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posted by LaminatorX on Thursday February 20 2014, @12:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the nothing-to-see-here dept.

girlwhowaspluggedout writes:

"When Pedro Rivera, an on-call photographer for Hartford, CT's WFSB-TV, used his drone to photograph the scene of a fatal car crash, he probably did not expect to be detained by the local police and be forced to ground his drone and leave the area. What he certainly did not expect was being suspended by his employer without pay for a week after the head of the department's major crimes division contacted WFSB-TV, requesting that disciplinary action be taken against him.

Rivera has now filed a federal lawsuit against Hartford's police department for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights. The lawsuit seeks more than just damages it asks the court to declare that Rivera did not break any laws by operating the drone.

Shortly after the incident, Hartford police told the media that it was concerned with 'the safety of the officers and the privacy of the victim.' But, as Rivera told the Professional Society of Drone Journalists, 'If privacy is a concern ... it was not with me. It was with all the local news stations that were on the sidewalks with 'long lenses' and had shots so tight, that you could see inside the crash vehicle.' The photo he has provided and the GPS coordinates that are embedded in its EXIF data show what his drone was capable of photographing 150 feet from the accident site.

As Rivera succinctly describes it, 'What happened to me falls in the category of the war on cameras by the police. Whenever the police are videotaped, they try to detain people and confiscate the camera.' It's time to add one more marker to the War on Cameras Map'."

 
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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by girlwhowaspluggedout on Thursday February 20 2014, @11:55AM

    by girlwhowaspluggedout (1223) on Thursday February 20 2014, @11:55AM (#3366)
    • Do you run a NEWSROOM?
    • Do you have your journalists USING DRONES?
    • Do you run a NEWSROOM USING DRONES?

    If you answered "Yes" to all of the above questions, then DUNAA (DRONE USING NEWSROOM ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) might be exactly what you've been looking for!

    Join DUNAA today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time DUNAA member.

    DUNAA is the fastest-growing DRONE USING NEWSROOM community with THOUSANDS of members all over United States of America and the World! You, too, can be a part of DUNAA if you join today!

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    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 1) by edIII on Thursday February 20 2014, @11:03PM

    by edIII (791) on Thursday February 20 2014, @11:03PM (#3841)

    My sides hurt. Thanks.

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