Comments on: Duane Kerzic takes on Secret Service, NJ parking authority in a single day

By: Robert Iowa

Robert Iowa — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:38:56 +0000

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By: Jones

Jones — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:50:18 +0000

The whole thing is ridiculous. With so many microcams spycams on the market for under $100 if I was a terroroist I could videotape the whole station without anyone even knowing.

By: ALL BE DAMNED

ALL BE DAMNED — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:15:14 +0000

Wow DK
good advice ill try that with some police next time they harrass some one or me. that is some realy awsome stuff atleast one Protection agensy that happens to know the law follows it FOR THE MOST PART and are willing to adress the issues at hand. as for them asking you to move down the street i guess they had some lagit resons. cant blame them there. And they ask you to report COMBATIVE agents and the like. They realy have their heads on stright..
GOOD JOB DK

By: Duane Kerzic

Duane Kerzic — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:56:46 +0000

I was finally contacted by the Secret Service yesterday. I had a discussion about what happened with two separate agents yesterday. When you finally get to the right person they take this very seriously. I was asked several times if I was pushed or shoved by the agent. They wanted to be very clear about exactly what I was threatened with. They said part of the job is to provide for safe demonstrations because that is activity that’s allowed by the constitution. I got the feeling they are striving for perfection. No attempt to hid anything and no attempt to circle the wagons and deny what happened.

I can assure you it was a much more serious discussion than what most of the LEO’s that post here provide. It’s not well its us and it’s you, we have the guns. The discussion was we are here to uphold the law not to harass people. They didn’t give me the “you don’t know what I know and I’m not telling you what I know” answer. They didn’t give me the you aren’t equal to me answer. They were the utmost in respect which is why I assume they are part of the Secret Service.

So here are the important parts of what was discussed.

They are most concerned with safety of the protectee in a situation like I found myself in. They are out in public and they don’t have the normal security setup when they are in other settings. OK, this is much like when Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, I get that. So they are more alert and more cautious.

They have some concerns about cameras. Cameras can be used to conceal bombs. Again this makes sense. It would be easy to remove the internals of a lens and body and pack it with explosives. You have a battery and a button. Perfect hiding place. So this isn’t as far fetched as the gun in the camera. Also the people they are protecting tend to be heads of state and the equal. So the time, money and planning that would be spent to conduct an assassination would be much higher. The stakes are also much higher in the case of an assassination, World Wars have resulted. In this case I’d say it’s a valid concern. As far as someone going to all that trouble to shoot an average officer with a fake camera I don’t think it’s a valid concern.

Next I asked how to I prevent this from happening in the future.

One thing was to allow the camera to be screened. Basically if you can take a photo with it it’s not a bomb. So it’s simple to demonstrate to the agent it’s a real camera.

Next is to ask where the general public is allowed. If the general public is allowed than you are allowed with your camera.

Next is to ask is there a place where you would like me to stand. I’d probably say I’m looking to get a good photograph as part of that one. You’ve shown that you are trying to be helpful, I’d like to think the favor would be returned.

If you aren’t treated properly you need to call the Secret Service. They seem very concerned about answering to the public and preventing problems in the future. Wouldn’t it be nice if all goverment agencies behaved that way.

By: Duane Kerzic

Duane Kerzic — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:08:43 +0000

Bugs,

In my experience it’s a combination of things. But mostly people don’t know the rules.

With the parking authority for some reason many of the people that worked there were under the impression it was private property. I was told that they charge parking on private property to people that park there and don’t pay. Yet it’s clearly public property and the executive director confirmed such. But the executive director has had people retrained. I went back to take photos for about 2 hours and wasn’t bothered. But I don’t know that I was observed.

With the Secret Service I’ve finally reached someone that took my complaint. I’m waiting for someone to call me back. The powers of the Secret Service are defined in TITLE 18, PART II, CHAPTER 203, § 3056. Powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service. There is some further powers given in TITLE 18, PART I, CHAPTER 84, § 1752. Restricted building or grounds. You’ll see they don’t have the power to stop you from taking a photograph of the protectee. I don’t believe they have the power to make you stand further away than anyone else just because you have a camera which is what they did to me.Their job is to prevent the assault of the protectee not prevent the protectee’s photo from being taken in an embarrassing moment.

By: Bugs

Bugs — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:13:02 +0000

Once again: Either there aren’t any rules or nobody knows what the rules are. So the people enforcing the rules make some up.

I feel so secure here in my homeland…

By: jones

jones — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:36:09 +0000

Looks like the SS won that round but the real issue is your photos. The police photo has one officer with his eyes closed and most of the pictures of the security guard are blurry. How long have you been a photographer?

By: Duane Kerzic

Duane Kerzic — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:57:27 +0000

Thanks for the compliment on the photo. They were both nice regular guys without trying to push anything. They did all they could to help me with the Secret Secret Service Agent. When he was out of ear shot they said if that guy told them to take me in they didn’t have a choice they’d have to and they didn’t want to do that.

I figured I could prove as much by writting about it on the internet as I could by sitting locked up for 3 or 4 hours waiting on the Secret Service guy to come back and decided there wasn’t really anything I could be charged with. I need to call the SS again since they haven’t returned my last message.

By: Simon Jester

Simon Jester — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:05:44 +0000

That’s a pretty picture of the cops. I get the impression that I could talk to them on a civilized basis. If a cop were to ask me, as opposed to telling me to please stop, I would more than likely do so. I’d want to know why, but I would listen. Yelling and bullying works very poorly with me, as I’m sure it does with others.

And I got a smirk when I saw the one on the left had his eyes closed.