NY police sued for harassing Indian student

NEW YORK: A civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against New York Police on behalf of an Indian origin student who was allegedly unlawfully handcuffed and detained in July after he took photographs of a subway station here.
     
Arun Wiita, 26, was allowed to go after about half an hour and was never charged but the Columbia University student says he felt humiliated.
      
Claiming that Wiita had been targeted because of the 'colour of his skin', the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) says the NYPD has a history of harassing photographers and violating their First Amendment rights, particularly those who fit certain ethnic profiles.
     
Wiita, who has sought compensatory damages, alleges that he was detained in upper Manhattan shortly after he embarked on a planned 10-day project of photographing all 468 subway stations and their surrounding streetscapes.
    
Though he explained his project to the officer and showed him his Columbia identification but the officer handcuffed him and made him stand on a busy street corner for a half an hour, it is alleged.
     
Two plainclothes policemen also arrived on the scene and following a public interrogation, Wiita was released.
     
"I was surprised and upset that I could be handcuffed on the street for taking a photograph," Wiita said. "What was really disheartening was that I knew this had probably happened before and that it could happen again to anyone."
      
This is the second such lawsuit the NYCLU has recently filed against the NYPD. Earlier this year, a lawsuit was brought on behalf of award-winning documentarian Rakesh Sharma, who was detained for filming with a handheld camera on a Manhattan sidewalk.
   
"In our society, people have a clear right to document activity in public places without being hassled by the police," said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director.
    
"Arun was taking photos, something protected by the Constitution, but the colour of his skin made him a target of suspicion. The police should know better than to engage in this sort of ugly, unlawful behavior."
    
Christopher Dunn, NYCLU associate legal director and lead counsel in the case, said many other photographers have reported similar incidents and that the NYPD was fully aware of these problems as a result of a letter the NYCLU sent to NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly in May 2006.
    
"People cannot be arrested or handcuffed for taking pictures," Dunn said. "Photography is fully protected by the First Amendment, and police investigations into photographers must be sensitive to that.
      
"The NYPD clearly has failed to sufficiently train and supervise its officers to ensure that people can take photographs without fear of police harassment," he said.