Private Security overstepping boundaries

This is an incident that occurred on public property, a sidewalk at Colfax and Clarkson in Denver, Colorado on Monday, Memorial Day, May 31, 2010. Argus Security is a private security firm and does not have the right to enforce laws of any kind, does not have jurisdictional authority, on public property. Argus Security certainly has no right to obstruct the freedom of the press, which is superior in legal authority under the First Amendment and Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Argus Security
• Memorial Day
• public property
• violation
• free speech
• first amendment

[pazyamor07]

Also, the incident was spun against people attending the show in the press. They shouldn't be demonized just because they like ICP, but the corporate press did just that. At least I offered an alternative, it was posted on Colorado Indymedia.

[pazyamor07]

The only thing significant about this video is that a private security officer was coercing someone from videotaping on a public sidewalk. The victim has the rights you mention and those rights were respected, but private security does not have enforcement rights on public property.

[stahoo326]

What about the individuals that were being recorded? Dont they have right and the respect to NOT be recorded if they wish not to be?

[pazyamor07]

If people request not to be filmed or recorded then you should respect that or they could sue in civil court possibly. One person I interviewed about the stabbing that occurred nearby did so I did not upload that file and deleted it. The security guy overstepped his rights and that is what gave me the obligation and right. Also he didn't request I don't film him, but only the crowd on a public sidewalk. None of them requested not to be filmed.

[pazyamor07]

@stahoo326 Yes, IF THEY WISH, a wish they did not express. In fact some even expressed the opposite because that security firm was hostile and abrasive to everyone entering the concert. It was an incident in view of the public and I was standing on public property and thus I have the right to document what occurs with video. Those in the footage did not express a desire not to be recorded. The private security officer overstepped his boundaries by leaving the area described in his contract.

[Suzie4good]

so why did you back down from him? Fat boy could not touch you without you pressing charges and a lawsuit.

[pazyamor07]

@Suzie4good It is not good to let a situation escalate just for the chance to press charges and sue. Also, I did let the police know about what he was doing and after that he went inside. I prefer to live by the rule "don't start nothing, won't be nothing." But it is also important for the public to know how corporate security companies tend to overstep their boundaries. The lawsuit would be better at the class action level if at all.

[TheSeandog67]

But if there is an issue of a person's medical privacy, look up the HIPPA laws pertaining to that! In that situation, it's a matter of victim privavcy and working to maintain that. As a person who works in this field, it's not a matter of being worried about what you catch on camera, we should be doing our jobs correctly, it's amatter of privacy for the victims and or persons being treated. No one should catch a persons medical condition, current or previous, on tape.

[samala5793]

@stahoo326 NOPE. You can ask someone not to film you but if you're in public...sorry...no expectation of privacy.