CALIFORNIA BEAT STAFF REPORT

A freelance photographer – on his way home on BART after shooting pictures of First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to San Francisco – was barred by transit agency station agents from taking photographs at the Powell Street BART Station during the afternoon rush-hour Monday.

A female station agent told photographer Andrew Leonard that “flash photography is prohibited on the BART system” after Leonard attempted to photograph a stairwell leading down to the train platform for his private non-commercial collection.

Subsequently, a BART employee sternly announced over the station’s public address system that “photography was prohibited on BART because of security concerns.” The station-wide announcement, overheard by hundreds of rush-hour commuters, was targeted at Leonard.

The new policy is raising concerns with many photographers — professional and amateur — especially in light of the New Year’s Day shooting death of Oscar Grant, where a BART Police Officer was caught on camera shooting and killing an unarmed train passenger at the Fruitvale Station platform.

The video clips, recorded by private citizens,were disseminated by local news organizations and through the web, eliciting a strong and overwhelming negative response targeting the transit agency.

Moments after the incident, BART Police officers on the platform reportedly attempted to confiscate cell phone cameras from riders who recorded the killing.

Some believe that Monday’s announcement to a crowded station platform by Powell Street BART Station Agents of a ban on photography on the BART system is an attempt by BART to prevent another fiasco involving amateur video of a potentially explosive incident making its way into the public’s eye.

But finding a legal premise to back any ban is difficult, and any such ban could infringe on constitutional rights.

Currently, there is no such local or state law that prohibits photography of public transit property in San Francisco or California so long as the photographer is not trespassing. BART also has not publicly announced any bans on photography on the transit system – either for homeland security or intellectual property concerns.

“”I am disappointed that photographers continue to be persecuted, in a sense, by those who are not savvy of the laws and regulations pertaining to photography in public places,” Leonard said.

He described the incident on his blog.

BART protocols for media personnel intending to photograph transit vehicles or station property require a valid ticket to pass through the faregates and an occasional courtesy phone call to the on-duty public information officer.

Leonard, who has worked for news organizations in the past, was not covering a story at the time of the incident.

The issue of photographing transit vehicles and property has been a particularly sensitive one for amateur photographers and private citizens — especially on the BART system.

It was private citizens who recorded videos of BART Police Officer shooting and killing unarmed train passenger Oscar Grant

Recently, a man being cited by MUNI Metro fare inspectors was told that photography was prohibited on the Metro system. A MUNI spokesperson later clarified that there was no such ban on taking pictures while riding MUNI.

With the proliferation of cameras on mobile phones and other compact-sized photography equipment that can capture high-quality digital images, it is unclear how BART or any transit system would enforce any potential bans on photography on their property.

The station agents who confronted Leonard Monday afternoon did not make clear what the penalty was for violating their directive.

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