Thin Yellow Line

[FTOJRLST]

After a school fire yesterday I was assigned follow up coverage and ran into issues with the cops using their Thin Yellow Line to corral the media into a 'media box'. They insisted we stay in the area to the point that we were hassled trying to walk down a public road where students were gathering to see their burnt out school.

http://static.flickr.com/107/287468196_993b406687_m.jpg

I'm all for the Thin Yellow Line to guide us to a safe yet reasonable vantage point. It let's us do our job without stepping on the shoes of the agencies doing theirs. But sometimes I like to back away from the scene to get a little perspective on the situation.

Details on the blog....http://tvphotogblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/eastern-guilford-high-school-firethin.html

[pre-set]

Ignore it. They can only "corral you" if you allow them to.

If the "public" is walking around in an area, then so can you. Be polite, but FIRM. If they still won't budge, remind them (with the camera pointed at them and rolling) to REMOVE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE AREA IN QUESTION RIGHT NOW.

If they still insist on interfering - then you and your reporters story just changed. Now you're going to be covering the police denying the press access to a news story on public property.

That's how you fix it.

[Tim78]

I have had to do this on several occasions. They try to keep me out well past where police tape is set up, yet others roam freely. In most cases, they see it my way and drop the issue. I then get right up to the police line. Other times, they decided to push everyone else back to where they told me to go.

Don't be afraid to talk to a supervisor. I've done it several times. Usually resolves the issue.

[amp]

Be firm, but be polite. There is no good reason to be an ass right away. Just remind them, if the general public is allowed there, so am I!

[thru-the-lens]

Be firm, but be polite. There is no good reason to be an ass right away. Just remind them, if the general public is allowed there, so am I!

Very well said. And as someone stated above ask for a supervisor.


One time I covered an officer involved accident. The media was kept away from the scene by about a block and half. YET all the rest of the public was standing right next to the scene gawking.

After being repeatedly told that we couldn't join them. I busted out a minidv camera and handed it to a reporter who arrived after the run-in and he walked over the scene and shot all the video needed without incident. Then he walked back to the truck and we fed that for air.

The cop was still watching guard duty on us when we went live and he saw that in the monitor and was livid. But couldn't do anything about it Turns out that they were protecting one of their own who was speeding without lights and hit another car, was out of district and trying to get back where he belonged.

thru-the-lens.

[SFX]

I was out to shoot a rescue attempt in a park where a woman had fallen off a cliff. I got to the scene and started to walk to a trail that went back to the spot that overlooked this area. I was stopped by the police and told I was not allowed to go back there. They told me that maybe after the whole thing is over they might let me go back but they are not making any promises. Then I notice campers going down that very trail I attempted to walk down. I thought that is funny they are not saying anything to them. Then I saw kids running out from there and playing in that area. Still nothing said to them. I asked them if the kids could play there why can't I shoot there. They finally said O.K. and I went back there to find several crowds of about 50 people standing around watching the rescue.

[BluesDaddy]

The line I get at crashes is, "What if his momma sees his smashed car on teevee before we can notify her?" What do you say to these VFD guys who keep the camera back to protect the next-of-kin from seeing it on the news first?

[pre-set]

Tell them you're not shooting the plate (I ussually don't unless it's a suspected DIU or pedstruck). Other than that, it's not your problem. You're there to get the video. If it happened in a public venue, it's useable.


BTW - what would "his Momma" think if she happened to drive by and see it? Or what if another family member or friend saw and called her? What's the difference?

[INLANDNEWS]

If it's not a crime scene, this yellow tape horse coral/media cage crap would never fly in California. We just quote 409.5 section D of the penal code.

[SurfAwave69]

I juuuust found out about 409.5 and that code has saved me five times in the past two months!...(I'm a rookie, so, you know..)

--In the State of California, the media is guaranteed a statutory right of access to scenes of calamity under Penal Code § 409.5(d). This statute covers most incidents from which the general public is excluded, but does not include crime scenes. The first amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 2 of the California Constitution guarantee the freedom of the press. The media has no constitutional right of access to places or events from which law enforcement lawfully excludes the general public. However, Penal Code § 409.5(d) gives media the statutory right of access to disaster scenes within the state of California.