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$125K Awarded To Brooklyn Man Arrested While Videotaping Stop-And-Frisk
By
Scott Heins
Published Aug 18, 2014
Modified Aug 18, 2014
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Gothamist
By
Scott Heins
Published Aug 18, 2014
Modified Aug 18, 2014
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History has shown us that NYPD officers don't love being filmed. Despite this, it's legal, and the habit of arresting camera-wielding New Yorkers cost the force a $125,000 settlement this month.
According to CBS, Dick George of Brooklyn was pulled from his own car and arrested on June 14, 2012 for filming the stop-and-frisk search of three youths in Flatbush. George sued the police department in connection to the arrest and was awarded the six-figure sum.
The NYPD reportedly held George for 45 minutes, ultimately charging him with disorderly conduct and, according to the Daily News, deleting the images he had taken. George told the news that he suffered a torn meniscus in his knee during the ordeal.
According to papers filed in court, NYPD Lt. Dennis Ferber told George "Now we're going to give you what you deserve for meddling in our business and when we finish with you, you can sue the city for $5 million and get rich, we don't care." George was allegedly urging the young persons being searched to get the badge numbers of Ferber and his fellow officers. (If only de Blasio had been around in 2012 to remind them of proper getting-arrested etiquette.)
Just nine days before George was arrested in 2012, public health activist Hadiyah Charles was taken into custody by the NYPD while she filmed the "police business" of stop-and-frisk in progress. Charles has since sued the NYPD.
The News reports that Ferber and the case's co-defendants, Sergeant Patrick Golden and Officer Stacey Robinson, have been pressed with six federal cases, George's notwithstanding.
In a statement, city attorney Biran Francolla said that "after a thorough review of the case facts, it was in the best interest of all to resolve this matter without costly litigation and trial."
Tagged
nypd lawsuit
settlement
stop and frisk
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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