CMEckert Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 From the Chicago Tribune…. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-tourist-robbed-at-gunpoint-near-buckingham-fountain-20141122-story.html You have to be careful no matter what large city you visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Life on the Planet Earth is not a totally safe one. I just listened to an NPR interview with a Chicago crime photographer. Not a relaxing way to make a living. Violent crime has been down in NYC for some time now. There were 2,245 homicides here in 1990. What will the future bring? http://nypost.com/2014/01/28/nyc-sees-33-percent-spike-in-murders/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 in 2011/12 apparently there were 640 murders in England Scotland and Wales (10.43 per million population). Some places are safer than others I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stipe Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 In Barcelona there are much more tourists robbed about their photographic equipment than homicides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 It's happened a lot in Chicago and most of the time does not make it on the news. I was almost a victim a few years ago on an empty bus coming from photographing Buckingham Fountain in Chicago at 8pm on a weekday. There is a good scanner APP(free and paid version) and you can also access the Police/fire scanner online if you're curious about what goes on in your area(USA) I listen in when I hear tons of fire engines that sound like they are in my building or or the other highrises when I'm too lazy to turn the tv on,wait for the cable to system to fire up so I can see the buildings inside cameras. We had a very scary major fire in our building several years ago... L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'm surprised it happened around buckingham fountain. I haven't been there in years but it's not an area I would have considered high risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Bloke had his camera kit forcibly taken while walking across the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle a few years back. My younger son's girlfriend was mugged in Paris. A couple of US exchange students got off the bus in the wrong place here and had jewelry stolen. It happens, even in relatively "safe" neighbourhoods. I try to be aware and move on if I sense trouble, been lucky so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I've been lucky too. Have wandered around with my cameras in some very sketchy neighbourhoods in Latin America and have never had any problems (touch wood). No news of photographers being relieved of their gear at gunpoint or knife-point (more likely in Canada) here in Vancouver, but I'm sure it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABan Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'm surprised it happened around buckingham fountain. I haven't been there in years but it's not an area I would have considered high risk. Yes, but 8 pm at this time of year is long after dark. The fountain also isn't running, so there probably weren't very many people around. 8 pm in June is far safer. I wouldn't walk through any Chicago park alone after dark and I'm a pretty big guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABan Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I just noticed this story is from back in November. It's still dark at 8 pm though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 When I was almost robbed it was around 8pm and it was still light out. People are getting held up at gunpoint in broad daylight in Chicago. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'm surprised it happened around buckingham fountain. I haven't been there in years but it's not an area I would have considered high risk. I lived in luxury highrises downtown for decades with security all over the place. My mom had purchased Chicago's oldest barber shop and that was broken into as well as numerous businesses in the area. Downtown has always been high crime because it's a tourist area.Many tourist will not file a police report. That even goes for many residents too. Too fearful. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnie5 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 San Francisco is bad for Cameras and Cell phones according to the news. California just had a Cell phone kill switch law take effect on the 1st of January to discourage theft. Sort of a remote self destruct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I'm surprised it happened around buckingham fountain. I haven't been there in years but it's not an area I would have considered high risk. Yes, but 8 pm at this time of year is long after dark. The fountain also isn't running, so there probably weren't very many people around. 8 pm in June is far safer. I wouldn't walk through any Chicago park alone after dark and I'm a pretty big guy. Good point. I wasn't thinking about the time of year and mentally went back to summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I read that in Oakland,California news crews get held up for their cameras on almost a daily basis. I was there a few years ago and didn't feel very safe there;ditto for San Fran. It's a shame as I love both places. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I read that in Oakland,California news crews get held up for their cameras on almost a daily basis. I read it was about 8 instances in the past 2 years or so . . . dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I have friends that are news anchors on tv and in the Oakland/SF area and they were talking about how frequently it happens and it was more than 8 instances in 2 years. I had the article link in my email,if I didn't purge it last week,I'll post it. Also,a couple of wedding photogs in Oakland were held up while on a wedding photo shoot. http://petapixel.com/2014/12/23/wedding-photographers-robbed-shoot-lose-wedding-photos-13500-gear/ L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I purged 6500 emails on 12/31/14 and the link about Oakland/SF news crews must have been one of them. But many links thru google shows frequent news crew robberies in Oakland and SF. Like all big cities,need to be careful. https://www.google.com/search?q=tv+news+crews+in+Oakland+robbed&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=tv+news+crews+in+Oakland+robbed&tbs=qdr:y https://www.google.com/search?q=tv+news+crews+in+Oakland+robbed&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I purged 6500 emails on 12/31/14 and the link about Oakland/SF news crews must have been one of them. But many links thru google shows frequent news crew robberies in Oakland and SF. Like all big cities,need to be careful. https://www.google.com/search?q=tv+news+crews+in+Oakland+robbed&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=tv+news+crews+in+Oakland+robbed&tbs=qdr:y https://www.google.com/search?q=tv+news+crews+in+Oakland+robbed&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 L LInda, neither querying nor arguing it's not "frequent", nor the need to be careful . . . but newscrews being robbed "on almost a daily basis"???--I"ve not been able to find any reference to anything even vaguely like that sort of frequency. But I did find "Another photographer with the Bay Area New Group, as well as several other television camera crews, have been robbed in Oakland in recent years". dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 There is a good scanner APP(free and paid version) and you can also access the Police/fire scanner online if you're curious about what goes on in your area(USA) Just to point out that in the UK it's illegal to listen in to the emergency services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 There is a good scanner APP(free and paid version) and you can also access the Police/fire scanner online if you're curious about what goes on in your area(USA) Just to point out that in the UK it's illegal to listen in to the emergency services. So why do they broadcast in clear at all? Do they think it being illegal will stop the criminal fraternity monitoring their activities? Or the press for that matter if they hack(ed) phones anyway Yet another silly and effectively unenforceable law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 There is a good scanner APP(free and paid version) and you can also access the Police/fire scanner online if you're curious about what goes on in your area(USA) Just to point out that in the UK it's illegal to listen in to the emergency services. So why do they broadcast in clear at all? Do they think it being illegal will stop the criminal fraternity monitoring their activities? Or the press for that matter if they hack(ed) phones anyway Yet another silly and effectively unenforceable law. You must form your own view on that. criminals break laws but that's no reason not to have them, surely?. The law in question is the Wireless Telegraphy act. Not sure if a crook would want that offence added to the list if they catch him with a scanner, which does happen- it's not unenforceable. About they only thing you could find out would be if the police are on the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Several press photographers had their gear stolen in and around Westminster recently. Moped jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMEckert Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 With all the police protests occurring here in the US over the recent spat of shootings, I think it's quite possibly even more dangerous for photogs than before (especially NYC). The police aren't responding as aggressively to crime the way they used to and I don't blame them. I would think that if it was considered to be high priority ( photog's and news crews being robbed at gun point ), that the police would be setting up sting operations to catch these brazen punks. At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, it's almost coming to anarchy. Might be time to either purchase some insurance or photograph with an ally close by (a big guy with a concealed carry permit). I would also avoid white IPhones or the colorful 6C's. Why advertise that your holding an expensive camera phone? Black phones aren't as easily recognized at distances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 photograph with an ally close by (a big guy with a concealed carry permit) That rather presupposes that carrying a gun is the solution, not the problem. This is a british forum. About 20 people a year are killed in the UK with a firearm. Twenty. I believe the figure in the US is that number with three zeros on the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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