Homeland Security At Night
July 1, 2009 by Rob Hurlbut
There are a few things you must remember when using your camera at night, one of them is the mentality of a cop. This police station is being built right around the corner from current residence of the local police force. Standing well outside the chain-link barrier, I snapped images of this giant, metal arachnid, all the while noticing that a police cruiser was creeping up on me from about my 5 o’clock.
When challenged by the voice hidden behind a beaming spotlight as to what I was doing, I said I was performing the art of photography. The arrogant man then asked why I was taking pictures of a construction site at night. I did not understand what he meant, which is what I told him. A verbal explanation by my new, spotlight wielding friend made me understand that this particular crime-fighter thought that my camera, which was slung across my body looked like a gun, which is why he was questioning me now.
I politely asked him, “What kind of gun?”
“Excuse me”, he asked?
“What kind of gun is it that you think my digital camera looks like?”
For some reason, this caused him to launch into a typical authority-figure-in-a-no-consequence-environment lecture that was so boringly parental, it caused me to drift off at least twice while I was being spoken to.
Afterward he left & I continued my shoot. “Viva La Revolucion” was what I shouted into the night as he drove away. As a non Spanish speaker, I can only guess at what that actually means. With any luck at all, it means that photography is NOT illegal.
So after that I went and mixed a little bit of flash with a WHOLE LOT of shutter time at a nearby fountain. This constant flow of water was just what I needed to wrap up my impromptu night-shoot.
I have more photos and related posts below:
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How soon will you update your blog? I'm interested in reading some more information on this issue.
7:58PM on the Corner of Lemon and Bancroft
I had just received a report of a vigilante that was causing a public disturbance at the construction site of the new police department headquarters… Apparently a local good Samaritan recognized a hooligan that was causing a commotion by flailing a gun around on what appears to be a military grade weapons strap. I had just finished rapping up arresting a local at Joltin' Joes for being intoxicated in public and was the closest officer to the call.
As I approached I noticed that an individual suspiciously aiming a device at the new Nerve of La Mesa Crime Control Center, or as we like to call it, the NLMC3. This would now be the fifth attempt for the month of someone trying to sabotage the construction of the new, super high tech, police headquarters. Over the last few weeks we have had to deal with robots and costumed delinquents… This of course set me to a high alert of defense and offense… The last issues that we had on the NLMC3 grounds resulted in two officers loosing their lives and one officer losing his legs. I made a promise to my wife that I would not end up as one of those victims.
With all this knowledge in mind, I decided that the best course of action was to assume the worst and show up with my guns drawn…
As I approached this shadow member of society, we threw words back and forth in an attempt to communicate with each other.
After many hours of conversation I was able to talk down this villain, who now, thanks to my logic and wisdom, will give up his will to shoot a gun, and now instead, shoot a camera. I decided, in light of his change in life, to let him off with a warning. As I left the scene of the almost blood ridden pavement, I could hear him singing my praises in his own native tongue…