An uncomfy moment

[Chiller]

This is something that happened to me today, that kinda made me feel a little wierd. I was summoned to do a pick up of a machine downtown. When I got there, I found the door was locked, checked the time, and thought...hmm..must be on lunch as it was nearing noon. I called my office and told them, I was going to take my lunch, and check back at around 1ish. I was near Riverdale park/zoo so I grabbed the lunch out of my bag, and then reached for my camera bag. I sat in the park for about 10 minutes, chowed down, and then went for a walk. I rememberd across from the park was Necropolis cemetery, which is much more interesting then the park, so I went for a few pics. Once I was leaving, I was approached by a police car, who then stopped me.

Police: Can we have a word with you.
Me: Sure...whats up.
Police: Is that a video camera(guess they are not up on their cameras)
Me; No, just a Canon xti, but does not have video capabilities.
Police: Can we see whats in the camera bag?
Me: sure( I then opened the bag to show them I did not have a video camera and let them see it was all camera gear).
Police: We have two complaints about a guy, fitting my clothing description, who was seen video taping kids at the zoo. I guess they only got a partial description, cause after they confirmed it was not me, we sort of had a chuckle that there would be somebody else who would look like me. :lol:
They then half arsed apologized for bothering me, but asked me to call if I saw anyone with a video camera wearing my clothes. They did take the license plate of our work vehicle tho.

I was not offended by the questioning, but more annoyed that there are people out there doing something like this. And I was a little relieved that it was a police officer that stopped me, instead of some guy, who was all hot headed looking for anyone with a camera.

Anyways...that is my little lunch hour diddy.

[Antarctican]

I'm sure glad they gave you the benefit of the doubt and 'asked nicely', rather than screaming up in the car and jumping to conclusions/accusations. In some parts of the country/continent, this could have turned out very differently :shock:

Where were you when they approached you? Still inside the grounds of the Necropolis? Their story doesn't really sound credible to me. Not that it really matters...I think you handled the matter properly. (Sure, I know some people would tell you to 'stand on your rights' and 'not cooperate' with them, but trust me, that opens a can of worms you don't want opened).

[Chiller]

I think they might have had "somebody" they were looking for, but also, I was trying to get a photo of that church, and was walking backwards looking for the angle, without getting the wires in the shot. Maybe I looked suspicious, constantly looking over my shoulder.
They stopped me as I stepped off the sidewalk, but only a foot or so.
Looking like me, I have to be calm. :biglaugh::biglaugh: I dont see why, people would not co-operate, unless they are guilty of something. I have nothing to hide, and if they are looking for somebody, I would not deliberatly hamper the investigation. I was innocent of anything, except maybe taking a shortcut through the bush at the cemetery. :lol:
Ya ever seen in those new cop cars...holy fancy ass....now I see where our tax dollars are growing. :lol:

[Terri]

Clearly, they realized they had the wrong guy pretty quickly. It's got to feel weird being approached like that for any reason, and I agree with Anty that they at least gave you the benefit of the doubt.

sheesh! These stories.

[René]

Sounds like both of you did the right thing, both courteous and professional. I would have taken their names and said if you see anything you will report it. That way if your on a job somewhere or need to get shots and their is a police line, you can go, hey, officer spongebob, its me, squarepants, remember from the park near the zoo, any chance I can sneak behind the police line for a sec, just to get a few shots.....

You never know, sometimes it works.

[Chiller]

Clearly, they realized they had the wrong guy pretty quickly. It's got to feel weird being approached like that for any reason, and I agree with Anty that they at least gave you the benefit of the doubt.

sheesh! These stories.

I think some might consider it harrassment, but I would rather see the police question somebody who looks "suspicious", whether guilty or not. What if the next person they stopped was the guy. I wonder if maybe my actions(walking backwards looking over my shoulder) may have looked suspicious.

Sounds like both of you did the right thing, both courteous and professional. I would have taken their names and said if you see anything you will report it. That way if your on a job somewhere or need to get shots and their is a police line, you can go, hey, officer spongebob, its me, squarepants, remember from the park near the zoo, any chance I can sneak behind the police line for a sec, just to get a few shots.....

You never know, sometimes it works.

Funny thing Rene..I had stumbled across a protest downtown one time. It was basically the same people with two different faiths...one having a party, and the other across the street protesting the party. I was the only one there with a camera. I was shocked when the police who were standing in the middle of the road on a concrete island invited me over. His words were...:"as long as you are pointing your camera at them, they wont cause any trouble. ":biglaugh::biglaugh:

[sleepingdragon]

I think some might consider it harrassment, but I would rather see the police question somebody who looks "suspicious", whether guilty or not. What if the next person they stopped was the guy. I wonder if maybe my actions(walking backwards looking over my shoulder) may have looked suspicious.


I'm glad you did the right thing by cooperating with the police. My brother is a police officer and you should hear some of the stories he tells. He tells me that he can't trust anyone in his line of work when responding to calls. Its a job I would not want to do.