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Video: Cop Promises Cameraman He'll Be Raped in Jail

Late Friday night/early Saturday morning, the NYPD raided Surreal Estate, an underground party club in Bushwick. Witnesses say that when police arrived, the hosts refused to let them in, demanding to see a warrant. The police then forcibly entered by kicking down doors and breaking through windows. Once inside, some attendees say police unleashed pepper spray. We're told ten arrests were made and nine were charged with Obstruction of Governmental Administration (among other charges), but the real fun happened outside, when camera gadfly Vladimir Teichberg pestered an anachronistically dressed plainclothes cop, who promised Teichberg he'd be raped in jail if he didn't disperse.

The undercover officer—who looks like Marlon Brando wearing a Tie-Dye in Apocalypse Now—identifies himself as a detective at the 1:36 mark. After he tells Teichberg to move along, and Teichberg refuses, the detective—fine, let's call him Detective Tie-Dye—threatens him with arrest. Videotaping police action is legal in New York, provided the person doing the documenting isn't interfering with police action. At the scene, that comes down to a judgment call on the part of the officer, and in this case Detective Tie-Dye was not pleased about being recorded for posterity. He promises to send Teichberg through the system, and assures him he'll be in custody for three days before seeing a judge.

Teichberg stands his ground, even after Detective Tie-Dye calls for the "paddy-wagon." About three minutes in, Tie-Dye takes out his phone and starts videotaping the civilians, telling one woman with a camera pointed at him, "You're ugly." (3:26) The best part comes when Teichberg tells the detective, "By the way, as a police officer you are now violating the law because you're not allowed to film unless a crime is being committed." Detective Tie-Dye replies, "Call a cop." And Teichberg says, "You are a cop and I'm calling you." Even better: Teichberg laughingly telling the detective, "You don't understand the power of the Internet, man."

Wylie Stecklow, a civil rights attorney representing Teichberg and the Glass Bead Collective, tells us that while it's unclear if laws are being broken, "policies are being broken. I believe the officer can be investigated for misconduct. There needs to be a CCRB investigation, because this officer was clearly being discourteous. Telling a videographer he would be abused in prison and be arrested when he's not breaking any laws... This seems to me to be—while not necessarily illegal—certainly not within the bounds of the Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect that the NYPD has promised his citizens. That the same office tells another female over and over that she is ugly, that is incredibly is discourteous." (We've reached out to the NYPD for comment; we're waiting to hear back.)

Teichberg tells us this isn't his first confrontation with police while filming them. He tells us that in 2003 he was filming police making an arrest, and when he refused to stop filming, he was taken into custody and his camera was never returned. "That experience taught me that we have to refuse to be intimidated by the police," Teichberg says. "Most people would simply walk away when ordered by a cop, but myself and Glass Bead Collective know our rights and it's important everyone does." At press time, Teichberg has not yet been arrested nor raped.

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Comments [rss]

  • redhookreject

    When I first watched this I thought that the 'cop' seemed drunk...



    It turns out that the 'cop' was drunk, but not a cop at all.



    Gothamist maybe some follow up is in order.



    http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2010/08/surreal_estate.php

  • potsmoker

    funny if a cop really says that you just play along and string him along with you. he says you will be rpped in jail, then you say oooh i love the sound of that tell me more, do you guys watch, will you film it for me, i have a g@y jail gang b@ng website, if you want you can be the star, just sign this model release, mmmm yummy, hows the lighting in the cell, do you have a cop that wants to do overtime as a fluffer? play along, youll see exactly how these dumb cops play off the emotions of stupid gullible people...wow i always wanted to be rapped in jail, see thats how you turn the tables on them, act like you dont care...it works.

  • Marc Lostracco

    This is the same Vladimir Teichberg who sued a bunch of Minneapolis cops back in 2009.

  • Good for them! Cops falsely detained them while they were working as reporters, held their personal property after they were released and stole his co-plaintiff's money and driver's license.

  • huffingpaint

    I'm raping them both. I wish there was a fist fight or something interesting in this video.

  • galvo

    11. joe knows:



    how many languages can you speak?

    so he has an accent, many do. However they can speak many languages fluently, yet most of the cop lovers here barely manage english. I think you mistake nervousness for whiny, but when the mope is promising you manrape and 3 days in jails, and nypd have a history of raping their troublemakers with pieces of wood and perforating their intestines. yet their fellow officers keep their mouth shut, even when questioned, anyone would be nervous. But they have Balls , the women who stand up to these cops and question them on camera have guts.them Good job V and the Glass Bead.

  • John L

    NY's Finest! At it again!



    Seems there was no legitimate reason to raid this party. After all this the cops had to have some arrests so they can justify their inexcusable actions.



    This detective should be reprimanded for his actions.



    Imagine if cops actually targeted criminals in this city. I'd love to see tactics like this but at a gang meeting. I'd love to see this police enthusiasm when trying to apprehend murderers or rapists but raiding a dance party? Come on!



    Ray Kelly crime is going up dramatically and this is the best you can do?

    Ray Kelly has to go!

  • schizofriendly

    Help me. I'm trapped on Earth along with all of this shit. And there is nowhere else to go.

  • wow 14th street

    Compared to what is going on with the killings of

    police and drug dealers, reporters and innocent

    passerbys in Mexico this is not even child's play as a

    comment on brutality.

    By the way in Chicago during the Viet-Nam demonstrations

    you can see real PD mayhem in many documentary films ,so what else is new ,here too ,good and bad are in the NYPD.

  • napalm

    Sick perverted and psychotic NYPD criminals...



    I hope he suffers from hemorrhoids for the rest of his pathetic criminal career

  • Reflect

    Hemorroids? Why so tame? How about a dibilitating stroke? But just enough to teter on the edge of sanity. So he can take in the view, throw in an underpaid nurse and youve got yourself a humbled citizen...

  • Reflect

    It happend to my boss true story...



    Now shes soooooooo nice to me....



    Trust me bloomturd and his croonies, political hacks and just plain mean people get whats



    comming to them. This woman was head of a advertising conglomorate and spoiled jewish child

  • sallieballs

    Hipsters in Brooklyn need to get jobs and be less concerned with things that have nothing to do with them....

  • eric l

    So you're saying a taxpayer monitoring their EMPLOYEE is none of their business?



    You are even more retarded than your parents said.

  • TheTruthYouSeek

    What a whiny, snot little bitch response. I can imagine your nerd voice "Ummm yeah well TECHNI-CA-LLY he is your employee **snicker**snicker**".



    Get the fuck out of Brooklyn.

  • 5borough

    Del Signore: "Paddy" is an ethinic slur, but one I guess you are comfortable with.



    This guy should go wave his camera around on the J train where the subjects will be more appreciative, and enjoy his camera once they have removed it from him.



    Real tough picking on a cop on video, coward. What's next, poking animals in cages?

  • eric l

    Ever notice how many thugs, i mean "cops", post on Gothamist now?

  • ktinnyc

    Here's an idea if you don't want your job performance to be evaluated by the public don't take a job as a public servant.

  • 5borough

    Ethnic.

  • This cop was in the wrong, but man, I sure hate "underground party clubs." That is just code for "squatting in a building, making all the citizens in a neighborhood listen to our terrible trance music at a high decibel at 4am." Just arrest these guys & behave in an honorable way, cops. They are scum, but that doesn't mean YOU have to act like scum.

  • SatelliteTimes

    I have to point out that this comment makes you sound a bit like someone's grandmother. That & kind of stupid, because the spaces are typically rented, not squatted. And back to being behind the times-- who listens to trance anymore?



    Shall I fetch you your slippers & house dress, Nanny?

  • Well, I do admit I'm talking about an actual specific set of underground parties that made my friends' lives miserable.



    Also, if you are renting a legal space I don't think it counts as "underground."



    & dammit, so what if I go to bed at 10 pm. GTFO my lawn!

  • SatelliteTimes

    Legal space, yes, but legal to do what with & what kind of licensing does one need?

    Still doesn't define squatting.



    I live in NYC. Like most people here, I haven't seen a lawn in a very long time. I won't know know which one is yours. Relax, Nanny. I'l get you some tea & rolaids for the agida.

  • If you don't see lawns then you need to leave Manhattan & check out some of the other boroughs. You wippersnappers! Now, wtf is my rheumatism medicine?

  • hotstepper

    haha! +1



    ain't no party like my grandma's tea party!

  • ktinnyc

    It's the law. Like it or not police are not allowed to videotape public gatherings unless there is an indication that unlawful activity may occur.

  • 5borough

    They are not.

  • Petey

    So its ok for this douchebag to film the cops, but the cops can't film them?



    What an idiot.

  • If You See Something, Say Something, Record it.



    "Help Stop Police Violence"

  • Love Your Life

    Funny! 3 days in jail and then raped, good choices.

  • just saying

    Yeah, the undercover narcs in Brooklyn are doing a spectacular job in cleaning up crime in our borough.



    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/01/23/2008-01-23_nypd_narcotics_probe_has_compromised_mor.html

  • ForrestWhitaker

    Ahhh, undercover narco cops. Thugs. Just as bad, if not worse then the "real" drug dealers...the only diff is a badge.

  • Polite New Yorker

    Asshole lunatic cops and snotty hipsters with video cameras. Can't stand either of them, but the city needs them both.

  • SatelliteTimes

    So in this case, how did you know that the cameraman was a hipster?

    Was it his clothing which I didn't see, or was it because he sounds whiney?



    Further proof that the word "hipster" needs a burial.

  • ak

    Ha, yeah... Apparently only hipsters have parties in Bushwick. Gentrification Activate!

  • Spirit of 76

    Marlon Brando? You're crazy, JDS. The guy's obviously going for a Vic Mackey vibe.



    And this incident proves once again that the line between New York's Finest and New York's Worst is about the thickness of one tin badge.

  • joeknows

    YOU'RE VIOWATING MY WIGHTS!



    DUCK SEASON!!



    WABBIT SEASON!!!





  • eric l

    Some people stand up to corrupt govt. (Don't forget the minor fact that the videographer IS THE COP'S EMPLOYEE... and how many workers would be FIRED for talking to their employer this way?)



    Others post empty douchebag rhetoric online because they're cowards.

  • SatelliteTimes

    I think you missed the point & never watched Looney Tunes as a kid...

  • SatelliteTimes

    haha! yeah, I picked up on that, too, but none the less, cop is Captain Caveman.

  • SatelliteTimes

    There's no doubt in my mind that the undercover officer in this video is a sadistic perv who was definitely getting off on verbally humiliating & trying to intimidate these people. He sounds sincerely sleazy. Pig, indeed. I really hope that he's reprimanded.



    I've known a few cops, so while I'm not surprised that he's a knuckle dragging simpleton, I am surprised that he's stupid enough to do it all on film.

  • longacre

    When the cops raid a meeting of peaceful community activists, then this is a story.



    When they raid a club likely filled with drugs and who knows what else, the cameraman should be thankful he's not getting raped in jail.

  • eric l

    You're a stupid tool.



    As usual.

  • dustingrime I

    unless there was probable cause, what are the cops doing there anyway-- would this qualify as harrassment?

  • I cant watch the video, but Teichberg sounds like HERO to me.



    The city would be a better place if more people were as brave as him.

  • emilydickinson

    If the cop was doing his job correctly, by the books, than he should have no problem having it documented. In fact, he should be glad it's being video taped, as it's more proof that he is doing his work in the approved manner.

  • hotstepper

    CPR: so which one was that courtesy, professionalism or r@pe? oops i meant respect.

  • TheTruthYouSeek

    What're you the fuckin website of calling people out on shit? Who cares if he said that, he's a ball busting cop. No big deal. Worry about when they do some real shit. You guys are dicks.

  • eric l

    Hey "Truth", why don't you man up and tell us whom you voted for for president and Mayor.



    I'm guessing it was tax-and-spend Republicans like Bush and Bloomberg.



    YOu also stuck up for Bernie Kerik, didn't you?

  • TheTruthYouSeek

    I don't really know much about the Bernie Kerik thing so I have no idea. I voted for Obama and was excited about it and there wasn't even a line. I didn't vote for a mayor. Sometimes I don't like Bloomberg but I like how he doesn't talk like a politician.

    And I don't know what the fuck any of this has to do with these annoying pieces of shit bothering the cops for no reason but I guess your questions were reasonable enough...

  • eric l

    This also suggests Rudy and Mike spent tens of millions of taxdollars on "Courtesy Professionalism and Respect" PR as a Stalinist propaganda scam, with zero accountability.



    Small wonder right wingers side with the Stalin tactics.



    And where's that maggot Pat Lynch who heads the NYPD union?



    When ONE BAD COP acts like a prick, it ruins the hard work of honest cops. Bad cops are the enemy of everyone but you won't see a single pussy cop arrest these thugs in black.

  • eric l

    FYI: the federal courts have settled that cops saying things like this is ILLEGAL THREATENING SPEECH, since cops have the POWER to jail anyone they want even if no crime has been committed, and can put innocent people into the same cells as violent felons AND control the behavior of violent felons while in custody.



    SORRY, BUT THIS COP NEEDS TO BE JAILED TODAY.



    Cops have falsely arrested hundreds of thousands of dissidents over the years, and in every case, the cop should've been jailed but wasn't because the system is dirty top to bottom.

  • And that, my friends, is how you reverse psychoanalyze. Great work, TTYS.

  • ktinnyc

    All Hail the Idiot King! Long may you reign.

  • hotstepper

    someone needs to forget all that tough guy cop bullshit he enjoys (apparently a little too much) in the movies and on TV.



    reminder: cops are public servants. say it again, PUUUB-LIC SEEER-VAAANT.

  • Abbott

    Actually if you followed national news even in the slightest amount, you would know that the right of a civilian to video tape the police in public domain is a huge national debate right now. I think this article is probably more about that than calling out a cop on being a dick. But it kinda sounds like you're a big brother-loving dick yourself, so I'm sure you don't bother with little things like actually knowing what you are talking about.

  • TheTruthYouSeek

    Not at all, I just hate spoiled brats yelling about their rights when the only reason they are talking about their rights is to antagonize and be annoying.

  • Guest

    There's a huge difference between ball busting and disseminating fraudulent information. Cops would bust anyone lying to them, so they need to have respect for other people and themselves by acting accordingly.

  • TheTruthYouSeek

    "I have a right! I have a right" SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET THEM DO THEIR JOB.

  • just saying

    Let them do their *job*? And what job is that?



    It's not clear to me why they raided the place. Noise complaints? Are you friggin kidding me? Just try getting your local cops to show up for a noise complaint. It doesn't appear the partyers were doing anything illegal that justified cops kicking in doors and spraying people with pepper spray.



    And why didn't the cops have and/or show a search warrant? Way too many of these taxpayer-funded thugs are just as bad as the criminals that they've been hired to protect us from.

  • Kojak

    lol yea. The officer is an asshole, but give me a break.

  • TheTruthYouSeek

    Listen to that nasally-voiced, antagonistic, granny-panty bitch with the video camera. Get the fuck out of Brooklyn!

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