These days, Greater Media Newspapers and many other print, online and broadcast media outlets invite our readers, viewers and listeners to be more a part of our products than ever before.
Specifically, several months ago Greater Media Newspapers launched an initiative that asked our readers to submit photos to us for publication in print and online.
We are looking for anything that takes place in the communities we cover — from youth sports events, to pumpkin-picking outings, to outstanding displays of holiday decorations.
In reaching out to the community, we have received photos from people who have come upon the scenes of motor vehicle accidents. With the proliferation of cell phone cameras, it is not difficult for most people to click a photo and submit it via email.
Some of the photos we receive may run with an article about the accident that is eventually written by a reporter, and some accident photos may run loose (without an article), but with a caption noting when and where the photo was taken.
At any rate, I want our readers to know they have every right to take photos of an accident scene and to submit their pictures to us for publication.
I am raising this issue today because a reader who recently took photos at the scene of a motor vehicle accident in a municipality we cover told us we could not publish his name as the person who snapped the picture.
When we asked why he did not want credit for the photo, the man who took the picture said a police officer at the scene had informed him that the publication of the photos would constitute a felony.
That seemed like a preposterous explanation to me, so I called attorney Thomas Cafferty, who represents the New Jersey Press Association, of which Greater Media Newspapers is a member.
I should point out that as I reviewed the pictures the man submitted to us for consideration, it did not appear to me that he did anything to impede the police or emergency rescue personnel from doing their jobs at the scene of the accident.
It appeared to me that he stood across the street from the spot where the two vehicles involved in the accident had come to rest and snapped pictures of what was taking place at the scene.
None of the pictures that were submitted by the photographer were close-ups of anyone who was involved in the accident, as far as I could tell. I presented that explanation to Cafferty and he immediately explained that our publication of the photos from the accident scene would not constitute a felony. He said he had no idea why a police officer would tell an individual that the publication of photos would constitute a felony.
Cafferty went on to note, however, that there are rules to which amateur and professional photographers must adhere at a scene such as the one I have described.
No one — not a photographer, a reporter, or anyone else — has the right to interfere with the investigation of an accident scene by police, or to impede the rescue efforts being made by an emergency responder.
The photographers who work for our newspapers know they must not violate the perimeter that has been established by police around an accident or a fire, for example, and I would never instruct or expect an amateur photographer to violate that perimeter either.
Although a newspaper would still be free to publish any photos that were shot by an individual who disregards a policeman’s order or a line of demarcation, that individual could face legal action for his act of insubordination, according to Cafferty.
Let me be very clear on that point. No one who is taking photos at an accident scene, a fire, or any other public event or disaster should disregard an official directive to respect the boundaries that have been established at that time.
If common sense among all parties can prevail at incidents which, I grant you, are out of the norm, then professional and amateur photographers should be able to do their jobs, police officers and rescue personnel should be able to render assistance to those in need of help, and newspapers such as this one will be able to bring our readers information and pictures about what is happening in the communities where they live and work.