Though I deem Chief Longo’s letter to me dated Groundhog Day, February 2, more menacing than it is anything else, I do take it and the sentiment behind it seriously. Clearly he and his mean business therefore I need to take care of mine. 
So, in lieu of Mr. Longo’s missive, I spent the majority of my day in the company of lawyers.
I’m not going to tip my hand by providing details, suffice it to say it was not unpleasant and was definitely informative. Something though that I will bring up here…One of my concerns is that the Charlottesville Chief of Police, Mr. Longo, is blatantly violating my rights by ordering me to cease and desist photographing Charlottesville Police Department (CPD) and Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement (JADE) personnel.
Prior to my discussion with counsel today I was, because of other things at other times in my life, already well mindful of the laws regarding picture-taking. In fact a few months ago I, on record, reminded an FBI
agent that it was within my rights to snap shots of JADE.Though there are exceptions of course, the general rule is that anybody may take photographs of anything or anyone he or she wants to in a public or publicly-accessible place. While it may seem shocking, police officers, and their vehicles, can be lawfully photographed from and in public places.
Even an undercover officer while in the performance of his duty can be photographed.
Am I seriously supposed to believe that Chief Longo, who has a law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law, isn’t aware of this? Or maybe it’s that he’s seriously hoping I am not aware. Whatever the case may be, Mr. Longo’s order is ludicrous.
For fun I spent a tiny portion of the remainder of my day researching the subject of photographing law enforcement specifically, and, due to what I found, wound up on the phone to an attorney in Oregon and also a reporter in Florida each of whom have such eye-opening pertinent stories I couldn’t resist contacting them.
To end my day, I put up this post with accompanying pre-publicized pictures taken of policemen by journalists, children, and ordinary citizens, who know photography is, much to the annoyance of self-important officers, not a crime. 
Hey, that last guy there looks so familiar. I think his photographs and personally identifiable information -- you know, like his name and duties as a City of Charlottesville Police Department detective -- have been placed on the internet by local media. Then again... what do I know?
