CPD erases video of Loyola professor

18-Nov-11 – A journalism professor at Loyola University has filed a complaint with the Independent Police Review Authority over an incident last week in River North.

Ralph Braseth – who is working on a documentary about young people from less affluent neighborhoods coming into the Loop on weekends – was arrested while shooting video of another arrest at the CTA stop near State Street and Chicago Avenue. A Chicago police officer then erased his video.

At about 9 p.m. on November 12, Braseth noticed an arrest being made by two plainclothes CTA police officers of a young man who had jumped over a ticket turnstile. With a Kodak Flip video camera, he starting recording the arrest from about 40 feet away on the other side of the turnstile.

“When one of the officers saw me,” writes Braseth (left) in his complaint, “the officer approached me and told me to turn off the camera. He grabbed [my] right arm and twisted it behind my back.” Braseth identified himself as a journalist but the officer handcuffed him and told the 53-year-old professor he was “obstructing an investigation.”

Taken to a police car, he was put in the back seat for about 20 minutes. After searching and interviewing the man who had jumped the turnstile, the officer then got into the driver’s seat of the squad car and asked Braseth why he was taping them.

“He expressed his strong feelings that it was illegal to videotape police during an arrest.”

The officer checked his name for a criminal record, let him out of the police car, and removed the handcuffs. According to Braseth, the officer then asked for his camera, “found the [video] clip of the arrest and erased it.”

Videotaping police arrest not illegal, say legal experts

Since the incident, Braseth says “people and organizations…are starting to step forward to offer assistance.”

Richard Devine, a former Cook County State’s Attorney, quoted by The Loyola Phoenix, says there is “no question” Braseth had the right to shoot the video.

Some public officials have used a state eavesdropping law to arrest people for recording their conversations without permission. But says Don Wycliff, who teaches journalism ethics at Loyola, “you can’t eavesdrop on something that’s happening in plain sight and hearing.”

Since June, Braseth has been working on a story about large numbers of teenagers from the south side of Chicago who travel to the Gold Coast neighborhood north of the Loop.

“For the most part, these kids just want to hang out on Michigan Avenue, go to a nice mall…and have some fun.”

But he says there is “constant friction” between the teenagers and police.

With a Ph.D. in higher education, Braseth has managed student media at Loyola’s School of Communication since 2009. Before that, he was a member of the journalism faculty at the University of Mississippi for 18 years. His work in video documentary has earned him a National Christopher Award and a regional Emmy.

Braseth told Marina City Online on Wednesday that the incident “will probably keep me from getting the story I’ve been working on for more than three months.”

On Friday, Lieutenant Maureen Biggane, Commanding Officer of News Affairs for the Chicago Police Department, confirmed that “an Internal Affairs investigation has been initiated.”