Student Fined For Taking Photos Of Police Officers

Well, not exactly.

His actual infraction, worth a whopping $628, was the “improper use of city structures.”  As anyone who’s been to Émilie Gamelin Park knows, pretty much everyone and anyone sits on the concrete ledges in question.

Jones, an economics and history student in his last year as an undergraduate, was studying at the Bibliothèque nationale when he decided to take a break and catch a few rays at the park.

He saw police approach people who were drinking alcohol nearby, took out his small digital camera and shot some photos.

“I saw this as an opportunity to observe how police deal with underprivileged people,” Jones recounted.

Then a police officer came by and asked if he had been taking pictures.

“Once I realized she was attempting to get me to give her my camera, I became confused and told her I would not give it to her,” Jones said.

“I had not committed any crime and had been sitting peacefully, just like many others around me.”

The officer’s two partners joined her, and Jones slipped the camera into his pocket. The police then told him it was illegal to sit in a city park when not on a bench and he would have to leave.

They said sitting on the ledge qualified as improper use of city structures, he recounted.

From: Canada.com

It’s an utterly ridiculous application of a bylaw aimed at preventing transients from loitering in public places; it’s fairly obvious that Jones was only accosted by police for having taken photos of the officers in action.

For shame.