Incident at Trenton-Mercer Airport - 3/30/2013
Here we go again. Two months since my last incident, and after being assured by the very nice airport manager that I was indeed allowed to photograph from public spaces, I once again had a run in with a Mercer County Sheriff's Deputy at TTN. I was waiting for the Frontier A319 to push back, and when the anti-collision beacon turned on, I got out of my car, and approached the side of the terminal. On the way, an officer was just leaving the terminal, and I said "hi" as I passed him. While the A319 was being unhooked from the tug, I heard "is there something I can help you with?" behind me, and I turned to see that same officer there. I told him "no, I'm just about to take pictures of the Frontier plane", and his response was "And you think it's okay to take pictures at an airport post 9/11???". He asked for my ID, and I said "sure" (as I got it out), and then said, "but [airport manager's name]" said it's fine for me to take photos here. He asked who [airport manager's name] is, and I told him it was the manager. He then said "come on, let's go talk to her right now..come on", and as I walked with him, I said "I don't think she'll be in today [since it was a weekend]", and he said "well, you dropped her name...come on, let's go see her". Seriously? Telling an officer that I have permission from the airport manager is name dropping?! :mad: We went into the terminal, where the officer looked around, and found an airport employee near the boarding area. He said something to the effect of "this gentleman was taking photos of the tower and airfield" [not true, I hadn't even taken any photos at that point, and I was only going to take pictures of the Frontier] and asked him if he had seen me before. The employee said no (it wasn't the airport manager), then the officer asked if I was allowed to take pictures there. The employee said sure, as long as I wasn't past the fence (which I obviously wasn't). The officer let me go, and I just barely got off a few pictures as the Frontier taxied away, then I left the airport.
The entire time, I was polite, non-confrontational, and was willing to ease his mind by giving him my ID, so he could see my background was crystal clear. In return for my cooperation, he basically treated me like I was a dog -- "come on", "let's go", etc. And he wasn't saying those things because I was slouching behind or anything...I was walking in front of him. It's sad that it's been over 11 years since 9/11 and police still bring it up, and somehow try to link aviation photography with the events of that day. It's also sad that I (once again) had permission to photograph there (along with that little thing called the First Amendment), and I continue to get harassed by some Mercer County Sheriff's Deputies who wish to make up their own rules -- all at an airport which gets 4 commercial flights per day (soon to be around 10...fly Frontier from TTN! -- just don't get out your dangerous camera). I won't stop photographing at my hometown airport, where I've been taking pictures for over 15 years, nor will I have my rights stepped on, so I will be writing the airport manager a message to hopefully find a solution to stop this harassment.
