Thursday, August 30, 2007
Double Standard
You expect the police to speed and drive badly on patrol, after all it is the public they issue traffic tickets to in “protecting the public from bad drivers”, not their fellow officers.
Apparently this double standard applies to the photographic arts as well when it comes to police versus public allowable behaviours.
It is, in the eyes of the Abbotsford Police Department (APD), perfectly fitting for the APD to surreptitiously snap clandestine pictures of citizens for no justifiable reason.
Personally, I hadn’t realized the Charter of Rights and Freedoms together with the privacy laws were not the Law or at least the laws enforced in Abbotsford.
It is not, in the eyes of the APD, perfectly fitting for citizens to photograph ADP officers as they work their duty tour. Should you be as bold as to video the APD, you will quickly find APD officers in your face demanding your camera as one abbotsford resident found out recently.
Notwithstanding the fact your right to video on duty APD officers would, outside the boundaries of Abbotsford, be protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Moreover, videoing on duty APD officers would appear to be totally legal under the privacy laws.
So these days in Abbotsford, the police can ignore the public’s Charter rights, disregard privacy laws and deny the public the right to exercise their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Makes one pine for the good old days, when speeding and bad driving were the only double standard the APD exercised, eh?
Apparently this double standard applies to the photographic arts as well when it comes to police versus public allowable behaviours.
It is, in the eyes of the Abbotsford Police Department (APD), perfectly fitting for the APD to surreptitiously snap clandestine pictures of citizens for no justifiable reason.
Personally, I hadn’t realized the Charter of Rights and Freedoms together with the privacy laws were not the Law or at least the laws enforced in Abbotsford.
It is not, in the eyes of the APD, perfectly fitting for citizens to photograph ADP officers as they work their duty tour. Should you be as bold as to video the APD, you will quickly find APD officers in your face demanding your camera as one abbotsford resident found out recently.
Notwithstanding the fact your right to video on duty APD officers would, outside the boundaries of Abbotsford, be protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Moreover, videoing on duty APD officers would appear to be totally legal under the privacy laws.
So these days in Abbotsford, the police can ignore the public’s Charter rights, disregard privacy laws and deny the public the right to exercise their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Makes one pine for the good old days, when speeding and bad driving were the only double standard the APD exercised, eh?
# posted by James W Breckenridge : 6:00 PM
