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January 11, 2007

Security Guard Intimidation

I have had people chase me and my camera away before. Usually it is easier to keep walking and avoid a confrontation. But last night I wasn’t in the mood to be intimidated. I was walking back to my car in downtown Denver after attending a lecture by Chip Kidd when the interior of a building caught my eye. I took out my Sony cell phone/camera and snapped a quick shot. I didn’t realize that the man in the long black jacket was an undercover security guard. The conversation went like this:

Guard: You can’t take pictures here.
Me: Why not?
Guard: The owner of the building doesn’t allow anyone to take pictures.
Me: This is public property.
Guard: No. The red sidewalk is private property.
Me: I can see it, I can take a picture of it.
Guard: Do you want to tell that to the owner?
Me: That’s the law. Look it up.
Guard: I can give you the owner’s name and you can tell him that.
Me: He can look it up, too.
Guard: What?
Me: That’s the law, he can look it up too.
Guard: I can’t hear you. If you want to talk to me you are going to have to come back here.

By this point I was already walking away from him and decided to give up on the conversation. The guard snuck through the building and watched me from the other side. He gave me a dirty look as I proceeded to my car. I should have took his picture. Oh well. If you find yourself in a similar situation, I hope you have the guts to stand up for your rights.

Posted by Adrian at January 11, 2007 7:28 PM

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