Notice of complaint related to 2022-0819
Complainant alleges Austin police officers unlawfully told the public they could not take photos in a location where they had the right to.
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CITY
CUSTOM
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
September 16, 2022
ICMS #: 2022-0819
On September 19, 2022, the OPO received an email complaint.
The complainant alleges: I just saw the videos below of
calling the police and
trespassing members of the public from a public
for public photography in the
publicly accessible areas of the
This is beyond outrageous and a violation of the
First Amendment. It opens you up to civil litigation. I've been to your
many times
and I've taken video and pictures with no problems. I've also seen many many people doing
the same things, especially when sending or receiving loved ones from a
or when we
see a celebrity.
even went SO far as to tell the photographers that if they're not
out, then they cannot be there. Ridiculous! I can't come to the
to meet my
girlfriend for lunch or buy something from you shops???
told the photographers that they had to get permission from your PIO. Your
employees do not know what they're talking about and they're misleading the public. Your
employees were enforcing their feelings instead of
policy and the law this is
unacceptable. They appeased the women at the
because they're friends and
again that's unacceptable. They refused to provide the name of their supervisor because
the photographers dared to film his friends at the
.
The first set of officers that came had to explain your policy and the law to your employees,
and let them know that the photographers had a lawful right to film there. But that wasn't
good enough for
,
SO they went and got another set of officers that didn't know
the law and would do what they wanted. Smug and ignorance is a bad combination when
dealing with the public.
comes in at the 23.25 mark on the first video and the
24:00 mark on the second video.
OF
CITY
CUSTOM
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
Please educate your employees on the law especially when they're dealing with the public
and calling the police on law abiding citizens. These videos will be on the internet forever.
Not a good look.
This notice of complaint is a request for Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation to
determine if the employee conduct is within compliance of APD policy, Civil Service
Rules, and Municipal Civil Service Rules.