Case dismissed against woman arrested while videotaping police

[Walter Cronkite]

The case against a Rochester woman arrested while videotaping police has been dismissed.

Early Monday afternoon, demonstrators rallied outside the Hall of Justice in support of Emily Good, the city woman who was arrested while videotaping police officers during a traffic stop on May 12 in front of her 19th Ward home.

Good kept recording police officers while standing in her front yard even though an officer ordered her several times go inside. She was charged with obstructing of governmental administration. Since then, the video from that night has made it onto news shows across the country.

Good's attorney, Stephanie Stare, had asked for the charges to be dismissed. In court today, the District Attorney's office says based on a review of the evidence, there was no legal basis to go forward. The charge was withdrawn and the judge dismissed the case.

Several of Good's supporters who filled the small courtroom quietly cheered as the case was dismissed. They hugged her outside the courtroom and Good said "I think there are weaknesses in the brotherhood of the police, and they are not above the law."

Good was asked if she would do it over again. "Yes, I would do it again. And I would encourage other people to do the same thing. Carry a camera. Stand your ground. Go to the seen of flashing lights and observe what's going on. Keep a safe distance."

News 10 NBC's Ray Levato asked "Do you think there is racial profiling going on?" Good answered, "Everyday. Everyday. Absolutely."

KaeLyn Rich, a spokeswoman for the Rochester office of the New York Civil Liberties Union afterwards called city police actions "a disgusting disregard for an individual's First Amendment rights to videotape in public spaces. I hope we can repair the relationship between the community and the police by holding police accountable, and making sure police officers are getting the training they need to respect people's constitutional rights."

Supporter Rev. Willie Harvey of the Peace baptist Church said "the police did the wrong thing."

City activist Howard Eagle, a spokesman for a Rochester anti-racism movement said "This case really is about racial profiling. That's the reason why Emily Good grabbed her camera in the first place and began to record the activity of the police. She suspected that a young black man was being racially profiled."

A joint statement issued by Mayor Tom Richards, City Council President Lovely Warren and Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard says they support the decision of the District Attorney's Office to dismiss the charges against Good.

The statement says whatever the specific circumstances that led to Good's arrest, they see no purpose in pursuing the criminal charges.

The statement continues, "We believe that the incident that led to Ms. Good's arrest and the subsequent ticketing for parking violations of vehicles belonging to members of an organization associated with Ms. Good raise issues with respect to the conduct of Rochester Police Officers that require an internal review. A review into both matters has been initiated."

"Police officers must be able to cope with a high degree of stress while performing oftentimes dangerous duties, relying on their training and experience to guide their behavior. As routine as a traffic stop may appear, it has proven over time to be a potentially dangerous activity for police. Nonetheless, police must conduct themselves with appropriate respect for the rights of those involved or who are observing their actions."

"There is a mandated legal process that governs our internal response when police officer behavior is called into question. We must respect this process and that may be frustrating to those who may have already made up their mind about the outcome. We have confidence that the review will be fair and impartial and invite Ms. Good and anyone else with firsthand information to participate. We will withhold our judgment until the review is completed."

"Whatever the outcome of the internal review, we want to make clear that it is not the policy or practice of the Rochester Police Department to prevent citizens from observing its activities - including photographing or videotaping - as long as it does not interfere with the safe conduct of those activities. It is also not the policy or practice of the Department to selectively enforce laws in response to the activities of a group or individual. This has always been the case and it is being reinforced within the Department, so that it will be abundantly clear to everyone."

Source: WHEC.com

[Summer Rain]

#1 What she should have done when the cop said he didn't feel safe was to immediately take out her cell phone and call 911. She then should tell the operator that a Rochester Police Officer just informed her that he required assistance and to send a second unit. The second unit could then provide overwatch for the first by ensuring that she could cause no harm or interfere with the first. It would have then been a WIN-WIN situation. The cops could have performed the traffic stop and she could have remained in her yard where she had a right to be.

#2 Or she could have also replied to the officer that he should direct the driver to move his vehicle 100 meters or so down the road and then perform the stop in a more safe environment. There isn't any law that requires a stop to be performed "wherever the car happens to stop." In fact, officers need to be trained on this more anyways. How many times have you seen a traffic jam and secondary accidents or cops run over because they (for whatever the reason is) just REFUSE to have the stopped vehicle move to a safer place like NOT in an intersection or more to the right or whatever?

#3 That being said, this chick isn't exactly "just in her yard." She's all up in the their space.

#4 The cops at no time said that she had to stop taping.

Finally, the charge was an incorrect one which is most likely why it got dismissed. She was doing no obstructing.

Oh and one more thing after the finally, this is the same chick that got arrested for trying to stop the police from evicting those deadbeats that were living rent/mortgage free in that house a few months ago. The one where the husband died and she decided to just not make payments to the bank and had eleventy billion of her fatherless grandchillins living there. So why is she all crying and shtuff? She should grow a pair if she's gunna get all protesty.