Photographing a police car a criminal offense

I was taking a photo of a police cruiser yesterday and someone came up to me and said I should watch what I'm doing.  That taking photos of a police cruiser was a criminal offense. 

To play it safe, I stopped and this morning have been doing some Google searches on the subject.  The crappy part with Google searches is that it pulls in so much info and I was reading stories by people who got fined.  Now this is their side of the stories, who knows what other factors were involved.  Honestly I just find this too hard to believe. 

Can someone shed some light on this please?

Usually it seems to be not so much taking the photo but what you intend to do with it. If it's on public property or you're photographing it from public space that might be permissible, but if it's on private property, or obviously in a crime scene that's off limits etc., that might not be allowed.

If you wanted to use the photo, since the subject probably has their agency's name/logo on it, if it's recognizable you'd most likely need a property release. You could probably use the photo for editorial purposes (newspaper/magazine) without a release but for retail or commercial use you'd need a release signed. Even for editorial use often with a photographer a newspaper hasn't worked with before, a release may be requested.

You can look at ASMP or try PPA for info. on releases, usage, etc. http://asmp.org

News to me

icepics wrote: Usually it seems to be not so much taking the photo but what you intend to do with it. If it's on public property or you're photographing it from public space that might be permissible, but if it's on private property, or obviously in a crime scene that's off limits etc., that might not be allowed.

If you wanted to use the photo, since the subject probably has their agency's name/logo on it, if it's recognizable you'd most likely need a property release. You could probably use the photo for editorial purposes (newspaper/magazine) without a release but for retail or commercial use you'd need a release signed. Even for editorial use often with a photographer a newspaper hasn't worked with before, a release may be requested.

You can look at ASMP or try PPA for info. on releases, usage, etc. http://asmp.org

    

I disagree with most of the above.

A police vehicle is public property, paid for by tax dollars. There's no "agency" involved from which to acquire a release.

As for taking a photograph for your own purposes, on a public right of way (in the US) there are no restrictions, just like there are no restrictions of taking photos of buildings, nor any other item or person in plain view. Even taking photos through windows appears to be permissible in NY, in the name of "art".

For commercial purposes one might need a release from a recognizable person, but public servants might have different rules than the rest of us. That's a distinction worth investigating.

If there are ordinances against surveillance of peace officers, that's a different story, and worth investigating. But it's pretty clear that the courts side with anyone with a cellphone, and that's a camera, too, right? Cops, despite their bravado, do not have special privileges.

This is not to say that some asinine office would not hesitate to give you grief over taking a photograph; it happened to a friend and me once when we were in high school. I'm not sure what she thought she was doing. Anyhoo...

None of this is to say that you won't come into some grief; it's well-established the police officers are often ignorant of the law with respect to photography. Know your rights, be polite if questioned, and don't give up your camera or media, if you are stopped. Be subtle to avoid idiocy, not to accomplish something allegedly "illegal".

Intent plays no role in the capture of an image. It plays a role in the use of an image, and those are clearly two separate things.

Finally, here's a crummy snap. Arrest me.

Thanks Gary, you have given me some perspective to consider here.  

Gary pretty much nailed it, and the courts have stated so in more than a few cases. The only thing an officer can ask you to do is move to a different area, if you are getting shots of an investigation, but cannot stop you from shooting that event. Now that does not mean you might not get hassled over it, or even threatened with arrest, it has been that way since I was a young pup. But your only recourse it to be polite, and stand your ground if you know you are in the right. Back in the late 70s' I had a few run ins over it, and I would merely ask for the shift supervisor, or tell them to arrest me then. I was never arrested in all of my years of using those tactics. In fact some would not even call their supervisors, and just let me go with a false authoritative warning to not do it again. It really depends on how far you are willing to push to use your rights. I have always been a pusher when it comes to that. I respect proper authority, and fight the misused, or abused.

It is an agency, a public one, but it's the police or sheriff dept. or whatever city, county, or township where it's located. I don't think you can use the logo or trademark of a business or agency to profit from; the city/township/county most likely owns the logo on their cruisers. You might be able to sell a print intended for the buyer's personal use (to hang on the wall) but to license usage of images of someone's property you usually need a signed release. I don't know offhand about property of a public agency.

What's the point of taking pictures of police cars anyway?? Unless you're freelancing for a local paper or other media outlet, or it's leading a holiday parade or something, what are you going to do with a picture of it? Even though I don't know what the purpose would be, I think you should be able to take a photo of anything that's viewable from a public place as long as you're not loitering or trespassing or interfering with the police doing their job etc. So I don't think it would be a criminal offense to take the picture, but I think you might be limited in what you could do with the photo.

Gary your opinion may differ but you don't seem to be providing sources or links to any pro photography information. I'd suggest the OP go to some of the websites for pro photographers like ASMP, PPA, or NPPA and see what you can find out. Or you could try looking at the website for the police/sheriff's dept. or your city, county or township; a large department or a county/city would probably have someone who handles PR that could answer questions and provide information.

Apologies. For some reason I got "agency" == "rent-a-cop" stuck in my head. That was not very smart.

icepics wrote: It is an agency, a public one, but it's the police or sheriff dept. or whatever city, county, or township where it's located. I don't think you can use the logo or trademark of a business or agency to profit from; the city/township/county most likely owns the logo on their cruisers. You might be able to sell a print intended for the buyer's personal use (to hang on the wall) but to license usage of images of someone's property you usually need a signed release. I don't know offhand about property of a public agency.

I think you're conflating two issues. The original question was, "can I take a picture of a cruiser?" Your discussion here is regarding commercial use of an image. Selling a print of a cruiser as "art" is not commercial use and does not require a release, as far as I know. My comments were directed to only the original question, and I think they stand.

If I were interested in commercial use of something created by / in use by a government agency, I'd start with the agency in question. Again, that's not what the OP asked.

Gary your opinion may differ but you don't seem to be providing sources or links to any pro photography information. I'd suggest the OP go to some of the websites for pro photographers like ASMP, PPA, or NPPA and see what you can find out. Or you could try looking at the website for the police/sheriff's dept. or your city, county or township; a large department or a county/city would probably have someone who handles PR that could answer questions and provide information.

There are tons of threads on here discussing public photography; I'm not going to waste my time repeating information that can be found by thorough and careful searching, both on PT and the web. The OP hasn't put enough work into it yet, or they would have found relevant, factual resources already. I've expressed my thoughts on the use of search engines in plenty of other threads. I absolutely agree about looking at asmp.org, or anything at all, rather than believe whatever some bozo tells you.

After reading the answers to your question, I was surprised that no one mentions just calling your local police department.  If you cannot get a satisfactory answer from them you can call court house and as someone in the AG's office.  People do not want to keep you from doing anything legal  so give it a try.

I'll make it easy for you.  Read this:   www.aclu.org/kyr-photo

Good post