BY JULIE SHAW, Daily News Staff
Writer shawj@phillynews.com, 215-854-2592
POSTED: JULY 25, 2014
THE AMERICAN Civil Liberties
Union and others yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against the city and two
cops on behalf of a Temple University student who they say was unlawfully
arrested last year when he photographed a group of cops gathered outside a
North Philly house.
The complaint follows previous
cases in which cops allegedly assaulted or arrested other civilians who tried
to film police actions in public and a September 2011 memorandum by Police
Commissioner Charles Ramsey that instructed officers to allow themselves to be
recorded.
"Observing police
officers' behavior in public is activity protected by the First Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution," the lawsuit filed yesterday begins.
"It is not a crime. Nevertheless
. . . Philadelphia police officers, due to serious deficits in training,
supervision, and discipline, have routinely punished civilians who observe or
record police activity by filing false criminal charges against them."
The suit centers on plaintiff
Richard Fields, a Temple undergrad, who was walking on 18th Street near Berks
about 11 p.m. Sept. 13 when he saw about 20 cops across the street.
The lawsuit alleges the
following account:
Some cops were leading people
out of a house, where there appeared to have been a party. Fields took a photo
with his iPhone. Officer Joseph Sisca approached him, asked, "Do you like
taking pictures of grown men?" and ordered him to leave. The student said
he was on public property and was not interfering with the investigation.
Sisca again ordered him to
leave and bumped Fields with his chest. Fields still refused to leave. The cop
then handcuffed Fields and took his property, including his iPhone, which Sisca
threw onto a concrete stoop, cracking the phone's screen.
The cop then put Fields in a
police van and detained him for about 20 to 30 minutes. Afterward, the cop
handed Fields a summary offense, alleging he had obstructed the highway.
The suit also contends that
Sisca and another unknown officer searched the phone, trying to find photos or
recordings of the cops.
At an Oct. 31 Municipal Court
summary trial, prosecutors withdrew the charge against Fields.
Assistant City Solicitor John
Coyle did not return a voice message left yesterday by the Daily News.