Post by KC on Feb 14, 2007 23:19:57 GMT -5
Texas - Was the arrest of Daily News photographer Nick Adams during Mardi Gras a big deal? We think it was, and here’s why.
We frequently get complaints from people who claim to have been roughed up by the police during Mardi Gras. Most of the people making the complaints admit they were drinking. Most of the time there are no witnesses to back up their version of events.
Sometimes they do have witnesses, but we check out the story and it just doesn’t add up. Most times we wind up with the word of one unreliable witness against the word of police officers. When that’s all there is, we don’t publish a story.
Some people will accuse us of picking on the police in this case. The fact is, we hear a lot more stories about police abuse than we take seriously. We don’t go screaming to press every time somebody with 14 burglary convictions claims he was cuffed too tightly.
We know from long experience and close association that most police officers are good people doing a difficult job.
We also know from long experience and close association that police officers sometimes do wrong.
Nick Adams wasn’t drinking at Mardi Gras. He was doing his job, taking photographs for the newspaper. His version of events is different from the two versions of events so far offered by the police. His is more believable than either of the police versions.
One police report says he tried “several times to shove past officers” to take a picture. He already was taking pictures when a League City police officer threw him to the ground.
He didn’t need to get past the officers and didn’t try to. Adams says his first interaction with the officer was having his camera shoved back into his face and being ordered to stop taking pictures.
He said he backed up when the officer shoved him and that the officer followed.
What he didn’t do was stop taking pictures. He and you and anybody else has a right to take pictures in a public place whether the police like it or not.
What happened after Adams was arrested makes us wonder. While the police had custody of him and his digital camera, they deleted two pictures he took just before being arrested.
Somebody also took photographs with the camera inside the temporary holding area police set up during Mardi Gras.
In other words, police tampered with and otherwise used his personal property without his permission while Adams was in jail.
We wonder what was going on with the cell phones, credit cards, check cards and automobiles of people arrested that night.
Were the police making temporary use of them, as well?
Police Chief Kenneth Mack said such behavior would be unusual and against policy.
We think it was outrageous and illegal and it makes us wonder what other policies and laws and civil rights were being violated that night.
news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=9701fb35835ae31a
We frequently get complaints from people who claim to have been roughed up by the police during Mardi Gras. Most of the people making the complaints admit they were drinking. Most of the time there are no witnesses to back up their version of events.
Sometimes they do have witnesses, but we check out the story and it just doesn’t add up. Most times we wind up with the word of one unreliable witness against the word of police officers. When that’s all there is, we don’t publish a story.
Some people will accuse us of picking on the police in this case. The fact is, we hear a lot more stories about police abuse than we take seriously. We don’t go screaming to press every time somebody with 14 burglary convictions claims he was cuffed too tightly.
We know from long experience and close association that most police officers are good people doing a difficult job.
We also know from long experience and close association that police officers sometimes do wrong.
Nick Adams wasn’t drinking at Mardi Gras. He was doing his job, taking photographs for the newspaper. His version of events is different from the two versions of events so far offered by the police. His is more believable than either of the police versions.
One police report says he tried “several times to shove past officers” to take a picture. He already was taking pictures when a League City police officer threw him to the ground.
He didn’t need to get past the officers and didn’t try to. Adams says his first interaction with the officer was having his camera shoved back into his face and being ordered to stop taking pictures.
He said he backed up when the officer shoved him and that the officer followed.
What he didn’t do was stop taking pictures. He and you and anybody else has a right to take pictures in a public place whether the police like it or not.
What happened after Adams was arrested makes us wonder. While the police had custody of him and his digital camera, they deleted two pictures he took just before being arrested.
Somebody also took photographs with the camera inside the temporary holding area police set up during Mardi Gras.
In other words, police tampered with and otherwise used his personal property without his permission while Adams was in jail.
We wonder what was going on with the cell phones, credit cards, check cards and automobiles of people arrested that night.
Were the police making temporary use of them, as well?
Police Chief Kenneth Mack said such behavior would be unusual and against policy.
We think it was outrageous and illegal and it makes us wonder what other policies and laws and civil rights were being violated that night.
news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=9701fb35835ae31a