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Thursday, December 18, 2008

New York Times Article

Officers Become Accidental YouTube Stars

Published: December 16, 2008

The uniformed traffic officer was standing at a deli counter when a man approached her and asked, “Are you on drugs?”

Police Officer Patrick Pogan on Tuesday, after he pleaded not guilty to charges resulting from an encounter with a bicyclist.

Taken aback, she replied, “What is your problem?” The man then proceeded to berate her for having parked in front of a fire hydrant outside the deli, even while fire engines responding to an emergency had stopped down the block. His voice rising to a shriek, the man followed the officer back to her car, where she politely told him, “Have a nice day.”

The officer drove away, and that was that. Until the man posted a video of the encounter on YouTube, where it had been viewed 363,478 times as of Tuesday.

That is a fraction of the 1,784,775 views of the video showing Officer Patrick Pogan knocking a man off his bicycle during a Critical Mass ride in Times Square in July. Officer Pogan was charged with assault, harassment, falsifying business records and other charges. He pleaded not guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday and was released without bail.

While that video has brought widespread attention, it is by no means unique. In fact, video and cellphone cameras have become so prevalent that they are just another part of the workday for many police officers. And they can cut both ways, sometimes assisting officers in solving crimes, and sometimes implicating them.

“People tape all the time,” said an eight-year veteran of the department, a female officer in Downtown Brooklyn who, like other officers questioned for this article, spoke only on the condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to reporters. “It makes you uncomfortable, but that’s their right. You can’t stop them from taping.”

A search on YouTube unearthed dozens of encounters with New York police officers that often show the daily realities of policing at its most mundane.

Take, for example, a video that shows a uniformed officer trying to roust a man, who is apparently drunk, lying on the floor of a subway car. The officer touches the man and repeatedly instructs him to get up, without a response.

In another video, a man asks an officer if he may film him, and the officer replies, “You going to post them on the Internet? Then I’m going to have to break your camera over your face.” But he and other officers laugh, as does the cameraman, who eventually walks away. The video had 19,370 views as of Tuesday evening.

Several videos were made by a man calling himself Jimmy Justice, and they follow a similar formula: he confronts a police officer in the midst of some sort of apparent parking or driving violation. The traffic officer in the deli drove away from Mr. Justice with a smile, but others appeared to be more irked.

The unwitting star of a video titled “Traffic Cop Makes Illegal U-Turn” tells Mr. Justice, “Arrest me,” and encourages him to call 911. She finally concludes, “Step out of my face.”

In another video, “N.Y.P.D. Traffic Enforcement Sergeant Parks Illegally” (the titles of the videos are often benign compared to Mr. Justice’s hostility and obscenities that follow), Mr. Justice confronts a sergeant who parked beneath a no-parking sign to get money from an A.T.M.

“What was I supposed to do?” the sergeant says. “Stay hungry all day because of you?”

None of these videos rose to the level of prominence of the Critical Mass encounter or, on Sept. 24, the death of a naked and disturbed man in Brooklyn after an officer shot him with a Taser stun gun and he fell from the ledge he was standing on. The encounter was captured by an onlooker’s camera. But officers interviewed on Tuesday said videotaping is not a problem for them because they do not break departmental rules.

“If you’re getting in the way, or obstructing what I’m doing, that’s a different story,” said the officer in Downtown Brooklyn. “But if you’re not obstructing what I’m doing, you can put 10 videotapes on me.”

An officer in the Union Square subway station on Tuesday said that once when he intervened in a fight, he found he was being filmed by several people. “I asked people to help, but no one did,” said the officer. “I didn’t expect anyone to help, but at the time I really needed it. It was two against one.”

An officer directing traffic in Brooklyn asserted that it is illegal to tape police officers. “If I know that he’s taking video, I’m going to walk up to him and stop him,” the officer said.

That is not necessarily true, said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman. Filming itself is not illegal, but interference with a police officer’s work can lead to arrest, he said. “Interference beyond just merely being obnoxious,” he said. “On balance, the proliferation of cameras has helped the police in solving crimes.” In fact, citizens who capture images of crimes in progress are now being encouraged to send the videos to the police.

An officer in his patrol car in Harlem shrugged off the cameras. “It’s a brave new world now,” he said. “They’ve got all kinds of things. You could be recording me right now.”

Reporting was contributed by Abha Bhattarai, John Eligon, Jennifer Mascia, Colin Moynihan, Rebecca White and Karen Zraick.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Traffic Officer Accused of Writing Phony Parking Tickets

The NYPD says it’s investigating, but residents who’ve been burned by a rogue ticket agent insist she’s still on the job.

By Megan James

When the judge asked Charles Weintraub for evidence proving he did not deserve the parking tickets he had come to contest on Monday, all he had to do was point out the name of the traffic enforcement agent at the bottom of each of the three tickets.

“Oh,” he recalled the judge saying. “T. Flight? This is Riverdale? Dismiss them all.”

The word is getting out.

At least nine people — mostly North Riverdale residents — have come forward with bogus tickets issued by rookie agent Terri Flight since the summer, and they all come with rocksolid defenses. .

The NYPD’s Department of Internal Affairs says an investigation is underway, but so far only two of the people reporting bogus tickets have been interviewed, and the department has not confirmed whether Ms. Flight is still on duty in Riverdale.

The issue drew a standing-roomonly crowd to Community Board 8’s traffic and transportation committee meeting on Monday, including Diane Riback, who explained how she knew the ticket was bogus — her car had been involved in an accident on Riverdale Avenue, leaving it inoperable, three hours before she was issued a ticket for double parking in front of Riverdale Neighborhood House on Mosholu Avenue. Her ticket was dismissed.

Cynthia Dickstein and her husband, Robert, spent four hours in court on Monday, they said. Their four tickets were dismissed, but they regretted the time they lost fighting tickets they never should have been issued in the first place.

“Why do we have to go through this?” Ms. Dickstein asked.

One woman, who did not give her name, said she had a face-to-face confrontation with Ms. Flight the day in July she was issued her bogus ticket. Since then, she has kept an eye out for the agent, watching her cruising the streets of North Riverdale, down West 254th Street and then north on Riverdale Avenue every afternoon. According to this woman, Ms. Flight is still on the job.

The meeting even drew Jimmy Justice, an advocate for victims of the city’s traffic enforcement agents. There’s a name for what Ms. Flight has been doing, he said, “Phantom Ticketing.”

It’s more common throughout the city than most people think, said Mr. Justice, who spends whole days videotaping traffic agents throughout the city. He said agents have to fill a quota each shift — 26 tickets if they’re on foot, 35 if they’re in a car. Mr. Justice asserts there isn’t much supervision on the job, so he often finds agents issuing all their tickets early in the shift and taking it easy in the afternoon, he said.

Traffic and transportation committee chairman Tony Cassino said he was committed to getting Ms. Flight off the streets.

“We’re not going to let this drop,” he said. “The stories are so rock-solid. These tickets are illegal. This person should be arrested.”

This is part of the October 30, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Jimmy Justice on The Alex Jones Show.

I am humbled and honored to have been invited as a guest on The Alex Jones Show.I applaud Alex Jones for standing up for what he believes in.I became a fan of Alex Jones after watching his documentary about the Bohemian Grove.Although I may not agree with Alex on every issue, I certainly respect his body of work, his diligent research , and his refusal to be intimidated by the Government or the Police.Alex Jones is a hero of mine.

Clips of Jimmy Justice on The Alex Jones Show have been made available on youtube.

To listen to them follow these links....

Jimmy Justice on The Alex Jones Show part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ0B9cP0308&feature=related

Jimmy Justice on The Alex Jones Show part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuPrFmcbjUI&feature=related

Jimmy Justice on The Alex Jones Show part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmXrMxKMOP4&feature=related

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Washington Post article on Jimmy Justice

New York's Video Vigilante, Scourge of Parking Enforcers

'Jimmy Justice' Posts Images of Officers Breaking the Law

The man who calls himself "Jimmy Justice" roams New York with a video camera to find illegally parked government cars. He puts his videos online, trying to shame parking enforcers into obeying laws they ticket others for violating.
The man who calls himself "Jimmy Justice" roams New York with a video camera to find illegally parked government cars. He puts his videos online, trying to shame parking enforcers into obeying laws they ticket others for violating. (By Keith B. Richburg -- The Washington Post)

NEW YORK -- He calls himself "Jimmy Justice," a self-styled "cop-arazzi," armed only with a video camera as he prowls the streets of New York looking for law enforcement officers who are breaking the law. His targets are illegally parked city government vehicles -- particularly cars of traffic cops blocking bus stops, sitting in "no parking" zones or double-parked.

Cop cars blocking fire hydrants make him particularly incensed.

"Something like that is just despicable," Jimmy fumed, pointing to a police enforcement vehicle parked next to a fire hydrant on 33rd Street on Manhattan's West Side on a muggy July afternoon. "They're never allowed to block a fire hydrant -- but they do it."

He posts his best videos on YouTube and sends regular e-mail to the union representing the city's traffic enforcement agents, pointing out the most egregious parking offenses. And he has gotten results, he said, with some parking enforcers being fined because of his videos.

"I'm using a video camera as a weapon," he said. "I believe a video does not lie."

He is a fairly big, stocky guy, and with his brusque and hectoring manner, he has been described as obnoxious, self-righteous and worse.

"He acts like an adolescent," said James Huntley, the president of the traffic enforcers union. "I believe he's a big kid, or he wouldn't go around intimidating people who are just doing their job."

But in the digital age, Jimmy Justice represents a new kind of citizen vigilante at a time, particularly in New York, when amateur videos are increasingly being used to hold law enforcers to account and shine a public spotlight on their excesses.

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Within the past week, two videos have surfaced showing what appears to be police misconduct in New York. In one video, viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube, a police officer is seen charging a bicyclist and knocking him to the ground during a July 25 group bicycle ride through Times Square -- despite the officer's sworn complaint that the cyclist tried to run him down.

A few days later, a separate video appeared, showing another police officer apparently swinging a baton and beating a handcuffed suspect lying on the ground during a July 4 arrest.

The police department has been stung by the incidents, and the officers involved have had their badges and guns taken away while the department investigates. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said there will soon be a way for people with videos of crimes -- and incidents of police misconduct -- to send them directly to the police through 911.

In the eyes of civil libertarians and others who have long complained about police excesses under New York's "zero tolerance" policy, the increasingly common use of video by ordinary citizens has started to shift the balance away from law enforcement officials in questions of official misconduct.

"I think the proliferation of video technology does, in some sense, level the playing field," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "When we think about the citizen eyewitnesses that have brought to light some egregious police conduct that no one would have believed, the benefit is unquestionable."

However, the police union cautions that videos do not always give the entire picture, and officers worry about a flood of citizen videos by people who might not understand that police work is sometimes a messy business.

"The use of force sometimes looks violent," said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. "Pieces of video don't tell the whole story." With the police commissioner openly asking for citizen videos, Lynch said, "he's going to have to be very careful not to bow to public pressure and not bow to emotion."

Jimmy Justice -- a pseudonym he chose because it echoes "Give me justice" -- believes all residents of New York should be digitally armed and ready for action. "I think everyone should get a video camera," he said. "Or, if you have to get a new cellphone, get one with a video function." And when people get video of cops behaving badly, he said, "send it in to your local authorities. Or post it on YouTube or other video-sharing sites."

He might sound obsessed. But Jimmy insists he is just a normal guy from Brooklyn, with a job, a girlfriend, a social life and hobbies, including playing guitar in a band. Jimmy Justice's crusade, he said, is against what he calls the city's double standard on parking. Uniformed agents relentlessly -- some say ruthlessly -- enforce parking rules in a city where spaces are scarce, but they violate those same rules when on personal business, such as stopping for lunch or running errands.

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"You can call it a vendetta if you want, because that's what it is," Jimmy said. "It's about the city's predatory policy of ticketing to raise revenue." When traffic enforcers park illegally, he said, "it's an unfair double standard."

Sometimes it gets ugly out there. In the two years since he began making his videos, Jimmy said, he has been threatened, punched and spit on, and has had cameras smashed to the ground. He said he does not disclose his real name because he fears retaliation by someone whom he has made an unwilling YouTube star.

And Jimmy admits that he occasionally crosses the line, sometimes verbally berating traffic enforcers.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" he shouts in a video at one enforcer who was in a restaurant buying lunch while her car was parked next to a fire hydrant -- as firetrucks arrived outside for an emergency. "Are you on drugs?" Jimmy shouts at her.

"I definitely try to pick it up when the camera is on," he conceded. "I want to make entertaining videos."

And that is precisely what infuriates Huntley, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1182, which represents the city's 2,500 traffic enforcement agents and sanitation workers.

"Sometimes we do have to make U-turns. Sometimes we do have to park here and there," Huntley said. "This man wants to glorify himself and get some ratings."

Huntley said he is more concerned about traffic agents facing harassment and assaults in the streets for simply doing their jobs. In April, Gov. David A. Paterson signed a new law that makes an assault on a traffic enforcement agent a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

"We can have him arrested for menacing or stalking," Huntley said of Jimmy, signaling a possible new confrontation in the streets. "For too long, we've been abused by the public and the media. We're not going to be a punching bag anymore in New York City."

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

WebProNews article on Jimmy Justice

New York Man Uses YouTube To Show Cops Breaking Law


Turns tables on police

A New York City resident, known as Jimmy Justice, has been video taping New York City Police officers and city workers breaking the law while working; and posting the clips on his own channel on YouTube.

In an interview with WebProNews, Justice spoke about what he does and some of the challenges he faces while video taping law enforcement and city workers.

Justice said he has been documenting the illegal activity of New York City public employees for about two years. He primarily films police committing traffic violations such as parking by a fire hydrant or in no-standing zones.

He said he started filming them because," New York City employs a system of predatory ticketing." "Traffic cops scour the streets looking for petty violations to write summonses. It is apparent that City Hall is not interested in public safety but rather using traffic law to raise revenue. I wanted to turn the tables on those who write the summonses, and I hoped to inspire some discretion in the manner that they ticket civilians."

Justice said he is not intimidated by law enforcement officials when he films them. "I know that I am allowed to take video in a public place, so I cannot be intimidated."

Justice says he publishes his videos under the pseudonym Jimmy Justice but that it would be naive of him to think the police don't know his identity. "I can handle myself in any face- to- face confrontation," Justice said. "What I am afraid of is a rogue officer coming to my house when I am not home and taking revenge by writing me 100 summonses for nonsense."

The worst confrontation Justice has had was when a of board of education employee smashed his camera "to pieces."

Justice said the city of New York has investigated some of the clips he has posted on his YouTube channel."They have already investigated some of the officers who were caught abusing their authority in my videos. More importantly, the city has started to crack down on scofflaws who use their city issued parking placards improperly by parking illegally while running personal errands."

Justice stressed he is "not against the police, I am only against rogue officers who abuse their authority."

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Jimmy Justice To Be Featured On MSNBC

Jimmy Justice will be featured this Sunday night June 29th at 10pm Eastern time on the MSNBC special : Caught On Camera- 'The Video Vigilantes'.

Here is a link to a short preview.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25288797#25288797

Friday, June 6, 2008

Jimmy Justice on The Bob Rivers Show- Seattle Washington

Yesterday I was invited to call into The Bob Rivers show in Seattle Washington.

To listen to the interview follow this link:

http://www.bobrivers.com/ontheshow/brsnews.asp?dismode=article&artid=9431

( It is easier to load the audio using internet explorer, if you use firefox you may have to download a plug in )

I want to thank Bob Rivers for having me on his show.

J.J.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Jimmy Justice on The Opie & Anthony Show

I am excited to announce that I will be on the O&A show Thursday morning June 5th some time between 8:00 and 8:30 am.

You can hear it on XM satellite radio channel 202, or on 92.3 K-Rock in New York City.

I have been a big fan of O&A and their outrageous antics for many years, and I am looking forward to having a good time talking to them.

I want to thank O&A's audience for being very supportive of my traffic cop videos.

J.J.

P.S. If anyone has a recording of my appearance on The O&A show please email it to me @ jimmyjustice4753@gmail.com
Thanks :)

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Lets Go Giants !!!

Nothing would make me happier than seeing the Patriots lose the Super Bowl.Especially to the New York Giants ! If any team has a chance to defeat the Patriots, it is the Giants.I have my fingers crossed.

Traffic Enforcement Agent In a Bus Stop

Sunday, January 20, 2008

New Videos Coming Soon !!!

I want to apologize for not posting new videos for a while. I have many hours of videos that I want to share, and I still hit the streets in my spare time making new videos.

Today my priorities are to watch both NFL playoff games. After the games , I will get to work and upload some new videos.

You can watch all my videos on my youtube page.

http://www.youtube.com/jimmyjustice4753


Or you can watch some of them here.Scroll down this page and go to "older posts" to see all of them.

Sanitation Enforcement Agent Agnone Breaks The Law

Female Traffic Cop Breaks The Law Because She Is Having Her Period

Jimmy Justice On Countdown

Jimmy Justice on ABC's i-caught Videos

Jimmy Justice On Inside Edition

Who Watches Them ?

Traffic Cop Makes Illegal U-Turn

Traffic Cop Anderson Breaks the Law And Has A Message For NYC

Traffic Enforcement Agent Block Fire Hydrant During Fire

Welcome To The Jimmy Justice Blog

Welcome to the Jimmy Justice blog ! We can discuss issues of social injustice, abuse of authority by the Government, or other current events. I welcome all comments positive or negative.But lets try to be friendly and share ideas that will improve the quality of life for everyone in the city.