Newark Officer: “I can do whatever I want!”

Images from WCBS-TV

A Newark police officer has been suspended after a nasty altercation with a WCBS-TV photographer on Sunday which resulted in the photographer’s arrest. Cameraman Jim Quodomine was filming a peaceful demonstration from a public sidewalk when Special Officer Brian Sharif approached Quodomine, ordered him to stop filming, then lunged at him and grabbed his camera. Sharif then put Quodomine in a choke hold and lead him to a squad car. It’s unclear why Officer Sharif felt filming the march was a problem.

On the footage, a woman’s voice can be heard saying “You can’t arrest him!” To which Officer Sharif responds, “I can do whatever I want!” That is a perfect example of the sort of unchecked egoism of certain police officers that leads to incidents like this.

Understandably, there was public outcry, with Newark Mayor Cory Booker saying he was “very dismayed about what happened.” (Mayor Booker is well known for trying to clean up the corruption and reputation of the troubled city.)

Wait, but here’s the kicker:

The officer, Brian Sharif, has been the source of controversy in the past. Last year, he made news after giving a 75-year-old woman four tickets — including one for careless driving — after she pulled out of a funeral home and accidentally went down a one-way street.

This guy not only needs anger management classes, he needs to not be on the police force.

Article via Newark Star-Ledger

Record Your Vote

Photo by airencracken

If you haven’t heard, the most important presidential election in our lifetime – or at least the most important one since the last one – is one week from today. In the spirit of citizen journalism, both the New York Times and YouTube/PBS have developed interactive features that we all can contribute to: “Polling Place Photo Project” and “Video the Vote” respectively. They want you to document what it’s like to vote in your town or city - the lines, the ballots, the protesters, the banana bread sold by the local PTA – and upload it to their site. 

Just keep in mind that the laws regarding photography at polling places are strict so as to prevent voter intimidation, and you don’t want to mess around with election officials who can throw you in jail. Here in California, you can’t photograph or film within 100 feet of a polling place. And that means 100 feet of the rooms where ballots are cast.

To see what the rules are in your state, go here.