Know your rights as a photographer!
As I often state during my photography workshops and Meetup group outings: no, neither the police, nor security guards have the right to destroy or even confiscate your personal property. Please see The Fourth Amendment for full details.
Chicago Security Guard Deletes Photos, Commits Battery on Photographer
“I’m gonna erase the memory card.”
A security guard for Acme Refining in Chicago followed through on this threat, and deleted two days’ worth of Benn Jordan’s photography.Jordan was taking landscape photos from a public area of the South Side of Chicago when security guards rolled up on him and started getting physical.
In the video Jordan posted to YouTube called, “This crap is why I can’t make a timelapse landscape of Chicago,” you can see part of Jordan’s encounter, as Acme’s overly aggressive security guard pushes the camera phone Jordan used to film the altercation.
The security guard seizes Jordan’s camera, claiming he was on private property while threatening to call the cops, insinuating Jordan had criminal intentions. Similar to the staff at an Illinois refinery who recently tried to have a photographer arrested, this security guard seems to be treating photography as a form of terrorism.
Jordan said the aggression took place before he was able to turn on his camera phone.