 |
| Tom Zebra, Citizen Journalist/provocateur |
In the age of the cell phone
camera explosion came body cams and the ever-popular GoPros.
With the new technology
police have been placed under the intrusive and unblinking eyes of millions of
cameras. A large percentage of them are
in the hands of genuine antagonists like Zebra .
The next generation of police
monitoring devices is here in the form of multi-rotor camera drones. They can be quietly deployed over any police
action. They can record video of anything
taking place in plain view under the skies.
Cops have been understandably hostile to
these cameras and nationwide thousands of bogus arrests have been made of people
recording them. Cops have confiscated
cell phones, cameras and their media storage cards. Cops felt they should have a right to privacy
but the courts have spoken. They have no
such right.
Lawmakers at local levels have been sympathetic to the cop’s concerns and have unsucessfully tried to make end runs around the law
that would inhibit or end the public’s rights to record police.
There is yet another side to the
police/camera issues and that’s the amazing fact that the captured videos
vindicate the cops well over 99% of the time.
Slowly cops are beginning to realize that these cameras and much more
objective than the people using them!
Targeting cops from both land
and now the air is Tom Zebra. Zebra is a citizen
journalist/provocateur. He points his
cameras where they are not wanted in various police matters.
Zabra garnered additional cop hostility by flying his camera drone over a walled-in police parking lot. The cops came out and actually threatened to
arrest Zebra for trespassing even though he never set for inside the police
parking area. Zebra got his video and
wasted no time posting it on YouTube.
Police recently San Pedro
Port police arrested Zebra and confiscated his drone as evidence. Ironically Zebra was not photographing
police, but a U.S. Naval vessel that the public was invited to both visit and
photograph. Zebra’s crime was the apparent violation of a L.A. park’s ordinance.
The little known existing law
banned the use of remote controlled model aircraft in parks, beaches, horse
trials or any place not specifically designated for them.
I’m convinced that the law
was drafted to target noisy fixed wing model aircraft that frightened horses posed a
danger because of their speed.
One of my legal experts
believes that Zebra has a first Amendment right to use his drone camera despite
the L.A. Parks ordinance. Zebra has a right to take
photos. My expert said that collecting
the legislative history of the remote control ban showing it was never intended to cover
the much quieter and slower moving multi-rotor camera drones would help Zebra
in court.
In the meantime to the cop's chagrin Zebra’s not
grounded, he apparently obtained a new drone and is back in business.
Last but not least, are the
thousands of people nationwide that have camera drones. They are holding their breaths, waiting for
lawmakers and the FAA determine the future this new and exciting industry.
The majority of the camera
drone operators I talk with are hostile to Zebra and his militancy. They say he’s going to ruin it for
everyone. I say that idea is dead wrong. If anything Zebra is making it better by
taking the lead in challenging government tyranny.
Someone will have to test bad
laws or unreasonable enforcement.
Frankly I’d rather stand behind Zebra rather than in front of him in
that regard. We can only learn what are
rights really are by the Tom Zebra’s of our world willing to test the system.
Comments
The comment in this story about video vindicating cops 99 percent of the time is flat out dishonest.
Yeah, cops dont like to be recorded because video proves their integrity.
Not.