Mall Photography

[joako]

Anyone encounter Mall rent-a-cops who think they are God? Who think it's illegal to take photos inside a mall.

Yes I understand it's private property and they can set their rules (nowhere is it set in writing "no photography") but the worst they can do is say you are not welcome there and have you arrested for tresspassing AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED TO LEAVE.

Well in this case I was just doing my job and taking a site survey for an installation of equipment for a store located inside a mall. The worst rent-a-cop comes up to me and tells me I can't take photos. I explain I am doing my job and show him all the paperwork. No dice and I just take the next photo anyways ( just needed 3 photos of the front of the store and everything else was inside the store) mind you I even have a letter from the store's corporate office saying what I am supposed to be doing.

Anyways had the guy read the letter understood why I was there and left me alone nothing else would have come of it... I would have gone on my merry way and this post never even would have exsisted.

So here are some photos of the Oaks Mall on W. Newberry Road in Gainesville, Florida. Nice place too bad I didn't have time to get out a tripod and setup some nice shots.

Rent a cop blocked off my car in the parking lot, lol, said he was an "officer' when I asked him what department I he said the name of the security company, lol. So I really wasn't there to start trouble I deleted the photos in front of him (he never heard of GetDataBack I guess)











At no point in time was I ever asked to leave the mall or told I was banned from being there, tresspassing, etc.

[The Unflushable Turd]

lol oh shit that mall security guy looks all bidness
lol hes gonna slap yo ass up with his clipboard!

[Rang3find3r]

hehe... nevermind

[u467]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_arrest

come on.... let him call the cops and wait for them to show up, sort it out for you. you work for a store in there for god sakes.

[joako]

Originally Posted by u467

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_arrest

come on.... let him call the cops and wait for them to show up, sort it out for you. you work for a store in there for god sakes.

I have better things to do. I know when the cops show up its going to be a big hassle and a big waste of time, my info probably getting written up in a police report (not that its a huge deal but I'd rather avoid any record, no matter how meaningless and any remote possibility as being flagged as a "troublemaker")

And no I don't work for the store in the mall I work for the IT company that is doing the site surveys but like I said the store corporate office actually wrote and send us letters saying we are authorized to be there for the scope of the work listed in my work order which was to take pictures basically (none of the ones which I posted were part of that, however). Also who are the cops most likely be believe, the two mall rent-a-cops who can just lie and claim they told me to leave or some "punk kid" (I'm "only" 22)? Not worth the hassle (yea I know the most the cops will do is give me a trespass warning but after that could in effect mean I'm "banned" from the mall which could create complications with my job since I we do a decent amount of work for various stores there)

/edit: crap like this: http://www.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/...-circuit-city/

The man was 100% in the right, not breaking any laws and still got arrested, and ended up in a pleabargan due to mounting legal fees, waste of time etc. I'm not saying its right but I'd rather avoid a big ordeal.

[methd]

oooh picture number 4 !! - now i have a map of the mall, i'm gunna devise a plan to bomb it!

[joako]

Originally Posted by The Unflushable Turd

lol oh shit that mall security guy looks all bidness
lol hes gonna slap yo ass up with his clipboard!

Mall security? All I see in those photos are unamed and unidentified members of the public.

[fapling]

is this mall in bemidji, MN by any chance?

[santaliqueur]

Keep a copy of this in your camera bag. (PDF) You didn't have to delete anything.

[Joves]

Originally Posted by santaliqueur

Keep a copy of this in your camera bag. (PDF) You didn't have to delete anything.

Exactly especially if you had written permission to shoot in the mall from the property management. I would have let him call the cops just to see the cops tell him what a fuctard he was.

[Namtaru]

needs less green button

[Figment]

Yeah for reals, worst mall pics ever..

ive been kicked out of every mall in the dfw area (roughly 30 diff ones) because of taking pics.. ive even been contacted by a criminal investigator because i was hitting on some chicks at a hollister store and making a client for senior pics.. its retarded, they can tell you to leave, but who cares, they are bored, have shitty jobs and get paid jack. therefore if you were in their situation you'd do anything to make it more interesting. heh


but as for your shots.. bump the iso to 1600 for gods sake.

[ilkhan]

Originally Posted by Figment

but as for your shots.. bump the iso to 1600 for gods sake.

You dont really want to see the noise an A70 would produce at 1600, do you (assuming the A70 can hit 1600, dunno on that)?

[tmoney1876]

Originally Posted by joako

/edit: crap like this: http://www.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/...-circuit-city/

The man was 100% in the right, not breaking any laws and still got arrested, and ended up in a pleabargan due to mounting legal fees, waste of time etc. I'm not saying its right but I'd rather avoid a big ordeal.

If anyone feels like being this guy, be sure that you know the law in your state. Some states require you to provide a state issued id at the request of a police officer.

I actually ran into that in my job at a state university. We would just tell them that they could refuse to give us ID and we would just call the police and they could ask for it... and then the police would get involved in their alcohol issue.

Granted if they just ran away, there was nothing we could do as far as pursuing them or detaining them, but we could figure out who they were one way or another.

[gimmick66]

Wait, does the corporate headquarters of the company have any jurisdiction over the mall? Standing in the actual mall area and not inside the store while taking pictures would make it seems like legally, you were wrong.

edit: this isn't an assault or anything, it's a question