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11/06/2007 09:00:36 PM · #1 |
So today i was out shooting for the "single light source" challenge with a friend modeling for me. We had parked in the grass of one of her families friends yard. Then we were about to walk across the road, and a car pulls up to a mailbox near by, after a short casual interchange (Ryan: "Hi" random person:"hey") , we continue crossing the street into the thin wooded area where there is an old rusty building where i had planned on shooting. We shot there for about 15 minutes and we hear the car driving down the driveway about 30 feet through the woods. I look out of the shed to see that the person we had talked to just drove off and a cop is checking out my car. I ran over there real quick and asked him what was going on. He said that he had gotten a call that a strange car had pulled up (mine), and that the two teens had run off into the woods mysteriously. He asked for ID, and I explained that i was a photographer, and that i was simply taking portraits for a challenge. He radioed to his buddy and said some stuff in cop code, and then just asked us if we would head out, and we said yes of course, and then i went to her house and i got a good shot there, but nonetheless i don't understand why the guy who called 911 couldn't have just asked us what we were doing while we were talking to him.
But life goes on, just had to share my interesting event of the day.
Message edited by author 2007-11-06 21:02:25.
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11/06/2007 09:05:21 PM · #2 |
| I'm sorry you had to leave. I think that was kinda bogus. "Teenagers going into the woods" isn't a crime! It isn't even a bylaw infraction! You are good-natured about this, and maybe there is something about those woods we don't know (scenes of crime, etc) but still, you took in stride something that was a bit out of line. Kudos to you for being so mature, but wow. |
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11/06/2007 09:10:52 PM · #3 |
Ryan:
I know it's very hard to do, but try to put youself in the other person's shoes. I don't know how old the other person was or even whether it was a man or a woman.
YOU know you weren't doing anything wrong, but the other person didn't. So to you, someone called the cops instead of chatting with you and treating you as a reasonable, responsible person. But to that person, you were two teens they don't know heading off to an abandoned shed in the woods.
And unfortunately, people do some pretty crazy things with drugs, guns, knives, etc. Two teens in those circumstances could be doing many different things that are either illegal or dangerous. You didn't say what time of day it was, but if it was dusk or dark, that just adds to the potential for problems.
If I were concerned about a problem with two teenagers, I might not feel comfortable confronting them myself. And this is coming from a guy who grabbed a teenage boy when he jumped out of a corn maze to scare the 10-year-old girls I was with and told him it wasn't funny.
Now, since there was no problem, I don't know why the police officer didn't just leave you be. But I'm glad you respected his request.
Edited to add: I'm not saying calling the cops is or would always be the best option, but it's also not crazy for the call to have been made.
Message edited by author 2007-11-06 21:12:10.
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11/06/2007 09:17:54 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by levyj413:
YOU know you weren't doing anything wrong, but the other person didn't. So to you, someone called the cops instead of chatting with you and treating you as a reasonable, responsible person. But to that person, you were two teens they don't know heading off to an abandoned shed in the woods. |
If I started reporting 'suspicious' teens in my area, I'd spend the whole day on the phone.
Originally posted by levyj413:
If I were concerned about a problem with two teenagers, I might not feel comfortable confronting them myself. |
What problem? He wasn't doing anything! (Unless you count crossing the road into a wooded area as a 'problem') But in saying that, there's always two sides to the story. I wonder was this 'wooded area' really a public area, for example.
People are just too paranoid these days. And this busybody driving around and reporting 'suspicious teenagers' is only adding to the workload of the police. (Again, I'm taking the OP at face value and assuming the person in the car actually did phone the police)
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11/06/2007 09:21:49 PM · #5 |
Ive had a similar experience a couple times now in an open public park in the middle of the city from over imaginative house wives with nothing better to do than watch people out their windows and make up fantasies of who knows what...
I had one cop tell me that there was a report of me standing just outside the back of one house shooting in to it, after a little chuckle I showed the officer the pics on the camera that consisted of deer on the other side of the park close to 1km away from her house and told the cop I would gladly go to the station with him if he could find a single pic even shot in the direction of the homes. He gave my camera back and told me to have a nice day :P There are a few homes that back right on to the park and for what ever reason they see someone with a camera its an instant call to the police even though Im in a public park and across a small lake and shooting mostly west which the homes are on the east side of the lake LOL...
good for you though keeping your cool, I usually try to keep my cool when that happens unless I get a real but head of a cop then the filter between my mouth and my brain seems to fail ;)
-dave |
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11/06/2007 09:24:22 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by ryand:
...and then just asked us if we would head out... |
This really gets to be... WTF should he have the right to tell you to go away? Were you trespassing? Was it a restricted area? Then what's it got to do with him? Okay, check out the call - fine. ID okay, I hate it but I can see the arguement. Telling you to go away without reason.. No. |
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11/06/2007 09:25:09 PM · #7 |
Thanks for the responses. My friend had looked up the area previously on the internet and it was supposed to be govt. property. I'm not sure if the guy (about early 50's) thought it was his property, or what the deal was, but I'm fairly positive it was him who called, because he seemed a bit suspicious of us, like he drove by the area slowly.
And Jeff, i see what you are saying, how it could seem suspicious, because it was right next to his land, but i thought he could've said something while we were speaking to him, i had my camera equipment on me at the time, i'm not a terribly intimidating character either, but I'll get over it, it just surpised me, because i've never had the cops called on me.
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11/06/2007 09:27:43 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by dknourek:
Ive had a similar experience a couple times now in an open public park in the middle of the city from over imaginative house wives with nothing better to do than watch people out their windows and make up fantasies of who knows what...
I had one cop tell me that there was a report of me standing just outside the back of one house shooting in to it, after a little chuckle I showed the officer the pics on the camera that consisted of deer on the other side of the park close to 1km away from her house and told the cop I would gladly go to the station with him if he could find a single pic even shot in the direction of the homes. He gave my camera back and told me to have a nice day :P There are a few homes that back right on to the park and for what ever reason they see someone with a camera its an instant call to the police even though Im in a public park and across a small lake and shooting mostly west which the homes are on the east side of the lake LOL...
good for you though keeping your cool, I usually try to keep my cool when that happens unless I get a real but head of a cop then the filter between my mouth and my brain seems to fail ;)
-dave |
lol, people are crazy, that's pretty hilarious that the ladies said you were taking pictures looking into their house, not sure where they decided to make that up. People are insane.
Message edited by author 2007-11-06 21:28:00.
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11/06/2007 09:34:55 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by ryand:
People are insane. |
Just wishful thinking more likely :-) |
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11/06/2007 09:50:34 PM · #10 |
I hear yah Ryan. When I go shooting in downtown here, I always get harassed by security. I was even told once I cannot shoot if I didnt have a permit, which is total bs. I called him out on it and he suddenly realized I knew my rights as a photographer here. However I am still very cooperative with them. I understand that they are looking out for the security of the buildings with the whole 9/11 thing. So I try to be as understanding as possible and I dont get defensive with them. I also work in one of those buildings and they are working for my safety too.
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11/06/2007 09:57:09 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by JaimeVinas:
I hear yah Ryan. When I go shooting in downtown here, I always get harassed by security. I was even told once I cannot shoot if I didnt have a permit, which is total bs. |
I get kicked out of alot of properties shooting architecture. The funniest one when I was standing 15 feet from the sidewalk and after bantering with security guy I walked 5 steps from him and started shooting again. He came back over and said I couldn't shoot the building, eventhough I was on the sidewalk. I argued some more that he couldn't do anything since I was on the sidewalk. He kept telling me to leave and said I don't have to, but then I got bored of arguing and left. :) |
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11/06/2007 09:58:23 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by jhonan:
If I started reporting 'suspicious' teens in my area, I'd spend the whole day on the phone. |
I think ALL teens are suspicious....including my own..like I am suspicious they are from another planet and inhabiting the bodies of our children for a while...
Ryan I am sorry you got rousted...but you DO sound kinda suspicious to me.... ;)
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11/06/2007 11:24:39 PM · #13 |
| well, i had the cops called on me once, me and my friends were walking around the neighborhood, it was around 9:30ish maybe 10. and the cop drove up to us and asked if we seen a group of suspicouse looking guys walking around the neighborhood, and we knew they were talking about us, but i dont think he understood that it was us, so we just told him there were some guys that passed threw but they went to the gas station and we didnt watch them from there on. cop said thanks and drove away, a group of guys, (me and my friends) we were the group... i dont think there are many uninteligent cops around, but i think this was one of them |
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11/06/2007 11:33:41 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by jhonan:
What problem? He wasn't doing anything! |
I agree - there wasn't a real problem, just a perception on the part of whoever called the police. I really should have said "If I thought there was a problem ..."
Originally posted by ryand:
I'll get over it, it just surpised me, because i've never had the cops called on me. |
Unfortunately, people do get a little crazy about teenagers, so it might not be your last encounter. Just be respectful as you were in this case, and you'll be fine. Sure, there are some cops who are power-hungry, but most just want to make sure there aren't any problems and move on.
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11/06/2007 11:55:22 PM · #15 |
Walking thru the woods this weekend we came upon a poacher hunting wild hog. He was not the brightest poacher in the woods that day he wore his orange hunting vest and was about 20 feet up a tree in his tree stand. We called the sheriff who promptly came out to the cow path we were walking on (with back up). As they came closer to us they noticed my tripod over my shoulder (which I keep in a camouflage shoulder harness), they quickly assumed I was the poacher. After they figured out that I was not latterly shooting animals we had a laugh and I told him where the real poacher was. Unfortunately he had already left by airboat and was not caught.
The moral of the story is that when the police are called out by someone they don̢۪t know what type of situation they are walking into. Let̢۪s give them a break.
Sorry about the bad photo I was a bit worried that if he noticed me taking it I may be the one getting shot.
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11/07/2007 01:20:50 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by Jimbo_for_life:
well, i had the cops called on me once, me and my friends were walking around the neighborhood, it was around 9:30ish maybe 10. and the cop drove up to us and asked if we seen a group of suspicouse looking guys walking around the neighborhood, and we knew they were talking about us, but i dont think he understood that it was us, so we just told him there were some guys that passed threw but they went to the gas station and we didnt watch them from there on. cop said thanks and drove away, a group of guys, (me and my friends) we were the group... i dont think there are many uninteligent cops around, but i think this was one of them |
I'm not so sure. If *I* was a cop and fielded this call, and found you and your friends, I might say exactly that just to let you know you were being watched. If you WERE planning any illicit activities, that would probably put a damper on your plans, and in a totally non-confrontational way. Or, alternatively, maybe he saw you, figured you looked OK, but wanted to put on a "show" for whoever was watching and reporting the "suspicious" activity.
R.
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11/07/2007 01:36:58 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by ryand:
But life goes on, just had to share my interesting event of the day. |
Wow, I had no idea you could just call the cops and say "theres someone walking around the neighborhood, come investigate!"
If I start doing this, I'll just call police and stay on the phone all day reporting people passing by.
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11/07/2007 01:38:30 AM · #18 |
| sounds like a plan, this way they can be invesagating a kid that is skateboarding on the road, or kids running around in a woods, when someone in the sity is being raped... |
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11/07/2007 01:44:04 AM · #19 |
Originally posted by Jimbo_for_life:
sounds like a plan, this way they can be invesagating a kid that is skateboarding on the road, or kids running around in a woods, when someone in the sity is being raped... |
Are you under the impression that police can prevent that sort of crime?
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11/07/2007 06:10:51 PM · #20 |
| Remember, police are also around to help keep the peace. If they can do so by asking you to go away, even if it's not legally required, and you comply, then the peace has been kept and they've done their job. |
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11/07/2007 07:12:44 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by ryand:
He asked for ID, and I explained that i was a photographer, and that i was simply taking portraits for a challenge. He radioed to his buddy and said some stuff in cop code, and then just asked us if we would head out... |
"Four-Sixteen-Four" - that's cop code for "DPC" - it indicates to the officers at the scene that you belong to some wacky cult of photographers who often engage in bizarre behavior, but most of it harmlesss and legal. That's why they let you go. |
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11/07/2007 07:39:01 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by EducatedSavage:
Remember, police are also around to help keep the peace. If they can do so by asking you to go away, even if it's not legally required, and you comply, then the peace has been kept and they've done their job. |
I still dont get what gives a cop the right to just tell you to leave when you are not breaking a law. |
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11/07/2007 07:46:05 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by kolasi:
Originally posted by EducatedSavage:
Remember, police are also around to help keep the peace. If they can do so by asking you to go away, even if it's not legally required, and you comply, then the peace has been kept and they've done their job. |
I still dont get what gives a cop the right to just tell you to leave when you are not breaking a law. |
Perhaps I read this differently than you did, because the OP said this: "and then just asked us if we would head out, and we said yes of course, and then i went to her house."
From my perspective, asking is not the same as telling, albeit it does convey a certain message when said by one in authority.
Also, since we have only limited facts and absolutely no information relative to the legal implications involved, the only thing left for us is sheer speculation... and that is NOT something I normally engage in. |
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11/07/2007 08:20:31 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by Jimbo_for_life:
... guys that passed threw but they went to the gas station and we didnt watch them from there on. cop said thanks and drove away, a group of guys, (me and my friends) we were the group... i dont think there are many uninteligent cops around, but i think this was one of them |
I think he just decided to leave you guys alone, because you weren't doing anything wrong or suspicious. They have to check when someone reports suspicious activity. |
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11/07/2007 08:57:10 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
"Four-Sixteen-Four" - that's cop code for "DPC" - ... |
Update.... now it's Four-Eight-Three. Darn trolls.
I've only been confronted a couple of times, all of them in public places. Some people just assume black cameras must be evil.
Message edited by author 2007-11-07 20:58:40. |
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