Freedom to Dance, pt. 2

[XLFD]

A little over a year ago, some people got detained for dancing at the Jefferson Memorial, when that activity was banned there, and some 'troublemakers' later held a dance party there to show the craziness of it all.  That pretty much got settled out, with the freedom to dance winning as reported in the Torch,  Freedom to Dance.

Well, the authorities are quelling public dancing once again on a NY subway platform.  An older couple who started dancing were questioned by the police for doing so, she only had a credit card, he had the temerity to start recording the incident, and they wound up detained for 23 hours.  Is this the big issue in New York City nowadays?   Time to retrain the subway cops.

 

"A two-stepping couple in their 50s say were trotted off to jail after police in New York City arrested them for dancing on a subway platform.
Caroline Stern, a dentist, and George Hess, a movie prop master, were waiting for a train at the Columbus Circle station after a late evening at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing last year when they began dancing the Charleston to a musician playing the steel drums.

Ms Stern says she and her boyfriend were feeling the beat and there were very few people on the platform so they started moving to the rhythm.

That's when police came in and spoiled the fun, they told the New York Post.

'They said, "What are you doing?" and we said, "We’re dancing,"' she recalled.

'And they said, "You can’t do that on the platform."'
The officers demanded their ID. When Ms Stern only had a credit car, the police ordered the couple to go with them.

When Mr Hess pulled out a camera to start recording the incident, the officers called for backup and the situation turned nasty, the couple says.

They claim more police ran to the subway platform and tackled Mr Hess, 54, to the floor and handcuffed him. Ms Stern, 55, was also cuffed and arrested.

Officers charged them with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for 'impeding the flow of traffic.'
Ms Stern told the Post the subway station was nearly empty at the time.
'It was absolutely ridiculous that this happened,' she said.
Prosecutors dropped all charges against the couple, though not before they spent 23 hours in jail.

As a result of the arrested, Ms Stern and Mr Hess are now suing the city of New York for the arrest."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170677/Caroline-Stern-Geor...

[Willy]

That's what you get for dancing in a subway instead of robbing someone.

[XLFD]

With the get-up she has on, a visit by the New York fashion police may have been in order.

Besides dancing, this does have another theme in common with some of the other threads I've put out in the past dealing with the police elsewhere abusing their authority.  This has to do with videotaping police.  You will notice the responding officer took umbrage with the male dancer getting out his camera to record the incident. 

A 'good' officer acting within his authority should not be concerned if his actions are being recorded.  That recording can be a potential record that shows he acted within the bounds of his duties and with due courtesy.  If an officer objects to being recorded, which most people have nowadays at hand, it usually indicates he is not.