Birder Arrest 12
The news buzzing around on the interwebs is that a birder in Massachusetts has been arrested while he was birding. The email recounting the birder’s plight can be found on the New Jersey birding listserv.
The birder claims he was birding in Rumney Marsh and someone from one of the houses next to the marsh called police because they thought the guy with binoculars was looking at their house. The birder then claims that after he left the marsh, police arrested him despite his claims of birding because the police said that there are no birds around in winter. The birder’s binoculars were confiscated as evidence and the birder also has charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
I wasn’t there, I have no idea if this is an example or police brutality or a lippy birder but it does make me think of all the times birders risk being mistaken for some sort of peeping tom or potential thief. Non Birding Bill and I have had an interesting week of tv watching the old Adam-12 series (pictured above) followed by a few episodes of The Wire. Two radically different police shows. Are the police all Reed and Malloys or are they all Bunk and McNultys? Somewhere in the middle would guess.
I think this story is a good reminder that as a birder, we can’t just bound onto property or aim our scopes and binoculars in someone’s yard and hope that when you reveal yourself as a bird watcher everyone will roll their eyes, call out, “Nerd Alert,” and let you be.
I think this story is a good reminder that if we want to keep enjoying our hobby and passion–especially in any area where there is a house, we have to be diplomats whether we like it or not. We have to understand that there are going to be police who have no clue about Christmas Bird Counts, robins who spend the winter with us, Project Feeder Watch, airport snowy owls and all the other activities that we love.
Unbelievable to think that a police officer thinks there are no birds around in the winter!
One-Adam -12, loved that show. Martin Milnor and Kent McCord, I can belive I still remember their real names.
This reminds me of the day after Christmas, when I was testing out my new binoculars. I was looking straight up into the trees outside of my apartment patio, and my partner suggested I look off to the right, where the land stretches out for a great distance. I told her that this seemed like a very bad idea, and she took a second look at the view to the right – past the natural area that stretches out are more buildings in our apartment complex, and lots of parents and kids were outside playing with Christmas toys. I can imagine what any of these parents would have thought if they’d seen me, staring towards their kids through binoculars. They probably wouldn’t assume I was innocently testing out a Christmas gift.
I wouldn’t assume the best either if someone were behind my apartment looking towards the building with binoculars.
I don’t want to make any assumptions about the person who got arrested or the police – it is possible that the birder resisted arrest, it is possible that the police were jerks, it’s even possible that the birder was being a bit of a perv – but I do think you always have to consider how you look to others when you are using binoculars. If you are going to birdwatch near private property, the best policy is probably to knock on a few doors, introduce yourself, and let people know what you’re doing. You could openly tell them that your intention is to avoid scaring them or getting arrested.
And if they seem creeped out by you, perhaps you should take your birdwatching elsewhere.
On the Portland, Oregon Christmas Bird Count this year, four of us were driving in a residential neighborhood along the Columbia River checking out feeders and trees and the river beyond when a woman stopped her car alongside ours and asked in a moderately hostile tone, “Why were you looking in my bedroom window with binoculars?”
Our leader/driver did a good job explaining about the CBC and what we were doing, and why it might have looked that way. She seemed to understand, and left mollified, if still a little offended. I was very glad she asked, instead if calling the cops!
Earlier, we had parked in front of another house, looking in the trees, when another woman came outside and asked what we were doing. When we explained, she was excited, and let us come into her backyard, which faced the river, and gave us a view we couldn’t get any other way. She invited us to come back in the afternoon for another look later, and we did, for three eagles and a peregrine.
A lot of people asked, “What are you doing?” We talked about our activities, and showed cool birds through our binos and scope, and only had that one suspicious reaction. I can’t blame the woman. To someone who doesn’t know anything about birding, we probably did look like an SUV full of perverts.
I find it unsettling that a hobby I pursue to seek moments of solitude and harmony with nature can cause unease in others. I have encountered some individuals who have had concerns about birding, birders, and the ‘reach’ of our gear, and our intent on using it, and I do appreciate where they come from. Ironically, it is probably birders, who train themselves to notice movement, change in behavior, and detail, who are in a best position to note suspicious behavior in their communities.
I carry a set of ‘birder’ cards with me that list my name, email, and blog address. Generally they are for those people who stop to ask me what I am photographing when I have a bird in my sites, but I hope they would also be taken into account were I ever to be in a situation where I needed to explain my activities.
I try to remind myself that the importance I place on a sighting or potential picture would never measure up to a parent or spouse’s feeling of protection were they to believe that a loved one’s privacy had been violated. I would hope that with that attitiude and a general communicative and understanding personality that I would never find myself in that position, but were I to do so I know that there would never be reason to additionally list resisting arrest or assault on a police officer. I mean come on, birding goes so far, but were a cop to say “jump!” I would ask “how high,… sir?”
Common sense goes a long way, don’t aim optics directly at homes, especially doors or windows, and respect private property. I try to keep in mind a business phrase that I learned years ago, “the message perceived is the message received”, swap action for message and I believe it sets my attitude correctly should anyone ever question my activities.
The more I read and digest the more upset I am am with the birder in the story, yeah the cops may have been uneducated or even jerks, but way to cast all birders in a bad light by reacting in what must have been an unacceptable manner. If we want the uneducated public to share our concerns for the preservation of wild places we had better not make them think that on the whole we are people not to be trusted.
I had the police called on me repeatedly for photographing birds in a local, somewhat affluent, city park here in San Francisco. I dressed nicely and was endlessly polite, and then one day, a man called the police on me and didn’t bother to move out of earshot. I could hear him describing me to the police. I asked him, “Sir, do you have any questions – you can talk to me. What are you afraid of?” And he said, “The Police will take care of you!” And he ran off, on a lovely Sunday morning at 9am. I put these posters up all over the park in response.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacksonwest/112085715/sizes/l/
They never called the police on me again – and it started a wonderful dialogue within the community.
Doing a fair bit of birding in Washington, DC, where I work, I am more than familiar with this phenomenon. DC has more police, and types of police forces, than other US cities. I’ve been questioned, or looked at, more than once by law enforcement officers, as have other fellow birders.
As I drive over Capitol Hill en route to the office after some pre-work birding, I ask myself – should I hide the bins, or is that suspicious behavior? Better to leave them in plain view?
It’s all Homeland Security Overkill, but a bit of diplomacy goes a long way…
Let me see, who is more likely to spot a potential terrorist – a couch potato watching soaps, or a keen-eyed, observant birder walking around outside?
- Warren
It seems if you are close to a school and see the lifer of the day you cannot avoid police showing up at your door later. I had this happen, not realizing I was close to a school because I was looking in the tree. I guess someone phoned my license plate in. Oh well it got sorted when they saw the photos.
It’s sad that police officers, who by their duties are required to be keenly observant of what is within their jurisdictions, would fail to notice that there are birds around all year long.
I had the same problem in Rochester NY while taking photos while taking my granddaughter on a stroller ride. I as reported as looking in people’s windows. When police saw my photos he let me go.
Birds don’t commit crimes. Living on the pacific coast in oregon we have lots of protected wetlands and shorebirds. The dunes and timber deputies do spend time noticing the birds and other wild life in their area because they (the deputies) are tasked with protecting those areas and the natural inhabitants. My patrol deputies, on the other hand, are more focused on people, buildings, and property. Overall though, courtesy and education tends to make interactions between law abiding people and police much smoother. Maybe showing a birding book where the person lists all the birds they have seen, or a card like mentioned above would be a great way to approach the officer. Resisting arrest and assault on an officer would lead me to believe there is more to the story than what we have so far.
We’ve had a police officer show up at our door, too. We invited him in to take a look through the spotting scope set up in our living room. He saw the ducks on the pond, and not the neighbor who assumed we were keeping tabs on her. I originally had this incident in my first Birder Murder book, then edited it out. I’m sure it will show up in one of the future novels, though – it’s just too good to pass up and obviously it’s something other birders can relate to.
Walter Kitundu
Your sign is five kinds of awesome.