a minute later and spots the guy down with-in seconds.
That, my friends, is truly amazing.
I ask again, did anyone point out the person the first time? Did the ems, fire, and police have the correct location? did they see a guy sleeping and think it was not the emergency they were called for?
if they came and drove away, are u sure they were coming for "scottie"?
since you were listening to the scanner, can you answer all of those questions?
First 911 call said - Jarvis and Greenview, Man down. That's it. That's all the clues any of us had to go on.
I arrived at Jarvis and Greenview as the first responders were leaving.
I pulled up and still saw a man down.
I also was Mannis on the corner of Jarvis and Greenview with his scanner.
He told me the radio contact said they couldn't find the man down and thought he may have walked away. Which he didn't.
He was still down, in plain site, as my photo clearly shows.
your photo shows him next to a car. not in plain sight when you are looking for someone on the corner!
and how does city policy equate to individuals of the ems/fire/police not liking their actions to be taped/photographed?
I do not see a journalist objectively reporting on a news event. I do not see a journalist quietly and OBJECTIVELY recording those events. It's nothing more than a few seconds loud mouthed gibberish.
What I do see is Mr. Mannis, who is rapidly becoming one of Rogers Park's most illustrious wack jobs, nastily injecting himself into this situation.
That, Mr. Mannis, is not journalism.
In my opinion, he was bording on interfering with the work of the EMS and a Chicago Police Officer. He's lucky he didn't spend the night in jail.
Jesus, the last thing these hard working folks need is some fucking wack job firing idiotic questions at them, pointing cameras in their faces and hoping for the big break that's going to propel them that next job with 60 Minutes.
Man, does absolutely EVERYTHING have to be a federal case with that guy?
I would argue that the cop used great restraint in not physically removing him from where they were trying to do their jobs.
Craigie,
you bring out the best in people.
As for the Po Po and the Fire Personnel they had better get used to being taped. It is the present and the future. They may not have to like it, but they should assume everything they do and say outside their vehicles is being taped.
That EMS guy should not have put his hand on you. If only because he could get in trouble. At least he had the gloves on though.
Those are tough jobs and I'm generally supportive of Po Po and fire types, but one way or another they are gonna have to learn to deal with the reality of people and cameras. I know some off duty coppers learned that the hard way in two bars that readily come to mind.
I do find the allegation that you are a child porno type amusing. You film underage kids working at a construction project and you get called that. Silly, silly, silly as da mare might say.
Now if you had taken pics of underage kids in a bathtub full of rose petals that might be construed as approaching porn or perhaps an award winning motion picture.
Oh well keep up the good or bad work. Depending on ones point of view.
LOL. So the answer is "no".
Some "assault".
Poor Danny. You should stop giving your prick a self-inflicted rash with your free hand while reading and typing on the 'Broken Heart'.
I never said 'No'. I said do your own investigation and come back with your findings.
And remember, let that baby soften before zipping up your trousers.
Good day sir.
Oh no, man down on the sidewalk on any given corner. It's Dan.
911 is called with that corner location.
EMS, fire and police arrive at said location. They can't find 'Down Dan'.
EMS, fire and police all drive off.
But Dan's still down.
Blogger never comes by. 5 minutes later Dan dies on the sidewalk.
Isaac Marshall blames the bloggers.
LOL. Like I said. You're 100% smoke and mirrors.
Here I thought we had a real life activist here.
craig you are a goof.
i never blamed bloggers for any part of the situation. but nice try on twisting the situation.
if this society was anything near civil i would expect that concerned person would check to see if "down dan" was ok. if it were a true emergency where you clal 911, i would stay with the person until helped arrive. not call and walk away. if ems was at the corner the concerned citizen would flag them down.
in this case, it is obvious none of that happened. not a shock, no one died.
the only real harm in this case is that an ems guy lost his temper with you. civilian journalist covering a non-story gets abused.
stick to the governemnt corruption. On issues like this you are way off base. you give some feedback and answer some questions, but still won't acknowledge that the city surveillance has nothing to do with the bottom of the food chain governemnt worker(in this case a paramedic).
"big brother doesnt want little brother monitoring"?? can you admit your storyline is misconstrued?
Isaac does seem to have a valid point. "Big Brother" is a bit different than some annoyed or angry emergency personnel.
Dan,
I looked through recent posts on your amusingly named blog. You stated you didn't want to get involved in the local blogging idiocy. You should probably try to live by that. Trying to suggest that Craigles taking photos of underage kids doing construction work is somehow WRONG with a capital "P" for perv is just wrong on your part.
Craig can be a real first class asshole sometimes, but when he takes on Joe Moore and some others he is doing the Lord's work. Trust me on that. I just spoke to God and she said "Craig Rocks, but goes overboard sometimes".
Now I need to go out, walk over to my local restaurant, and dine on some non politically correct animal flesh. Yummy! Perhaps I will even find a tomato for my salad tainted by salmonella.
IP,
I'm certain that I don't disagree with Craig's entire message in principle. However, when the method of "covering" the issue reaches this level of absurdity, it makes it hard to agree with the message. Plus, with the highly confrontational strategy that some people take, it damages the entire blogging medium all together.
I don't recall your and WTH ever chasing around little kids with a video camera. Just sayin.
Dan,
I never did chase around little kids with a video camera. Outside of family gatherings where the little pita's(pain in the asses) just mug for the camera anyway and then want to know how long it will be before I put them on YouTube.
Now if a group of little ones had been putting out Shiller campaign literature I might have. If I saw little kids being used as labor for a demolition job I might. Depending on the age of the kids.
I worked as a janitor at 14 and delivered newspapers prior to that. Then again I could look off to the east and see the glow of the steel mills and the smell they created so my childhood was idyllic.
Suggesting someone is a perv for videotaping kids doing demo work is a wee bit much. It's over the top. During the last 46th Ward aldermanic campaign a "Jesus People USA freak" accused me of taking pics near their shelter on Clifton of young girls. It wasn't me and personally I feel the freak just made up the story. It was an attempt to make me look bad for taking pics of their building festooned with campaign signs for her illustriousness the right honorable Helen Shiller.
Apparently the pics may have caused the Jesus Freaks some problems. Too Shillin' Bad.
Again Craigikins can be a real pain in my Joe Moore sometimes, yet............sometimes being a pain gets results.
Trust me says the pirate! What is that? You fancy yourself after people that steal and murder for a living, after parasites, and you think you're cool? Hey everybody, the pirate likes Craigiekins. Anyone that attacks hard working honest people, right? Hahahahahaha, trust me says the pirate, its the Lord's work.
HARD WORKING?!? Wow.
I hope they weren't too sore from the exhaustive physical strain of looking out their windows.
Let me ask everyone on this board who is willing to give the paramedics a pass on missing a body because a car hid it from view a question:
Had it been you or a family member who had just been mugged and then left for dead behind that car, would you be so cavalier as to that body being missed? Or is it just the fact that it was the "town drunk" that makes it easier for you to dismiss thier clear negligence in even investigating the scene, not even botherng to get out of their vehicle and look?
They didn't want cameras observing what happened because they were afraid of a lawsuit. While I agree that shouting initial questions may have been adding fuel to the fire, you can bet that anyone trying to take my camera from me by force is going to get a VERY loud objection as an answer.
I too don't understand why the mainstream media isn't picking up on this stuff more, given the record recently of Chicago Police and their blatant attempts to thwart even mainstream media from covering their blunders.
As for Craig capturing images of children clearly being exploited and contractors breaking federal child labor laws, why is no one screaming about the people that put these children in actual harms way? Unsupervised children handing out fliers? When some kid is yanked into the real perverts apartment and molested or worse, lets see where your nasty comments are directed then.
If this stuff was airing on Dateline or 60 Minutes as a "Special Invetigative Report", you'd be writing letters to the Mayor and holding candlelight vigils.
Paradise,
I don't pay enough attention to the Rogers Park blogs to know what your major malfunction is, but you are clearly either off your meds or you need to get some.
Put the tinfoil on your head to keep out the government mind control.
As for the vids that were posted that I just saw over on the Bench, if that goes P U B L I C the cop and EMS guys can expect some handslapping from on high.
Get used to dealing with cameras guys. You don't have to like it, but it ain't gonna change.
theatresumthing:
I'll defend them, because the location was given as the corner initially. I'll defend them because they get so many bogus calls, they no longer bother to do a foot search of every intersection they are called to. I'll defend them because if it was my family member I'd be mad the concerned citizen just called and walked off.
Why arent people bashing the concerned citizen who didnt help your loved one? Oh, thats right its easier to bash these lowly govt. employess then our society at large.
Whtat happened after the ambulance arrived was totally uncalled for. I said it before, they should have attended to the guy and ignored the "journalists".
isaac,
It is not the tax paid job of the citizen to provide medical attention to those who appear in distress by lying on the ground, unresponsive. Private citizens treating for symptoms they may not completely understand may exacerbate an already bad situation. Ever heard of the rule that says when you approach someone that has been in accident, call 911 and don't move the individual until the professionals arrive? Yep, me too.
Should the initial caller have given an exact location? Maybe. But I'll guarantee you this: had the initial call said officer down or EMT down, they would have been lifting cars and looking in sewers to find the body in question.
I'll be looking for you, Captain America isaac. At least I better see you on the news giving specific body locations and saving lives. You're clearly a much braver and smarter hero than the rest of us.
Sorry, I just believe that one should practice what they condemn others for not doing.
theatresumthing:
holy shit, we have to be paid to help others? is that what this country is coming to? if your neighbors car is stuck in the snow, you arent paid to help them either! i'm not suggesting you do anything if you don't have any medical ability. i merely am suggesting if you care to call and help this person you at least stay until help arrives.
and to answer your stupid comparison...if the call were for an emt or cpd officer down, they would look because it is FAR LESS LIKELY to be a prank or a non-emergency. and that is another part of this issue i stated many times regarding prank and non-emergency calls.
you can look for me all you want. i am no hero, just someone who uses common sense. something you and others have lost. if someone needs help, then i help. its not heroic, just friendly. if it is my family member, i would hope others would do the same. and if it is a drunk, then i dont even call 911! don't mock me as a hero just because you are a coward!
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