Check out this video by Photographer and media activist Tom Zebra that documents how he was stopped by Hollywood Police, and then had his DJI Phantom confiscated after filming a US Navy ship.
Mr. Tom Zebra comments on his video as follows:
“Published on Aug 7, 2014
This video shows exactly what due process is in the United States.
Due process is a Sergeant who seems like a nice guy, who wants to believe he upholds the constitution…but has no clue what that means. (oath and constitution mean less then his paycheck to him as he pretends the opposite is true…like every cop I have met)
Due process is an officer who talks a bunch of crap about the fact that I exercised a legal right the previous week in Hollywood…a cop who makes stupid comments one after the next not realizing how much of an idiot he is making of himself. More importantly he obviously does not care. Dipshit with the big mouth was overjoyed at taking property that he claimed belonged to me.
Due Process is a citing officer who smiles as “he does what he is told.”
Due process is a chief who sits on his ass and gives orders that were told to him by someone from the Navy…passes the orders on to his “drones” that blindly do what they are told.
Due process is a Navy that invites the neighborhood out to record their ship, then steals a camera from their guest without warning.
Did the Navy want me to come and take pictures or didn’t they?
What happened to first amendment?
Not in parks or parking lots? Shouldn’t it apply there the most? Where exactly in Los Angeles does the first amendment apply, if not in parks parking lots, fields etc etc etc.
The seized property is not a rc toy, it is a rc camera. There is a difference. One is used for recreation. The other is used for a constitutionally protected right.
United States of America.
Most police most of the time treat me with the respect that I have taught them to have for me.
But with estimated 50,000 cops in the south bay, I end up teaching the same remedial course to ignorant cops on the regular. Many of them like the big mouth in this video are to dumb to learn, so instead of catching on, they are ridiculed in my video by viewers and used as an example for others on how not to act.. Just saying…
Thanks for the invitation Navy Days. I guess I wont bother to go back this weekend when I would have been allowed onto the boat.
No thanks.
Fake ass freedom, from punks ass cops not worth a dime of their salary.
The military is not overpaid, but their mission is worthless as we murder innocent people all over the world in the name of (fake)freedom. Of course the military being underpaid will be remedied when the misguided soldiers come home and become overpaid coward cops at home. (ask Dusty Garver writing false citations for the city of Torrance at 180K in 2012) Of course he is proud to say he fought for his country. Now he extorts the public and has proven himself a big fat liar and allegedly a racist)
And anybody recording the police is instigating and for negative reasons. Stupid cop. Fuck you and your family. They have an idiot for a father, and I know they will learn that when they watch this video. How proud they must be.
On second thought, keep the pictures of your retired boat.
*NAVY DAYS*
Am I mad?
I am used to this shit…been going on forever. Motivation bitches. See you on the street.
As for the Sergeant claiming people shout obscenities at them all day? Nonsense. These guys were sitting on their asses doing nothing all week before they “showed up for work” to take private property. What confrontation do these guys have they didn’t make themselves and that they are not way overpaid for?
With the cop with the big mouth on the force, what confrontation did they not earn with their own stupidity?
I could go on, but I will do it on the street from behind my camera while I wait for the next shipment from B&H Photo.
Since the seized property contained no (0) evidence, you would think the cops would give it back. I will not hold my breath as should be apparent from this description. I treated them better then they deserved in person.
They can keep their stolen property.
PS
Due process gets even worse in a court of law. Judges public defenders and prosecutors are as big of a problem if not bigger also overpaid and dishonest.
A false arrest and or stolen property might take an hour or two on the street, but the ongoing battle in court takes years.
United States of America. A wonderful country.
Apparently freedom and rights have been taken away from the people and given to the government employees.
It is only a free country if you are an employee of the government, for the rest of us we are slaves to unjust laws and worse.
Please comment, share, subscribe, and record your local police. Send me the link to your video, and have a nice day.
Stay safe.
TMFZ”
What is your opinion on the matter? Feel free to share below.
Stay tuned on the Personal Drones blog for the latest multirotor and quadcopter news!
The dji phantom 2 quadcopter is one hell of a title but then this is one hell of a machine, note machine NOT toy. It is, however, a machine with built-in fun. My experience is somewhat limited but I belong to a small group and what I am learning from them is amazing. I have heard tell of a group called Phantom Pilots and will certainly Google them in the near future.
http://bestuavdrones.com/drones/dji-phantom-2-quadcopter-review/
Fellow drone flyers need to use common sense and good judgment about where and when to fly. You need to be cautious not to fly near large crowds, structures, sensitive areas (such as military vessels, plants) and illegal/no fly zones such as national parks, airport zones, and above 400 feet. To do so ruins it for everybody else. It sucks this guy lost his drone.
There is the consititution, local laws and then just plain common sense. When people fail to use common sense, the police will try and use the law(s) in the best way possible (sometimes for the worse, mostly for the best) because there cannot be a specific law written for every type of crime.
I can honestly say that you sound like an entitled little jerk who got their toy taken away for not using common sense and being a general pain.
You’re going to buy a brand new DJI and run it from FPV so they can’t find you next time? Is that what you’re saying? Are you out of your mind?
In all, the cops busted you for what I shall now call, “Flying While Stupid”. Don’t fly stupid. Don’t give the cops a hard time. You are just making it harder for everyone else. This whole UAV thing is new for everyone and they’re just trying to do their jobs.
And, for god’s sake, spend less time flying and more time learning grammar. It will make you a much better person.
With the world going crazy, why would you fly a drone near a U.S. military ship? That is asking for a police response. Stupid is as stupid does…… Doing dumb stuff like this is why new laws are coming to protect our military installations. How can anyone really not see the idiotic logic here?
I encountered people like you my entire career in law enforcement. Experts on the Constitution, experts at local law, and experts at how police officers should do their job. The one thing you and your ilk have in common is a total lack of common sense. You people go out of your way to create conflict and then have the gall, the audacity, to cry when some big bully rains on your little parade. I fly a UAV too, but I have the common sense to not fly it in places I shouldn’t. One of my early mentors once told me something very profound. “If you want to stay out of trouble, avoid places [and situations] where trouble is likely to occur.” Are we supposed to feel sorry for you? Well, I don’t. Another mentor once told me something else I think applies to you. “You just can’t fix stupid.”