Chris Noe, who is running for office in Darien, Connecticut, was shooting the above video for his campaign when he was detained by police.
This is how he explains it on the Youtube description:
Swarmed by cops. I made this video and seconds later a Napoleon Complex cop with the K9 Unit stopped and detained me for 30 minutes. He wanted to search my motorcycle, I said no. His curt response, “OK, we’ll do it that way.” He called for backup. Like Keystone Cops the motorcycle cop arrives with a saddle bag wide open and the police cruiser has a new scrape from the right rear door into the fender. The K9 cop wants to know what I am videoing. What I am doing with it. He has his gun at the ready creating intimidation of my being shot. All this as I tell him I am running for First Selectman.
Darien Police Chief Duane Lovello, who grew up with Noe in this town of just over 20,000 people, told the Darien Patch that Noe drew suspicion when he videotaped the railroad bridge.
Noe has had previous run-ins with the law, including a conviction where he shot a man back in 1983.
So he’s understandably a little weary of police.
Especially when they have so little common sense.
After all, why would Al Qaeda go from destroying the World Trade Center to targeting the railroad bridge in Darien?
The reporter who wrote the story, Jim Cameron, goes on to talk about another experience he had while being interviewed by a news videographer.
A couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by WABC-TV while standing on the platform at Noroton Heights station. We were talking about the usual Metro-North problems when MTA Police pulled up in two squad cars.
“You got a permit?” the MTA cop asked the reporter standing about 10 feet from his satellite truck.
“Why does he need a permit?” I asked.
“Because he’s on Metro-North property,” said the officer.
“No, he isn’t,” I said. “This is CDOT property, not Metro-North’s”.
“Well, he still needs a permit,” insisted the officer, now asking for our IDs. The reporter demurred, telling me this happens to him all the time.
Turns out, he needed a permit because he had a tripod, which I’ve noticed is standard in most train stations.
But then again, this guy was doing a news report, so that should have exempted the need for a permit.