sacbee.com
Bay Area Rapid Transit police were considering new restrictions on the media following the handcuffing and detention of at least six professional and student journalists at a protest.
BART Deputy Police Chief Daniel Hartwig said one idea was to have designated areas for media with a police line. Police would then arrest those who cross the line.
"So far we have avoided that because it's pretty restrictive," Hartwig told the San Francisco Chronicle ( http://bit.ly/nzLJd3).
Another idea was to have police issue an order to the media to step aside when officers move in to control a crowd.
"We're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't," Hartwig said. "But I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that we want to restrict their ability to demonstrate, or their ability to report the news."
The journalists who were detained on Thursday at the Powell Street BART station, including a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle,
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/10/3899126/bart-considers-new-restrictions.html#ixzz1XhCwhai0
BART Deputy Police Chief Daniel Hartwig said one idea was to have designated areas for media with a police line. Police would then arrest those who cross the line.
"So far we have avoided that because it's pretty restrictive," Hartwig told the San Francisco Chronicle ( http://bit.ly/nzLJd3).
Another idea was to have police issue an order to the media to step aside when officers move in to control a crowd.
"We're damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't," Hartwig said. "But I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that we want to restrict their ability to demonstrate, or their ability to report the news."
The journalists who were detained on Thursday at the Powell Street BART station, including a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle,
were covering a protest against BART and its police force.
The now near-weekly protests at stations started over the summer after transit police fatally shot a 45-year-old transient that they say lunged at them with a knife. Last month, the agency cut cell phone service to some stations to curtail demonstrations, touching off an outcry among free-speech activists and leading to cyber-attacks against the agency by the hacker collective Anonymous.
BART officials have defended their decision to detain the journalists, saying they asked the reporters to leave and could not check credentials in the heat of the moment.
But Ward Bushee, editor and executive vice president of The Chronicle, said he found it "extremely concerning" that a Chronicle reporter was handcuffed and detained.
"We recognize that BART police officers have a job to do, but they also must allow reporters to cover the news," he said.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/10/3899126/bart-considers-new-restrictions.html#ixzz1XhD2bGQX
The now near-weekly protests at stations started over the summer after transit police fatally shot a 45-year-old transient that they say lunged at them with a knife. Last month, the agency cut cell phone service to some stations to curtail demonstrations, touching off an outcry among free-speech activists and leading to cyber-attacks against the agency by the hacker collective Anonymous.
BART officials have defended their decision to detain the journalists, saying they asked the reporters to leave and could not check credentials in the heat of the moment.
But Ward Bushee, editor and executive vice president of The Chronicle, said he found it "extremely concerning" that a Chronicle reporter was handcuffed and detained.
"We recognize that BART police officers have a job to do, but they also must allow reporters to cover the news," he said.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/10/3899126/bart-considers-new-restrictions.html#ixzz1XhD2bGQX
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/10/3899126/bart-considers-new-restrictions.html#ixzz1XhCwhai0
