Cops Getting Arrested

Rochester PD investigating Emily Good's arrest for filming officer at traffic stop June 21, 2011 The Rochester Police Department is investigating the arrest of a woman who was videotaping police during a traffic stop in front of a home on Aldine Street.

Emily Good, 28, was arrested at about 10 p.m. May 12 and charged with second-degree obstructing governmental administration. She is scheduled to appear in Rochester City Court for a proceeding on June 27, police said.

Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard issued a statement Tuesday, saying he has received a video of a woman‘s arrest by city officers. ―I have researched the incident and determined that the case is currently proceeding through the adjudication process,‖ Sheppard said in the statement. ―… With the case still pending and my unfamiliarity with the specific details, any assumptions at this time would be premature.‖ The department‘s professional standards section has not received a formal complaint, Sheppard said.

The video, which has been distributed online through various social media sites, shows a police officer telling the person filming to go inside her home while she is videotaping. The unnamed officer told her several times that he did not feel safe.

The incident has drawn the attention of the National Press Photographers Association Inc., based in Durham, N.C. In a letter to Sheppard and Rochester Mayor Tom Richards, NPPA General Counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher of Buffalo wrote: ―While it may be understandable that your officers had a heightened sense of awareness, that is still no excuse for them to not recognize a citizen‘s right to take photographs/video of an event occurring on a public street.‖