Photo by discarted
NOTE: This guard did not have anything to do with the incident described below.
I was recently harassed by Andrews International security for photographing them in public at the Hollywood/Highland Metro station. Street photography is completely legal, and anybody, including minors and police, can be photographed in public at any time.
Here is the letter that I sent to Roger Andrews, executive vice president of Andrews International. I have not received any kind of response — or even an acknowledgement from them.
The email was also sent to Councilmen Tom LaBonge and Eric Garcetti (whose districts Hollywood falls in), and neither one of them did anything. Councilmen LaBonge did personally call me and promised to call back the following week, which he didn’t.
Mr. Andrews,
I am writing you in regard to an incident that occurred on May 3, 2008 between myself and some of your officers. I am a documentary as well as a street photographer, and yesterday I was berated, touched(technically assault) and threatened with arrest and detainment by some your officers, particularly Officer *******, after legally photographing them in public. Obviously, your officers have not been educated about the law in regards to street photography and the rights of photographers; this is the second occurrence like this that has happened between your officers and myself.
After photographing your officers, they were completely belligerent, stating that they were private security officers and I was required to answer their questions, which is not true. Officer ******** also tried to take my photograph, which I agreed to, but he couldn’t find a camera so he followed me around and eventually stopped me, forcing me to look up at one of the security cameras. This entire series of events is laughable because it appeared in his mind that laws that allow the city to photograph me at any time in public do not apply to Officer ****** and the rest of your officers. On top of that, after having my photo taken, Officer ******* then asked me if I was in the military and I said, ”No, I don’t believe in the military.” He then exploded and said, “I fucking built this land you’re standing on! Get outta here!”
After that, I walked around for a few minutes thinking about what happened and decided to go back to get the officers’ badge numbers. Once Officer ******* realized what I was doing, he immediately covered up his badge with his hand and started yelling, “Oh no, you ain’t getting that!” To which I stated, “You are legally required by law to give me your badge number.” That is when Officer ******** along with the other officers threatened me with arrest and tried to detain me. However, I am quite aware of the law, because I am on the street practically everyday taking photographs and told them they couldn’t detain me. Officer ****** would not relent and used his entire body to block me from leaving; that is when he touched me, which is assault. One of the other officers stepped in and told him to stop and took him aside to speak with him. I did not leave, told them to call the police, and waited for BID Patrol to arrive. I was questioned but not arrested because I did not do anything illegal.
While the BID Patrol officers gave me a very nice lecture on humanity, they didn’t seem to care about the way Officer ******* and the other officers reacted in an unlawful, belligerent, and inhumane manner towards me.
I am requesting that all video footage of the area in front of the Hollywood/Highland Metro stop in Los Angeles, CA, between 6PM and 7:30PM on May 3, 2008 be retained for viewing, as well as kept for evidence. I will be speaking to a lawyer this week as well exploring my other options via the city and Los Angeles Metro.
Officer ********’s unlawful behavior, along with the other officers, and more importantly, their lack of knowledge for the law is unacceptable.
BID Patrol also asked me if I was an attorney, to which I said, “No, but I don’t have to be an attorney to know the law. Since you’re not an attorney either that must mean you don’t know the law as well…which is the reason why this all happened in the first place.”
Voice Your Concerns and Write:
Roger Andrews: roger.andrews@andrewsinternational.com
Antonio Villaraigosa: mayor@lacity.org
Tom LaBonge: councilmember.labonge@lacity.org
Eric Garcetti: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org
Rich Morallo, Metro Citizens Advisory Council: (213) 922-233
Captain Dan Finkelstein, MTA chief of transit police: (213) 922-2707/922-2700
Rick Jager/Marc Littman, MTA media relations: (213) 922-2707/922-2700
You’re asking the wrong persons for action; contact the highest level non-appointed MTA officer that you can first, perhaps Mr. Cannell or Ms. Flowers:
http://www.metro.net/about_us/board/board_members.htm
The MTA Legal Counsel listed is Mr. Charles Safer; shouldn’t he be providing an opinion to management about (unpublished) policy?
Politicians come and go, so expecting appropriate and informed ‘action’ from them may not help the cause in the long run.
In the case of LA Union Station, it may be more complicated. Prologis (successor to Catellus) is the owner; MTA (Red/Gold lines), Amtrak and SCRRA (Metrolink) are technically tenants with smaller scope of authority.
This type of incident seems to be getting more common on an almost daily basis. We have the same sort of sh*t happening over here in the UK.
If you’re not already a member check out this group where you may like to share your experience:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/photography_is_not_a_crime/
Try to get your Member of Congress involved, and/or State Senator, State Assembly member, and so on. Also, reach out to orgs which may be interested in taking up legal action. Our congresswoman has come out of the gate fired up on our behalf, and it feels so good. Details:
http://lightboxdc.blogspot.com/
BID is run by Andrews Security….fun eh?
Andrews international is a sick joke. I was railroaded into leaving a supervisor position, namely because I refused to play along with the harassment and Illegal detainment of those that they did not like. Bob Cox, should you enjoy traveling to Las Vegas, NV is the “Executive Director” of the Nevada region and encourages the same activity as you described.
You do need to expose Andrews international for what it is, a company run by former police officers who were shown the door at LAPD (Randy and Roger Andrews)and incredibly, have made a reasonable success out of their company despite having no leadership and extremely limited writing skills.
The stories I could tell you about these guys…
Bob’s Worst Enemy
can you get in touch with us at info@discarted.com
Who and how much this company paid to get the security contracts that they have them might be intersting to know. Last I checked, they had Sony, Hollywood and Highland, General Growth properties and Countrywide, in addition to swallowing at least two other security companies.
I recently walked in the local office here in Las Vegas and observed the female “recruiter” sitting with her bare feet on a counter. Nice one. Makes one really want to go to work for them.
Who and how much this company paid to get the security contracts that they have might be interesting to know. Last I checked, they had Sony, Hollywood and Highland, General Growth properties and Countrywide, in addition to swallowing at least two other security companies.
I recently walked in the local office here in Las Vegas and observed the female “recruiter” sitting with her bare feet on a counter. Nice one. Makes one really want to go to work for them.
Did they pay you overtime properly for hours worked in excess of forty hours per week? We are investigating the company’s pay practices. Please let me know!
Regards,
Brent Pelton
I had been arrested in Venice Beach last May for protesting the war and charged with illegal lodging. I was let out but I did not show up in court since it was false arrest.
One day a couple of months later I was in Hollywood talking with someone who had been drinking a beer. He set it down as we were heading somewhere down the street. I hate littering so I picked it up to throw away the bottle. It was in a paper bag and could not be seen.
I shook it gently to see if some was left. There was, so I tipped it up and finished it. I started to throw it in a dumpster when I heard right in my ear, “Stop!”
I turned to see who it was and it turned out to be Andrews. I had never seen them before as I was new to Hollywood and had gone there to be a STAR! I can sing, dance, and act. He grabbed the bag out of my hand and asked for my ID. I asked for his. Anyone can dress up like security or police but be imposters.
He said, “Oh, you want it the hard way and in less than two second he had put a handcuff on my wrist. I began yelling for help as he was saying it was a citizen’s arrest because I was saying drinking is just a ticket.
(Prohibition was repealed by the way and we have a right to drink in public. The US was founded on prostitution, gambling, and drinking.)
He was twisting my wrists as I was screaming for help from anyone that I was being kidnapped. There were two of them and they dragged me over to a ragged looking white SUV with collision damage. I was terrified that I was really being kidnapped.
One was hog tying my feet while the other sitting in the back of the SUV with me began choking me to the point I could not breath and he said he would kill me if I did not stop. People were standing on the side walk watching but no one helped.
The man pulled the strap out the bottom of the door and shut the door so my feet were hog tied and the strap was secured by the closed door. I was so scared.
One of them got on the CB and said, “We got Nancy.” He never seen my ID so how did he know who I was? Then he said, “You might get some calls from witnesses.”
They took me to there station which is right around the courner on Yucca below the hotel across from liquor store. They had Hollywood memorabilia all over the walls. They took a picture of me with the emtpy beer bottle. Then took me to the police station where it was discovered that my warrant for Venice Beach was ten thousand dollars for illegal lodging when I was protesting.
The BID patrol must be bounty hunters. There is a problem here since Andrews International is a non profit business. They have been hired by businesses to direct tourists not act like our current Gustapo Police.
It is illegal for any security company to put their hands on you. They must call the police to come. They have been hired by businesses to direct tourists only. If the businesses want a security company to protect them from the homeless then they cannot hire a non profit humanitarian company. They can only hire a for profit company. It’s time the FTC got involved and put these security companies out of business.
While in jail in Lynwood I was released with a ticket that said I had peeped in hole somewhere that I had no idea what they were talking about. Of course I signed the ticket to get out of that hell hole.
I got out two days before Paris Hilton. After I got out I protested for Paris to be released in front of the jail with a sign that said FREE PARIS FRANCE HILTON, IMMIGRATION. I held a bible in one hand and the sign in the other and said to all the cars going by that if they believed in the book of forgiveness then let Paris out of jail since President Bush admitted in his autobiography that he was a drunk. He must have drank and drove but never did time!
They let her out two days later. Alcohol is not the problem, cars are. I have a few more stories about the BID patrol aka Andrews International. I even have a video on my cell phone of about three Andrews employess and three cops trying to get a man in a wheel chair to put himself in the police car. I almost got arrested again in the process of that photo shoot.
Thanks for listening,
Nancy
sue the fuck out of those cocksuckers.
sue the fuck out of those cocksuckers.
I worked for them for a while at Countrywide in Texas. They are the biggest joke around. Bad business practices, policies and the equality is a scam. Benefits are scant and a ripoff. The tales I could tell.
I am investigating Andrews’ pay practices. I represent a security guard who worked for them in New York and was required to work overtime, but received his overtime pay at straight-time rates classified as an expense reimbursement. Do you know if this practice is company wide? Did it happen to you? Please let me know!
Regards,
Brent Pelton
pelton@peltonlaw.com
Robert Cox, idiot Executive Director in Las Vegas, had his two buddies cover up for his sexual harassment complaints, and then had both of them fired. It’s come full circle now with Cox getting banned from two area malls by the two clients in question; the local cops responding to his residence after be beat his wife up; and finally getting demoted to another slightly lesser postion not in charge of area malls. He and his butt buddy, Kevin Klevins, are going to enjoy the swere system here shortly.
Don’t take pictures of people that tell you they don’t want to be photographed. I hope they stomp your goofy ass next time. Go drink your latte, “artist”.
I work in security and I am also a photographer and I am very sorry that you had to experience one of the few officers that work in security that obviously is under trained and has a lack of common sense. In all fairness towards this incident, there is usually two sides to a story and even though AI Execs remain silent on this issue, you have to remember what your insurance company tells you in a car wreck and that is “Never say it was your fault”. When I see stories like this, it just amplifies the stereotype that all security guards are all the same…I guess I better go grab another donut.
Qal-
funny
you could be the catalyst for change and education among your fellow donut munchers
You should considering filing a civil lawuit and/or criminal charges. you could hire a lawyer or if you’re confident enough can represent you rself “pro priapersona” meaning that you would represent yourself. In addition you could file criminal charges against the purported defendants. in this case a DA will prosecute your case and you don’t have to worry about representation. There is a statute of limitation that you have to adhere to pertaining to the alleged incidents. You could file charges for false imprisonment, battery, assault, possibly (IIED) Intentional Infiction of Emotional Distress and possibly invasion of privacy depending on if they went through your wallet or purse.
I work for Andrews and me and other coworker see that things may be fishy for us. We guard every day, and from the get go were given the impression that we get no vacation time, no sick time. One coworker is owed 18 hours of work from 4 months ago. We are also lead around in circles when it comes to health benefits we are promised. Anyone who has any info on any lawsuits pertaining to things like this please let me know.