La Mesa Police Station

        There is one very weird thing about photography that is exactly the same as a pot of boiling water. A watched pot never boils. Have you ever popped a couple of pop tarts in the toaster and stared at the toaster waiting for the pop tarts to pop up? I have, and one of those weird quirks of fate is that things don’t happen unless you are not looking. Wherever your camera is pointed is where there will be no action. Those Pulitzer Prize winning moments happened on days just like today, except that someone happened to take a picture.

A Regular Thing Or A Record Of The Future

        Even though there is a rash of instances, right here in the United States Of America of photographers being arrested and detained for taking pictures from a public vantage point, it is not something that can be captured at will. It is an elusive beast that can hide behind the law, and people paid to uphold the law.

Just A Regular Photograph

La Mesa Police Officer Performing A Routine Traffic Stop

        La Mesa is an eastern suburb of San Diego and it is a great place to live. As the crow flies, La Mesa is about 13 miles from the coast so it is not a proverbial “beach town” like Pacific Beach Imperial Beach or even La Jolla, but to me that is a good thing. People don’t come to La Mesa to party their asses off, get drunk or cause trouble. People come to La Mesa to shop for antiques, play around Lake Murray, hike at Mission Trails, experience fine dining or attend our weekly classic car shows in the summer.

Lights On A La Mesa Police Cruiser

        Besides location and demographics, La Mesa’s police officers do a great job of maintaining a general feeling of safety in the city. They are professional and are always quick to respond when called upon, whether there is an emergency or not. I think that most people living in or visiting La Mesa know that crime and bad behavior stick out like a sore thumb around here, and will immediately draw the attention of our boys in blue. All of these things make La Mesa, CA a great place to live.

La Mesa Police Station Construction Nears Completion – March 2010

        It’s been over two months since my last post with photos of the new La Mesa police station being constructed. During that interim, proper walls have been fabricated and windows have been installed. For this post I will be recycling photos I have taken during construction.

La Mesa Police Station – January 2010

La Mesa Police Station – October 2009

La Mesa Police Station – July 2009

Palm Trees Placed Under Arrest For Unknown Reasons

        My last post ended with this quote, from Albert Swearengen; “Announcing your plans is a great way to hear God laugh.” So true. You, as the reader can interpret the word “God” however you like, but for the purposes of this post, I will interpret it as the being that controls the strings of humans on planet Earth. The only thing the San Diego Chargers had to do today, January 17, 2010 was win. Since they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, I had to nullify a contract that would have put me on Easy Street for at least 30 calender days. I really hate professional sports. Not a single one of those bitchy millionaire athletes has given up anything during this recession, but the fans, the people that pay to make them rich have lost more than any other single group in history. This, coupled with the immanent arrival of a storm that will bring Southern California 6 inches of rain over the next five days equals a very, very gray Sunday in San Diego. Rather than make money by photographing the inebriated smiles of 75,000 Charger fans, I have been reduced to posting some lame, boring photos taken in the wake of the Chargers loss.

Qualcomm Stadium In Vibrant Gray

        This has nothing to do with the San Diego Chargers pissing away a 7 point lead or me having to cancel a celebratory photo shoot due to the loss, but Qualcomm Stadium is a dump. Maybe I’m spoiled because I was in on the ground floor when the Denver Broncos christened their new stadium around the turn of the century, but my God… Qualcomm Stadium is a depressing place to be around, victorious or not. Concrete and gray would best describe it. I’m not kidding when I say that ANY college stadium in the country would be a better venue to host a football game.

La Mesa Police Station In January 2010

        Since it was a gray day in just about every capacity, I figured some shots of the La Mesa police station, currently under construction would fit in well.

La Mesa Police Station In January 2010

        This is the entrance to the underground parking area for the new La Mesa police station. Even though it is still under construction, there is an ominous feel to it. Why, one is disposed to ask, do La Mesa police have to unload prisoners underground, out of view from the public?

Labor For La Mesa’s New Police Station

        When a new police station is being built, right around from your house, and you are a photographer, you make plans to take pictures of the construction progress on an almost daily basis, right? Right. After over a year of construction, I have visited the construction site a a total of 6 times, and didn’t even take photos on each trip. As a 19th century saloon owner once said, “Announcing your plans is a great way to hear God laugh.”

La Mesa Police Station – July 2009

La Mesa Police Station – October 2009

La Mesa Police Station – January 2010

We Now See The True Color Of A Police Station – Yellow!

        The citizens of La Mesa finally get to see more that the perpetual, skeletal structure of a building and get to see another layer of the epidermis of our new police station in vibrant yellow. The jet black pavement was laid the very morning of this photograph. I really hope this pic will someday be a part of history.

The Public Is Afforded Only This View Of The Interior View Of A Police Station

        I just have to mention that during the 10-15 minutes I spent in front of this construction site that two employees of Larsen Constructors Inc. asked me what I was taking pictures of. Neither one was rude or combative, which was a breath of fresh air for me, considering my recent bouts with The San Diego Trolley Police. I would suppose that it does reflect on the general attitude towards photographers and our craft. Not in a bad way, but merely in that suspicious way of, “What is that dude doing over there?”

After Midnight At 12th & Imperial Trolley Station, Neon Is Your Friend

        I swear to the the creator that it really was a dark and foggy night! Shut up! It was so foggy that you could not see more than 50 feet in front of you, and it was so late that ALL the San Diego Trolley police had gone home for the night. The sodium halogen lights above and the neon lights in the photo above were the only earthly things separating the world of light from the debauchery of the world of night. Due to to abundance of shady characters and the lack of trolley security guards, I was only able to snap a few shots. For those of you that do not understande what I am saying, trying to snap some pics, on the sly, after midnight at the 12th & Imperial Transit Station. I would have felt more at ease if I was trying to take a dump on the White House Lawn.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock – Late At Night The Trolley Can’t Come Soon Enough

          It would seem that San Diego Trolley Police need a few lessons in local law. The man on the ground, was smoking in the 12th & Imperial Transit Center in San Diego, CA. This happened on September 5th, 2009 at 8:20pm. Assuming that what you see the San Diego Trolley Transit Police doing is legal and assuming the transit police are keeping other public commuters safe, there should be no issue with photography taking place. If a protector of the public, whose salary is drawn from the taxes of the public is also prohibiting the public from LEGAL activities, then San Diego trolley police are breaking the law. Heritage Security has a 5 year, $25 million with San Diego which was signed in January, 2006. The hierarchy seems to be: Unarmed trolley officer, armed trolley officer, armed supervisor, armed lieutenant and armed captain. If I read the contract correctly, unarmed San Diego trolley police officers receive a 2.5% annual pay increase, while armed trolley police officers receive a 3.5% annual pay increase. There are also small pay increases every 6 months, assuming performance is satisfactory. As San Diego trolley police have constant interaction with the public, why do they prohibit photography of themselves if they are performing their job in a satisfactory manner? The contract makes no mention of a photography ban nor does it state what qualifies satisfactory performance versus unsatisfactory performance.

Some highlights from the video above are:

1) For the first 40 seconds or so, the man on the ground makes numerous requests for the officer closest to me to get his knee off of his head, and specifically, his scar which was obtained during a recent surgery to remove cancer.
2) At the 15 second mark, a female officer crosses the Trolley tracks and says, “Get away with that camera!” I can be heard to ask, “How far?” The San Diego Trolley Police Officer says, “You’re not allowed to take pictures.”
3) At the two minute mark, right after a bus passes between me and the officers and their handcuffed smoker, the same female officer from before (now on the left side of the screen) looks at me, walks to her colleagues as says something. A second later three officers turn around and look right at me. The female officer points at me, which causes a one of her own to approach me for the ensuing challenge.

        UPDATE! Read my follow-up post here. My video is featured on NBC 7/39 San Diego News. Watch my interview and read a statement made by Heritage Security regarding the situation. Suffice to say that photography at San Diego Trolley Stations is in fact 100% LEGAL!

Trolley Stations Are Public Property

          Photography is not illegal. You’ll hear me say that a half dozen times or so in the video, as well as asking if I am in violation of any law. Two of the San Diego Trolley Cops told me I was not allowed to take pictures. Interesting. We public commuters can look at them, show them our tickets, obey orders given by them, be tackled to the ground by them and placed, in handcuffs inside SUV’s with dark tinted windows, BUT WE CAN NOT PHOTOGRAPH THEM DOING ANY OF IT! Or so they say, at least in this video.

          San Diego trolley police officers that don’t want pictures taken of them while they do their job are out of luck. If they are captured on film while tackling some one to the ground, why would photography be prohibited unless they were doing something illegal? I have emailed Heritage Security asking this question but got no reply. I would appeal to visit the contact page of Heritage Security and ask them. On that page you will find and email link with text that says hr@heritagesecurity.com, but when you hover over the link it says the email is jsullins@heritagesecurity.com. I hope their trolley police officer selection process is not as disorganized as their website.

A Transit Station At Night Can Be Scary Enough on It’s Own

I returned to the scene of the crime.  As I monitored the progress of the latest Cop Condominium in my neighborhood, I was again challenged by an officer of the law.  The challenge was actually more of a wrestling match, but I had my own back-up present, so I won the challenge.

Taxpayer Money During A Recession: $12.3 million

What really got me was the complete lack of progress on the police station’s construction.  Maybe the cops in the area should threaten & belittle the construction workers like they do photographers, blacks, homeless people and Norwegians.

So, despite the fact that I was feeling bulletproof from standing toe-toe with a cop and emerging victorious, I wasn’t done for the night,  I found a cannon sitting nearby, so I took an image of it & the moon

This is a very old cannon,  What is a cannon anyway?

Maybe if I had the time to deceive people tonight, I would have PS’d a better rendition of the moon.

Hiding Behind an Industrial Truck So The Police Won’t Interrogate Me

Here is your lesson of the night people:  If you are in America and a Cop detains you, DO NOT SAY ANYTHING without an attorney present!