A Michigan cop ripped a camera out of a man’s hands, threw it on the ground and handcuffed him after the man refused to hand the camera over as “evidence.”
But Brandon Vreeland was under no obligation to hand his camera over because all he was doing was video recording a traffic stop from about 100 feet away.
After he handcuffed him, Jackson City Police Sergeant Timothy Hibbard forced Vreeland to remain standing for an hour before he issued him a citation for [__obstructing, resisting and opposing.__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/mcl-324-1608.html)
He then took the memory card out of the camera and pocketed it before handing the camera back to Vreeland. But by then, the Canon Sureshot was damaged.
The following day, Vreeland drove down to the Jackson City Police Department and met with the police chief and a lieutenant who both watched the video.
“When they saw the video, their faces went stone-cold and they apologized and said the charges would be rescinded,” Vreeland said in a telephone interview with *Photography is Not a Crime* Tuesday night.
They not only returned his memory card, but they they gave him money to purchase a new camera and assured him the incident would be investigated by internal affairs, which is practically unheard of in other departments.
But Vreeland wants more than that, which is why today he plans to file a complaint against Hibbard with the Michigan State Police.
“If I had done that to him on the street, I would still be in jail,” he said.
