Photos by Steve Kelley and Chetan S..
This past July some NYPD officers defended a civilian's right to photograph when he was harassed by another civilian for snapping shots in the subway system. This was a surprising change, to say the least, in the force's previous attitude towards shutterbugs — but since it came after this department-wide memo was sent out, it showed promise for the future.
Now Animal points to a new incident, however, where photographer Steve Kelley and his friend were detained after snapping some shots during a "photo walk" in Brooklyn Heights. Kelley says his buddy Chetan was taking a photo of this door, which was allegedly described by some of New York's Finest as a so-called “sensitive subject." Six officers showed up and took the two in for questioning, where they were even grilled on where they went to school. Hours later they were released.
We've contacted the NYPD to find out if the memo will be going out again!
