I know what you’re saying but I mostly write for an American audience.

If I were in Canada and read US police detain man at airport, I would read the article to get more specific information.

Plus the article was referring to Vancouver cops as well as RCMP cops, hence Canadian cops.

Imagine a headline reading “US police detain man for wearing shoes in Airport.”

Let them delete. After the incident, go back home, get a program that recovers deleted files. Just don’t take any new pictures. Remember, it only deletes the place holder and not the file itself. Whether it is on a phone, camera or a computer, if it stores, it can be recovered.

Heck, offer to delete them yourself. I am all about asserting your rights, but if we are confronting bullies, think smarter.

Also, (check your local laws) you may be able to tape record the interaction. If your state allows you to tape record, then you should always have one on you. No exceptions.

If you deal with the police, they are going to lie. The supreme court has ruled that they can lie to you and you must assume that if their lips are moving, they are lying.

Also, carry your cell phone on you. Dial 911 as soon as they approach you. It is a recorded line. Tell them that you need an officer to come out and arrest this person violating your rights. Do not let them hang up. It may be your only official account of events.

Tell them on the phone what your intentions are “I have no intentions of interfering with this officer’s duties.” Stay calm. “He is approaching me. I have taken 3 pictures of this scene. I will comply with his orders. I have no intentions of resisting. Please remain on the line so that I am protected from false accusations.”

Understand, the person on the other end is not your friend. He will not like what you are doing. You are doing this for an official account of the event and it is an emergency! This tape can be requested (be quick about it, they tend to destroy these tapes).

For anyone interested there is a a listing of Canadian laws as they relate to photographers.

http://ambientlight.ca/laws.php
[not my site]

In very broad terms, if you are not breaking any laws you can take pictures of (almost) anything. Reasonable limits on military and security establishments do exist.

For the most part (with some exceptions) if you are out in public, there is no expectation of privacy.

There is also the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (similar to the Bill of Rights) allowing the freedom to take pictures and NOT have the police harass you.

Please have a look at the website for more details and links to the relevant Canadian laws.

“what a wonderful world” sarcasm /off

“Sick” or not, a suspect with a deadly weapon needs to be handled with deadly force. 1.5m (4.5f) can be crossed in a split second – far less time than it takes to draw a weapon if a Tazer or pepper spray fails to take the suspect down.

I don’t condone police shootings if they’re unnecessary, but as both a photographer and trained shooter, I have to side with the police based on his description.

Though not about their deleting his video, of course.

I recommend EASEUS.