Does 9/11 really change everything? I know Bush says so, his Republican counterparts and anyone that wants to put security in front of liberty. I'm not talking about common sense things here, when I'm in Israel I expect someone to wave one of those bomb-detecting wands before I walk in any store. We don't need it here, but if we did....well lets hope it doesn't get that bad, besides Israel is nothing like the situation in the United States.
My problem is when police accost citizens for doing things that have nothing to do with security and all about showing their authority when it is completely unnecessary, like what happened to this blogger when taking panoramic pictures on the subway platform in Queens. A few plainclothes cops came up and started asking questions without any good reason for it.
From Telescreen:
He asks me for ID, and I show him my driver's license, and one of the other cops writes down my information. The lead officer, the one who's been doing all the talking, says he "can see that I'm just a little railroad buff" and that I'm not doing anything wrong. I tell him that I'm really more of a New York City buff and photography buff than a transit buff (I found his phrasing patronizing, but wasn't going to tell him that), show him my sightseeing-guide license, and tell him that I understand why he stopped me and wanted to find out what I was doing, and that I didn't mind. I also tell him that we're all on the same side here -- I go all over New York City to shoot pictures, and that the NYPD should cultivate good relations with street photographers like me, since we're well-poised to alert the cops if we see something truly suspicious.
One of the other cops asks me if I put my photos online, saying that he's heard that sometimes train buffs contribute photos to a website with pictures of the subway. I reply that I'm not a part of a website like that, but that I do put my photos on the Web. He says "oh, like a Flickr account or something?" and I allow that yes, I do have a Flickr account. (I was surprised he didn't ask me for the URL.) The cops then went on their way.
I shot a couple more pictures, but my heart wasn't really in it, and I just wanted to go home. The encounter really rattled me; the officers weren't abusive or hostile, but getting questioned unexpectedly by three plainclothes cops is, in a word, intimidating. The lieutenant had that very direct, I'm-totally-in-control-of-this-situation attitude that cops tend to have, and I just knew that in any interaction with the police, one false move can mean ruining your whole day/weekend, even if you're completely in the right.
The personal account goes on, saying that in hindsight and with some web surfing you can find out that one does not have to give their information to the police 'just because.' Cops need probable cause, no ifs, ands or buts. No one likes being the center of attention of police officers, especially when you have done nothing wrong, as was the case for this innocent blogger/photographer. Is this what "9/11" has done to us, given too much authority for the police to boss around ordinary people? Why do we have to feel like we are doing something wrong when there is absolutely no logical reason for it?
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