I called the cops on a guy (possibly) taking pics of me today

[thoughtomator]

OP apparently likes living in a police state, they keep him safe from those scary people who take pictures in public.

Welcome to the world of cheap consumer electronics. If you don't want to be photographed, stay home.

 

[Schifference]

Please elaborate and tell me exactly how you might have handled it yourself.

Thanks.

I would have ignored the guy, moved to a different parking spot, or gone to another wifi zone.

 

[angelatc]

Actually, I was doing my coquettish face:

Thanks.

Plus rep because I don't remember the last time I heard the word coquettish. But seriously - wtf is that guy thing?

 

[Danke]

Plus rep because I don't remember the last time I heard the word coquettish. But seriously - wtf is that guy thing?

Petar's website: http://pixyland.org/peterpan/

 

[Petar]

I seee. Um-hmm. Do you often associate feelings of annoyance with amusement?

Yes.

Do you often feign psychoanalysis as a substitute for legitimate conversation?

OP apparently likes living in a police state, they keep him safe from those scary people who take pictures in public.

Welcome to the world of cheap consumer electronics. If you don't want to be photographed, stay home.

Don't wanna live in a police state, but I don't want grungy weirdos publicly perving my pic either.

Also, the reason that your point of view is wholly illegitimate is because you are unable to say "publicly perving my pic" 10 times fast.

I would have ignored the guy, moved to a different parking spot, or gone to another wifi zone.

I could have tried going to another parking spot, but it's a very small parking lot.

Also, I would rather not have to drive 15 minutes to the next town over for wi-fi.

Plus rep because I don't remember the last time I heard the word coquettish. But seriously - wtf is that

Well thanks.

http://pixyland.org/peterpan/ is someone that both me and Danke are great fans of.

His fashion page is a favourite, but of course his ministry is the part that we really follow.

 

[phill4paul]

Yes.

Do you often feign psychoanalysis as a substitute for legitimate conversation?

Well, it looks like our time is about up. Let's save this thought for the next appointment. Shall we? See my secretary on the way out and she will schedule it. Also, I believe there is an issue of an overdue payment. Good evening, Petar. Until next time.

 

[Petar]

Well, it looks like our time is about up. Let's save this thought for the next appointment. Shall we? See my secretary on the way out and she will schedule it. Also, I believe there is an issue of an overdue payment. Good evening, Petar. Until next time.

Much more enjoyable than legitimate conversation.

 

[AdelaideGUy]

Maybe he was taking pictures of himself?

 

[Revolution9]

Please elaborate and tell me exactly how you might have handled it yourself.

Thanks.

Told him to eff off. No one else seems to have told you but.. Yer a frikkin' fool for phoning the cops. All you did was prime the bastards. One day that jackboot is gonna circular its way back to your arse. Thanks for pushing the nanny state pal. Jeesh. baby assed whiners and cop calling?? Do you NOT read what AF posts here. You could wind up dead.

Rev9

 

[phill4paul]

Much more enjoyable than legitimate conversation.

I feel the same about the time we spend together. I think we are making tremendous progress. Tremendous.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

I keep hearing the sound that an iphone makes when it snaps a photo, and when I look over, the guy has the outside camera on his iphone aimed right at me.

I feel quite perturbed at this point.

I am not completely sure if it is some misunderstanding or not, and I decide to deal with it by turning to my side so that I can record the guy with my computer video camera.

What??? How would have I have handled it? Well frankly, I wouldn't have became so upset that someone is taking pictures of me as to 'take pictures' of him. What the hell kind of response was that? I wasn't there, so I can't really say for certain, but the way you say you aren't even sure if he was taking pictures of you, leads me to say I wouldn't have reacted at all. Had I known he was taking pictures of me I would probably have just told him to fuck himself. Not a literal 'fuck yourself,' but a proverbial 'fuck yourself.' Had he been clearly taking pictures of children, say at a park, the cops would find themselves dispatched a lot sooner than I would have time to call. To be perfectly frank.

You should look for the police blotter.
11:36 A.M. Police received a call about a suspicious person taking photographs at the library.
11:37 A.M. Police received a call about yet another suspicious person taking photographs at the library.

 

[Petar]

Maybe he was taking pictures of himself?

I'm not sure WTF he was doing...the phone was making the camera noise many times repeatedly, and the outer iphone cam was frequently pointed at me in a way that did not look like he could have been using the inner iphone cam on himself.

When I asked him about it he said that he was taking no pics at all, and did not explain why the camera noise kept going off.

I did not believe him, and initially told him to leave or else I would call the cops.

It was after he said that he was gonna try turning the whole thing around on me that I decided to call the cops even though he left.

Told him to eff off. No one else seems to have told you but.. Yer a frikkin' fool for phoning the cops. All you did was prime the bastards. One day that jackboot is gonna circular its way back to your arse. Thanks for pushing the nanny state pal. Jeesh. baby assed whiners and cop calling?? Do you NOT read what AF posts here. You could wind up dead.

Rev9

I was not comfortable with the idea of talking to him in a provocative way.

I feel like I probably could have kicked this small weirdos ass, but I did not want a fight to happen, mainly because of the potential legal problems that would likely cause.

So what exactly does "priming" police entail?

Did I just sign a small puppies death warrant?

An as-yet-unborn future puppy that will belong to me perhaps?

Please elaborate.

Thanky.

I feel the same about the time we spend together. I think we are making tremendous progress. Tremendous.

What??? How would have I have handled it? Well frankly, I wouldn't have became so upset that someone is taking pictures of me as to 'take pictures' of him. What the hell kind of response was that? I wasn't there, so I can't really say for certain, but the way you say you aren't even sure if he was taking pictures of you, leads me to say I wouldn't have reacted at all. Had I known he was taking pictures of me I would probably have just told him to fuck himself. Not a literal 'fuck yourself,' but a proverbial 'fuck yourself.' Had he been clearly taking pictures of children, say at a park, the cops would find themselves dispatched a lot sooner than I would have time to call. To be perfectly frank.

You should look for the police blotter.
11:36 A.M. Police received a call about a suspicious person taking photographs at the library.
11:37 A.M. Police received a call about yet another suspicious person taking photographs at the library.

Well, I had reason to believe that he was taking pics of me, so my initial response was to begin videotaping him, and that is not something that I am ashamed of.

My next response was to politely ask him what was going on, and since his response was such a failure, then that is why I decided to escalate the situation.

Telling him to "fuck off" seems to me like it would have been foolish in my situation, since the possible fight that could have resulted in would have likely caused me legal problems IMO.

I am still talking with the police about this incident and they seem like they are being very respectful.

Also, if this guy is a perv, then I am happy to know that I have contributed to the police record of his pattern of behaviour.

That seems like a valid and useful contribution to society IMO.

 

[LibertyEagle]

no doubt that cats are assholes, but they are still more photogenic.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. My cat takes offense.

 

[Lishy]

Why didn't you just move? I'm a bit of a photographer myself, and I get crazy narcissistic chicks all the time creeped out that I might be taking pictures of them (When really I take pictures of environments...)

If he follows you, that's a concern. But it's possible he was not really taking a pic of you if he was just minding his own business. Why is this worth calling the cops over?

 

[pcgame]

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[Petar]

Why didn't you just move? I'm a bit of a photographer myself, and I get crazy narcissistic chicks all the time creeped out that I might be taking pictures of them (When really I take pictures of environments...)

If he follows you, that's a concern. But it's possible he was not really taking a pic of you if he was just minding his own business. Why is this worth calling the cops over?

Are you some grungy motherfucker who parks right next to people while aiming your camera phone directly at them while you take pictures that you pretend that you are not taking?

No? Good.

Well, this asshole seems like he may have just fit that description, and was unable to offer a reasonable explanation when asked to.

I initially threatened to call the cops because moving to another spot in the tiny lot did not seem like a satisfying solution to me.

After he threatened to turn the whole pervy thing against me, then I also called for legal protection to cover myself.

Also, if the motherfucker is a perv/has perved/will perv, then it is very useful for society to collect a record of allegations of pervyness against him.

Example:

If he is a perv, and some teenage girl reports his vehicle following her around, then the police will also see the record of this incident, which will make it harder for him to pretend that she was mistaken/lying.

I honestly believe that many of you are so caught up with the awful things that are constantly happening with police that you seem to totally forget the real reasons that we also need them in a civil society.

 

[pcgame]

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[osan]

So I'm sitting in my car, in the parking lot of the local small town library today, using their wifi so that I could check out good ole' RPF's.

There is a car parked next to me, and some grungy dude is sitting inside of it.

I keep hearing the sound that an iphone makes when it snaps a photo, and when I look over, the guy has the outside camera on his iphone aimed right at me.

I feel quite perturbed at this point.

I am not completely sure if it is some misunderstanding or not, and I decide to deal with it by turning to my side so that I can record the guy with my computer video camera.

I don't really catch him doing anything aside from looking over at me for a moment.

I end up getting out of my car and asking the guy if he is taking pictures of me.

I see that he has burn scars all over his face.

The guy says he's not taking any photos, that he's online with his girlfriend, and tells me that I can look at his camera roll, which he has open.

I ask him why his phone has been making the camera sound if he has not been taking any photos.

He offers no explanation, and I end up telling him that I don't believe him, and that he can leave or I am going to call the cops.

He tells me that he will do the same and report me for videotaping him, which apparently he had noticed.

He leaves abruptly, and I call the police to report the whole incident, along with his license plate number.

Discuss.

D00d - you're supposed to be one of the smart people here. Why are you waxing stoopid? Seriously, what would possess you to make voluntary contact with a cop? I am sure you have seem all the lunatic shit cops do that has been posted here. That should be enough to keep your head straight on what not to do. Not busting on you, trying to keep your head in one piece. There is NOTHING they can do, esp. if the guy has left. It isn't a crime to take photos... unless you can document him having followed you from place to place. In that case I'd still not call cops, but take of things my own way, but that's another topic for another day.

Approaching someone you suspect is doing something unkosher is also a tactical error. You have NO idea who this guy is and if perchance he turns out to be a true badass, are you equipped to defend your life? If not, BAD Petar. Bad bad Petar. You gots ta' keep your head screwed on right or you can end up in an ICU or on a slab. I'm dead serious about this, too. Forty one years of training has taught me to NEVER fuck with ANYONE if I can avoid it, especially if I'm alone. One-man ops don't go off the way they do in stoopid Hollywood movies. Be careful. More careful than you were. A lot more. OK?

That all said, your description of his behavior would indicate he was up to something he was not interested in discussing with you - another indicator that approaching him as you did was ill-considered. Now keep your eyes peeled for this asshole in case you find you have a tick. If you do... not sure what to suggest. In my circle we can always get up a team to remedy the problem quietly and without equivocation. If you're on your own, I recommend arming up - pistol preferred so you can air out any serious problems that might arise. YMMV, of course. I doubt this was anything more than a weirdo up to something embarrassing, but keep your eyes alert for a couple of weeks just in case something else is going on. Do you have anyone who might be looking to harm you or get "dirt"? No need to answer, just ask yourself and think about it awhile. Sounds paranoid, but much crazier shit happens every day.

Be cool.

 

[GeorgiaAvenger]

Umm screw that crap with never calling the police.

If someone was photographing me I would get the police to lay a serious smackdown!

 

[pcgame]

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