Really want to get ticked off? Look at the YouTube video of that guy’s detainment for videoing on the public train platform in Baltimore. Some cops remind me of little kids that stomp their feet and huff and puff unless they get their way. Unfortunately they are kids with guns and the power of arrest.
There are probably not many of you that attended any sort of counter-terrorism school, but if you do ever attend such training, it would come as no surprise to find out that a person videotaping high-value, soft targets (such as a mass transit commuter train station) is considered to be suspicious behavior that is worthy of further investigation. The officer absolutely did the right thing by detaining the individual. Personally, I am a big fan of racial profiling so (post 9/11 / Madrid etc) if the individual looked like a foreigner /Arab / Muslim / Johnny jihad type, then the stop is even more warranted. It is common knowledge that terrorists ALWAYS case a target in the weeks and months leading up to an attack. Filming trains may be his “hobby” but it is also a fair possibility that the person videotaping the station is casing the property for a potential hit. I don’t think the police are in the wrong to attempt to figure out what is going on. I’m not saying that they should rough the individual up or break his camera or do anything thuggish – but proper vigilance demands that strange situations be investigated, and filming train stations certainly qualifies as “strange.”
Really want to get ticked off? Look at the YouTube video of that guy’s detainment for videoing on the public train platform in Baltimore. Some cops remind me of little kids that stomp their feet and huff and puff unless they get their way. Unfortunately they are kids with guns and the power of arrest.
There are probably not many of you that attended any sort of counter-terrorism school, but if you do ever attend such training, it would come as no surprise to find out that a person videotaping high-value, soft targets (such as a mass transit commuter train station) is considered to be suspicious behavior that is worthy of further investigation. The officer absolutely did the right thing by detaining the individual. Personally, I am a big fan of racial profiling so (post 9/11 / Madrid etc) if the individual looked like a foreigner /Arab / Muslim / Johnny jihad type, then the stop is even more warranted. It is common knowledge that terrorists ALWAYS case a target in the weeks and months leading up to an attack. Filming trains may be his “hobby” but it is also a fair possibility that the person videotaping the station is casing the property for a potential hit. I don’t think the police are in the wrong to attempt to figure out what is going on. I’m not saying that they should rough the individual up or break his camera or do anything thuggish – but proper vigilance demands that strange situations be investigated, and filming train stations certainly qualifies as “strange.”
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