Troy tables ordinance on photography

By Kenneth C. Crowe II 

Troy proposed ordinance that would prosecute city police officers for interfering with the public's right to photograph or film them has been put on hold by City Council's Public Safety Committee.

The ordinance proposed in March by Councilman Robert Doherty, the committee chairman, has been subject to debate by committee members and opposed by the Troy Police Benevolent Association.
Doherty, a Democrat, said the ordinance would not be acted upon until the police department reported back at the end of the year about whether or not officers were stopping the public from taking picture.
The proposed ordinance would carry a fine of up to $5,000 and a jail term of 15 days as a misdemeanor charge.
Chief John Tedesco provided the committee members with a copy of the department's regulations in which officers are told they cannot interfere with pictures being legally taken.
Tedesco pointed out that an officer was suspended without pay for 10 days after preventing a newspaper photographer from taking pictures.
Officer Robert Fitzgerald, the PBA president, said such an ordinance was unnecessary and unfair for singling out members of the department.
Doherty, a Democrat, cited past incidents that led to civil rights suits filed against the city and members of the departments as a reason for considering such legislation.
Republican Councilman Jim Gordon, argued against moving ahead with the legislation saying violations could be handled internally by the department as disciplinary cases.
Democratic Councilwoman Anastasia Robertson said the legislation was necessary to protect people.