Photojournalist Mannie Garcia awarded $45k settlement in police lawsuit

It doesn't take 3 paragraphs to miss the point, noflash.

Amen. Garcia's just trying to pay off the child support he owes.

You know there are meds for paranoia....

and junk .... know there are many municipal institutions of higher education where you could move on to higher education, for very little cost

heres your first lesson , ....turn off corporate news

heres your second lesson... learn to do independent investigation of a topic
, if you cant .... and i know you cant ,..... and worse will not .... get someone to help you .... first to open your eyes .... then regard the world
on the subject of pills ...
put down the blue pill , and take the red one

cheers

There isn't some test for cops requiring them be jerks to be hired, quite the opposite. People go into such jobs to make a living just like the rest of us, and many of them do so because they want to help others. I'm always amazed by how calm and polite they are. They deal with horrendous situations and very rude people. Imagine getting spit on for no reason!
Most cops don't pull out their guns during their WHOLE career.

You are brainwashed from the media. A house on fire is a lot more newsworthy than a house not on fire. They do not show you the 99.9999999% of cases where a cop pulls someone over and nothing happens. They make 12 MILLION arrests (500k for violent crimes!) each year, and many times they pull someone over w/o any arrest, yet very few deaths occur (and most of those are clearly justified).
What other profession has an error rate of a few questionable deaths/mistakes/faults out of 12 million actions?

in nyc where i live,as a teenager i remember well the violence regularly by the police .once when the police were called, they were very late,one cop angrily asked who called 911,a friend john pushed forward,& said him,the cop punched him in the face, leaving the 16 yr old unconscious .in 2005 my cousin from italy was shooting a house fire in queens, hed been warned away from cops before and i warned him of the danger. he laughed at me. he was shooting away having been warned away by nypd, but being from rome,saw no danger.he was badly beaten by nypd sent the hospital & from there to a station house cell ,i pleaded with the station cop for access to him ,assuring him he had a ticket home next day , he was arraigned and case dismissed at nitecourt many hrs later
many cops ARE violent,& good cops & the system lets these creeps play out their violent fantasys without fail. further cops are getting more violent by the year.. police murders of unarmed civilians happen with regularity.

How much of the story did you leave out? If TOLD to move back (perhaps for safety) but you don't, then you are committing a crime. For the 2005 claim, if he was shooting video, you would have evidence, so did you/he sue and win?
Sounds like the Ferguson baloney where people simply made up stuff.
Cops have everything to lose if they cross any lines, especially nowadays.

you are a sick puppy and a fascist and seem to be an apologist for the disgusting excesses of the police .... the police never have cause to attack a kid holding a camera and beat him senseless
his camera was destroyed and memory card stolen for the record

you strike me as a foolish clown and a brainwashed pion

go buy a clue https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/

I wasn't there. Maybe he pushed the cop. Why would I take your word for it?
Look at the lies "witnesses" made at Ferguson. The innocent cop's career is ruined over lies. Fools still think the cop was wrong even though evidence says otherwise.
In Syracuse, NY, in 2016, ironically at a Father's Day celebration that 100+ people attended, "witnesses" claimed the female cop shot a guy for no reason. She was there because shots were fired. One guy (and others - it was like the wild west) had a gun and would not put it down and/or even shot at her (I forget exactly), so she shot back. The crowd then attacked her after she ran into harm's way to stop the riot/shooting. She could have waited for backup, but instead ran into harm's way immediately. They "thanked her" by trying to rip off her clothes, take her gun, and beat the hell out of her. Next time she might be more "short fused" when there is similar danger. Thank goodness a video contradicts the thugs' lies.

Error rate, not death rate. There are a whopping 12 million annual arrests with 500,000 being for violent crimes. I'm surprised there are not more shootings/deaths with so many criminals having illegal guns. We need to lock up anyone with an illegal gun for 5 years minimum. Ironically, after all of his anti-gun rhetoric, President Obama pardoned drug offenders who had a illegal gun. Why would they have a gun if they had no intent to ever use one? Just that they are a minority should not grant them a "get out of jail free" card.
I casually know two Syracuse city cops who seem like good people. They tell me it's getting worse and worse, they even get spit on.

I live in NYC for the past 22 years and we don't have cops as described by cosinaphile. There are rude cops and cops that abuse their power but I have never heard of cops punching minor in the face and then arrest the now unconscious minor. If a suspect is unconscious or injured, the cops wouldn't proceed with an arrest but instead call an ambulance. What's the cop gonna do with an unconscious suspect? Drag into precinct for questioning? Prop up with planks for mug shot?

Most police brutality stories in NYC are fake. You can easily search how many cases pass grand jury and go to court.

Meek people tend to not go into policing, it's more the type who go into the military, played sports; etc.
They deal with nutcases and losers day after day, and surely get tired of them, so some cops are surely rude. I think it's short sighted to be rude to citizens because it makes "the community" scared or angry, which doesn't help anyone.

But hardly do most police, after years of building up their career, one day decide to go out and shoot/murder some guy. After 1000’s of arrests, they’d have a bad record if they were racist or violent.
They are working in minority neighborhoods most days, so it's not as though they are not used to interacting with minorities, immigrants etc.
Of all the incidents CNN has covered, which are the very worst cases, very few end up being a case where a cop unprovoked shot/murdered the citizen. Ferguson for example...saw a guy on TV just yesterday still claiming it was the cop's fault. Hard to fix that level of stupidity and "reverse" racism.

Democrats down south are not far-left liberals like up north.

It's not very well run. Filled with police state tactics such as speed cameras everywhere, insane regulations, taxes, and no rule of law. In other words, it is liberal paradise.

Well you can always move. I've been here since 1964 and love it. This is a major center for medical research and bio technology.

Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Potomac are prospering in every way. The school system is top notch (Blair's magnet program has led the country in science winners.) There is a high level of participation in local government which responds to their concerns. The farm areas are well protected from development via an "Agricultural Preserve."

And it is extremely multi-cultural... in 2015 4 of the 10 most diverse cities in the country were in Montgomery County MD.

Why do you think homes are so expensive here if people don't appreciate living here and enjoy a high quality of life?

Politics forced a wedge? Try police brutality AND citizens being stupid when being questioned by the police. There have been some horrific police abuse cases though and that has nothing to do with politics. What's a shame is that our politics are so messed up we can no longer see these issues for what they are.

You can't be serious. In these tumultuous times, photographers find themselves taking pictures where they can easily come in direct contact with police officers, many of whom have proven to be not shy in violating civil rights of photographers. This fact, combined with average photographer's fuzzy understanding of their rights and responsibilities, makes this a vital subject wherever photographers convene and exchange information. Over the years, DPReview has hosted healthy debates on subjects like privacy, publicity rights, and the ind and outs of model releases and when permission is - and is not - required to take or use a photo. This subject is no less appropriate, especially since there is a very real risk of physical violence and possible arrest when dealing with law enforcement personnel, some of whom don't know the law, and others willing to bend or break it to avoid being caught on camera.

Well said, Paul.

@cosinaphile: Where do you think the government gets it's money? Taxpayers' money = government's money.

I agree with cosinaphile. You have to pay money to be alive and it's now their money. Most of what the gvmt does with it (wars, trump weekends getaways to FL, tax breaks to wall street banks etc) I don't agree with. I find this money well spent! Way short that is the only problem I see.

@photomedium, please document where Montgomery County has used taxpayer money for wars, Trump weekend getaways to Florida, tax breaks to wall street banks, etc.

@Ab Latchin, Not likely if they're lawyers working for the government, because they're usually making out like people who wish they had much better paying jobs. ;)

Explanation: in America as I understand it you cannot be granted a larger amount of money than you sue for. The judge can only decrease it. That is why (true story) some kid leaps a fence, falls and breaks his arm; his parents sue the condo that had the fence for $2M, they settle for $10,000. Now, why did they sue for $2M if they were willing to settle in advance for 10K? Because if it had gone to trial, it couldn't hurt them at all, that's why.

What other enforcement mechanism is there?

Why do Americans sue so much? Because our criminal justice system is broken. We citizens know corporate executives and government officials can commit any crime they wish with complete impunity.
The only way to get justice in the United States is to sue the entities who have done harm and justice is dispensed in the form of money.

It is an imperfect system because it doesn't deter future crimes. Executives and elected officials know they won't go to prison and so are happy to pay a few million or a few hundred million dollars to make problems go away. To them, it's now just the cost of doing business.

Do you take pictures when they are doing something questionable? There was another case more recently where a cop stopped someone from shooting a video of an arrest (cops were being fairly aggressive during the arrest). Might have been local (Syracuse, NY) or NYC?

He's talking about building a working relationship with the people you cover. It used to be pretty common for news photographers to be friendly with the local police and fire departments—they all knew each other and though there were boundaries, there was also a lot more fluidity in how photographers were able to do their job. I don't know if it's the same way anymore.

That's not a minor quibble. It's a major point.

My bad. [face-palm].

Do as I say; not as I do. :-)

Well, considering that his rights were violated and generally the police doesn't give two fraks about rights violation, I guess even this settlement can be considered 'awarded' because it could have been just swept under the rug :P

As a side note, while I always appreciate stories like this, I'm also somewhat two-minds about people getting settlements from what are essentially public funds. I especially wonder if those responsible have to contribute to the settlement, or if the agency (police here) has insurance in place.

delicious series of posts above .... comments are the best part of dp review

You may be right that some pay more and others less. And those who pay less benefit disproportionately. But you still benefit because these people probably spent their whole lives working at low pay so that the rest of us can benefit by not paying so much for numerous services they perform.

We really are getting off cheap by subsidizing this. Of course our society would benefit a lot more if all got paid a living wage in the first place and we also prioritized universal health care and college education for all.

That's the cost of doing business, and $45,000 is nothing. And it's not one bad police officer, it's policy that comes down from above.
I was flagged down in my car in Texas several years ago, along for four other cars, for a random "safety stop". Without any specific reason or cause. I had to show my drivers license and proof of insurance, about a 10 minute delay. That's the police and government going too far. That policy was later ruled unlawful and stopped. It may seem like a small thing but it's f*ucking illegal. I like my rights.

If it goes before a jury, then Garcia could very likely win the case and get all $500,000. So the city settled with him to "save some money."

And the odds are Garcia had to give 1/3rd of that settlement to his lawyer...

Being exonerated and given what for most photogs might be a year's pay is enough. $500,000? American courts are bankrupting everyone.

Marty4650, I don't understand your assertion that Garcia could very likely win. If that were the case, Garcia wouldn't have settled for less than 10% of the amount sought. Perhaps, Garcia was 90% at fault, while the county was 10% at fault?

After five and a half years, perhaps his lawyers were no longer interested in fighting. Perhaps he just wanted it over with. What matters how likely he was to win, if it takes another five years?

I see no reason to assume his case was weak.

brn,
"Low" settlements happen all the time. One, the plaintiff might have wanted to make a point and was not interested in hitting the jackpot with a large jury verdict. So, this amount might have been perfectly satisfactory to him.

Or, this plaintiff was particularly risk-averse. "Bird in the hand." and all that.

Or, there might indeed be some missing facts that make this case a closer call, and are what prompted the acceptance of this offer.

Or, her lawyer was the one who was risk-averse, and it was his own lawyer who pressured him into settling.

But, based on the facts that we were given; the plaintiff has a very very strong case. I think that (outsiders') observation is pretty accurate.

"This" is a free press. Trump is waging all-out war on the media and unlike previous presidents he has the ruthless cunning to make defeat of the truth almost inevitable.

@McBriteSide. What in the world does Trump and his "all-out war" have to do with this particular article? Those police/photog situations have been going on since, probably, the first camera was invented, regardless of presidents, and has been discussed millions of times everywhere, including this site.
Btw, if you read the article, Mannie Garcia was charged in 2011, guess who was the president back then. Take you political preferences to off-topic forum.

President Obama went after James Rosen (google it) and check this out:
"The government has prosecuted and even imprisoned journalists in leak cases in the past for the journalists' refusal to disclose a confidential source. In such cases, notably the 2005 Judith Miller case, journalists have been charged with contempt of court.

Instead of relying on the threat of a contempt charge to get journalists to divulge their sources, the Obama administration has used warrantless wiretapping and dragnet records seizures to identify who is talking to whom.

Last week it emerged that the Department of Justice had seized phone records for more than 20 lines used by the Associated Press, in possible violation of regulations governing such seizures. There have been no reports of the government accusing journalists of criminal activity in that case."

Where was your outrage?