Report suspicious behavior

[urbpan]

The moderator of the Boston Birds Google group posted an encounter he had with Homeland Security:


I stopped at Victory Road Park in South Boston today, and it was a
notable trip not so much for the Birds, but for the lesson learned
about our "new age" of high security and anti-terrorism law
enforcement. I spent about 30 minutes scoping shorebirds and gulls at
low tide around Victory Road Park. Unfortunately there was nothing
that notable - 18 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, 4 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, 2
LAUGHING GULLS, a GREAT BLUE HERON, BELTED KINGFISHER, and the other
usual suspects. Since there wasn't much to see I decided to leave.

I should mention that Victory Road Park is right next to the Keyspan
Gas Tower off the expressway. Evidently this is a "secure" area. I
learned this information from the officer that whipped his car into
the parking lot, blocked me in, and told me to stay out of my car,
produce identification, and explain what I was doing.

It seemed to me that with binoculars , a scope, and a Bird-A-Thon
t-shirt it was fairly obvious what I was doing, but I was held up for
only 15 minutes as the officer ran my information. (I would like to
say thank you to the couple that vouched for me as a birder as they
passed the scene.)

The thing that bothers me is that someone called the police to report
me as suspicous, and the report was taken VERY seriously. There were
two other police cars that arrived at the scene and were subsequently
called off by the first responding officer, and I heard my own
description being read over the police radio when he first arrived.
It was surreal. My concern, now that the adrenaline has worn off, is
how many "ridiculous" suspicous persons calls will it take before the
police and other security staff stop taking them seriously.

Anyway, the best bird of the day flew over as the officer was asking
me questions, and I didn't hesitate to interrupt him with, "Hey, a
COMMON NIGHTHAWK, that's a nice bird!".

I must mention that the responding officer was exceptionaly
profesional, courteous, and sensitive about the situation. A
situation that makes me think long and hard about the effects of
terrorism on our society.

Oh for those of you waiting for the "lesson learned". I would suggest
checking in with security prior to birding within one mile of a
"secure" area! I will now think long and hard before scoping Snowy
Owls at Logan from Winthrop this year : )

Comments

[interfecta.livejournal.com]

Man, that's pathetic.
Sounds like we're losing the psychological War on Terror in a big way.

[psongster.livejournal.com]

Thank you for re-posting this story.

A couple years ago, a neighbor had a quite unpleasant experience with an MWRA officer when he walked his dog in a small wooded area, full of footpaths, near his house. The area happens to contain a small water tower, and the officer was not courteous and professional as he basically accused my neighbor of terrorism -- why else one someone go for a walk in the woods with his dog?

This story produced quite a bit of outcry in my town. Eventually the MWRA apologized for the officer's tone during the encounter, and it has been clarified that people are welcome to walk in the woods as long as they don't go through the fence that surrounds the water tower (which my neighbor hadn't).

But I agree with you -- these stories need to be told. I don't want to live in a society that is so afraid of itself that people can't watch birds or walk dogs without fear of being accosted for their abnormal behavior.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Real terrorists (at least the ones from my country) use the old birdwatching excuse in real life though! That's what 3 IRA lads found allegedly out training FARC guys in Columbia said they were doing anyway. What a coincidence that the foremost bomb-making expert in the country should be skulking around "birdwatching" in the bushes of Columbia with his two IRA mates!

Still, it's ridiculous to get picked up just for having binoculars. The above lads had false passports and the works. They got away with it too...

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

Ordinarily I'd laugh at something like that, but seriously: it's sad.

We've got a similar "dob in a terrorist" thing going on- people taking photos or otherwise "looking suspicious" are meant to be phoned in about to an agency. What kills me is that seriously? I'm dead certain when they're learning to be terrorists, part of what they learn is not to stand out and look suspicious.

I take photos of anything that takes my interest (and I don't look like a photographer because I don't have expensive cameras because I'm poor), sometimes I carry my laptop around with me, and I'm, well, a nerd.

Here's hoping that doesn't get me labelled a terrorist. :/

If I may...

[interfecta.livejournal.com]

I'm in the same boat. If you want to Look Like a Photographer, try googling holga+camera. Holgas were invented to be cheap, lightweight, and mass-produceable, but since they use a larger film than the regular 35mm, have an incredible range between jaw-dropping detail and dreamy soft-focus. Also because of that, they're cheeeep -- I think I got mine for $12 (though there was a price markdown involved there, I think). Don't be put off by the alternate film issue, you can get it at most camera shops for about what you'd spend on a roll of 35mm (though the roll is shorter, 12 to 16 exposures). Of course, owning a Holga still won't protect you from overzealous cops (or paranoid old ladies who tip them off), but it will provide you with terrific photographs and a chance to feel like a Real Photographer for less.

Re: If I may...

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

That's awesome: thankyou for the tip. :)

Right now I'm using a Kodak digicam I got for my birthday three years ago- but even the illusion of looking like a Real Photographer (hey, I look like a uni student and I wear a lot of black anyway *g*) is a good idea.

I'd love to get back into using film anyway- I did photography in high school and I loved it. At that price... it's pretty affordable. Thanks. :)

Re: If I may...

[interfecta.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! As far as a per-picture cost, Holgas (and 60mm film in general) are still more expensive than digital, especially at first, since they can be a little hard to get used to. On my first roll, if I remember correctly, I took a whole bunch of awful (completely out-of-focus, or otherwise ugly) pictures, but the remaining 2 or 3 were stunning.

Yeah, as a fellow "maybe they're a photography student" I felt obligated to pass that on. My brother turned me on to them, back when he really was a photography student. So we'll just pretend I've leaked a close-kept secret. ;)

Re: If I may...

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

Heh. The underground pretendy photography Mafia. :) Thankyou once again.

[tsunami-ryuu.livejournal.com]

I was eyed and questioned by a campus police officer when I was taking pictures of one of our campus' resident cottontail rabbits, which happened to be grazing by a bike rack.

I've heard similar stories from other photographers. Apparently taking pictures of anything that's not staged is "suspicious."

Got to love hyper-paranoid bystanders.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that it hasn't happened to cottonmanifesto and I too much. She got hassled in front of one of the hospitals once. You'd think with the amount of time we spend taking pictures of (what seems to other people) bizarre stuff, we'd be hassled more often.

[tsunami-ryuu.livejournal.com]

Oy. What was their reason for hassling you in front of the hospital? Strikes me that it wouldn't be high on the security list.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

it was in front of childrens hospital. they don't allow unauthorized photography on their property at all. more because it's kids than anything else, i think.

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

I can understand that well enough. The childcare where my oldest goes has really strict rules about photography, too- which I can understand (though I can't help but think if you're intently focussed on a blade of grass/bird in the carpark or you're trying to shoo kids out of the way of a good photo, you're not some creepy person trying to get photos of small children.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

yeah. i think in this case, though, it might be better to make a blanket rule and not leave it up to the security guards to make the call on this one.

i've taken a shitload of pictures at work though (indoors) which is clearly against the rules, but nobody can see me so i've never been bothered about it.

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

Totally. (I just get how it could be less benign than someone taking a picture of a bird on a building or whatever.)

D00d. I got done for taking photos in Ikea. (Yeah, I'm one of those nerds who takes her camera EVERYWHERE and photographs anything especially interesting.) I'd been photographing phallic-shaped terracotta garden gnomes which my sister and I (and some other customers) had been giggling about... but I actually got busted when I snapped my son using a slide in the kid's area. I figured, "Shit... that privacy stuff about photographing children," and felt awful- but it was actually an issue about merchandising.

i've taken a shitload of pictures at work though (indoors) which is clearly against the rules, but nobody can see me so i've never been bothered about it.

That's the thing, I guess, too- (and going back to the thing about terrorists) with mobile photo cameras and electronics being so tiny nowadays, you could probably get pictures of anything you wanted. I mean, who's going to get asked to leave a public space because they're got a phone on them?

[tsunami-ryuu.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay. I see why they'd be touchy about cameras. That makes sense, but what an inconvenience if there happen to be any critters or plants you want to photograph around it.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i've done it anyway - just out of view of the security guards. :)

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

We've had a few people in Tucson get stopped by police when they were just out taking photos of local landmarks, particularly near downtown. I've never been stopped, but it could happen, as like aphephobia I don't "look like a photographer" and I tend to take photos of things other people don't even bother to look at (plants/weeds, trees, interesting people, shadows, junk, alleyways, graffiti, etc).

Seems to be some confusion about the actual LAWS involved here. I don't _think_ there are any laws that prohibit people from snapping pictures anywhere the public is allowed to go; however, the police usually act as if there ARE, and get very testy about "suspects" questioning them on this and asking exactly which laws they are in violation of.

But yeah, if the goal of terrorists is to induce panic, paranoia, suspicion, and irrational fearmongering, they've done a magnificent job. Of course, our own govt has been in that same business for at least the last fifty years, and THEY'VE done a stellar job, too...

Meanwhile...anyone else remember the Anthrax scare? Just askin'...

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

during time of, threat or other... it is supposedly illegal in many places to take pictures of (and/or trespass on "secure") waterworks, electric works and fixtures, bridges, "landmarks" (for flyovers later?), various roads, public works buildings (libraries, court, police offices...), police/cars/etc, and a boatload of other crap. it's also supposedly required for libraries and whatnot to lock down maps, blueprints/etc of anything as above, or related and log and report anyone trying to obtain such. we all know how librarians respond to that one :)

#

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

I heart librarians.

Fear is the mindkiller

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

I'm torn. On one hand it's outrageous that you can't birdwatch without some paranoid wacko calling the cops. On the other, I'm a little jumpy. With much of the world holding the US accountable for the Israeli attacks in Lebanon, I feel the chances of something happening here are pretty high right now. I almost reported a guy in the NYC subway who was taking pictures of the stairs and exits. He was "middle eastern looking." Instead I went and asked him what he was doing. Turned out he'd fallen in the station and gotten hurt and was taking pix to prepare to sue the city. (Or so he said... ;)

Re: Fear is the mindkiller

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bazilisk_/]

If you want to worry about what might kill you or other people, worry about cholesterol, inactivity, artifical diets, saturated fat, not TERRORISTS. Terrorism is all flash no bang, well, almost no bang: as so few people actually die from it per year but so many worry obsessively about it. Please don't buy into the hype. Ireguardless of current political events a Krispy Kreme Donut is far more the type of thing to get scared of than a middle-eastern guy taking photos in the subway.

Re: Fear is the mindkiller

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bazilisk_/]

(logical link missing from my argument: Donuts more dangerous than terrorists cause MANY more people die per year from heart attacks caused by fatty foods than by terrorism. As a debator I felt wrong accidentaly leaving that connection out.)

I'll take the doughnuts/What's this bird?

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

I understand what you mean. But I'd rather die from Krispy Kremes than ricin. Living in NYC and riding the subway a lot and knowing how much of the world views the US, and kind of agreeing with some of what they think (Iraq,torture etc) I often wonder (as many here do) why something hasn't happened yet. That said, I think it would be easy to spot a fake birdwatcher. But maybe only for a real birdwatcher. Homeland Sec clearly needs to deputize us to capture the ringers in our midst and America will be safe. Now, do you know what this bird is? There were lots of them and they flew like big big swallows, lots of seemingly inefficient flapping, hardly any gliding or soaring.(If you don't know I'll have to report you ...)

Re: I'll take the doughnuts/What's this bird?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

The nighthawk migration is occurring now--could it have been them?

Re: I'll take the doughnuts/What's this bird?

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

You are clearly a birdwatcher, not a terrorist. You're right. It is a common nighthawk. Thank you.

[veggiesapiens.livejournal.com]

The poster and reactions are absolutely right, but people are especially freaked out right now because of the upcoming anniversary.

No cop wants to go into the history books as the one who ignored the warning while the Bad Guys set up their next Bad Thing.

[bellisaurius.livejournal.com]

Partly it's the officer being jumpy, but part of it could be he was following some training he may have received, and was that he was testing the person to see if they could be tripped up in their 'story' (common sense here, I know, but if it's just questioning and scaring, then there's only an inconvinience issue). Customs agents do that sometimes to see how a person responds and whether or not they need to be "more curious".

It should also be noted that a lot of minorities get treated like this by authorities. It seems to make sense to the authority at the time, but it ends up being wrong a lot. This is probably the main problem with racial profiling (which I'm ambivalent about btw, because it has good and bad parts), it sets the authority figure's alertness on high, and it also sets the focued on group's sensitivity on high as well. Bad comnination sometimes, with two groups being less civil to each other tha they otherwise might.

[eringryffin.livejournal.com]

Customs agents do that sometimes to see how a person responds and whether or not they need to be "more curious".

Heck, regular cops do that, to tell if someone is drunk. Repeating and/or rephrasing questions to see if someone's story changes, or if they can't remember what you've already asked, is a general cop technique for testing sobriety, so even if the "suspicious pesron" weren't suspected of being a terrorist, if they were reported acting fishy the police would probably want to be sure they weren't wandering about drunk (and/or lost). :)

Birding is a right of all Americans

[(Anonymous)]

The terrorists have won if we abstain from our God-given right to spend hours ogling sparrows.
http://www.thegeminiweb.com/babyboomer/index.php

[snapes-angel.livejournal.com]

My concern, now that the adrenaline has worn off, is
how many "ridiculous" suspicous persons calls will it take before the
police and other security staff stop taking them seriously.

Like the little boy who crief wolf, you mean: too many calls of this naure that turn out to be false alarms and they'll definitely not take it so seriously, IMHO.

(apologies for the previous one, which I deleted; I'm not signed in.)

[friode.livejournal.com]

I wonder a) if you could get a police report describing this event and b) if the ACLU would be interested.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bazilisk_/]

The ACLU is seriously overbooked and only goes after the hardest-of-harcore-dramatic cases anymore. They wouldn't care about this. I know this from semipersonal experience...

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

I got investigated by Homeland Security once!

I'd been taking photos of this neat looking building with all these pipes near my parents' home in Pennsylvania.

However, the funny thing was, they didn't stop me then. Instead, two months later, in Minnesota, there's a knock on the door and St. Paul's finest are asking if this was my car and what had I been doing back then, anyway?

Turns out the neat building had been a kerosene plant. I think my exact response was "Dude. They still MAKE kerosene?"

Fortunately, my husband and I are as harmless looking as they come (and not a member of an ethnic minority, it must be said) and once we uttered the magic words--"working on a video game, would you like to see it?" St. Paul PD were our best buddies and wrote the shortest report in the history of the world. ("Hey, have you ever thought of doing a video game where you're a cop?" "Errr...")

My thought afterwards was A) thank god no one has EVER thought I was terrorist material, and B) Dude, that was two months ago. If I had been a terrorist bent on crippling the oh-so-vital kerosene infrastructure of the country, they sure gave me plenty of time to work.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

Forgive the italics.

[eringryffin.livejournal.com]

Dude. They still MAKE kerosene?

::giggling:: That was EXACTLY my first thought! :) Along with, "ooh, I bet that was a nifty building!" I have this thing about photos of nifty industrial stuff-- highway overpasses, pipe-covered buildings, etc.

Stopped by the cops

[(Anonymous)]

I got stopped by the cops one time for flying a kite. Seems it was drifting just a tad over into airport airspace and Airforce One was due in that day. This was before 9/11 and all they did was stop and question me and tell me to pull in the kite and go home. Today, they'd probably have me face down on the turf with a knee in my back before I could blink.

M. Reed