Griffo and Roefaro Mull Law re Taping fights

[dgriffin]

Griffo and Roefaro meet to discuss YouTube fight and legislation to avoid it

www.wktv.com/news/local/53233017.html

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Outraged by the recent taping and broadcast of a fight on a Utica street corner, local leaders are trying to pass a new law that would make not only the participants in the assault, but the person holding the camera, guilty of a crime.

State Senator Joseph Griffo and Utica Mayor David Roefaro held a news conference at Utica City Hall Friday to push for the new legislation.

"Now I believe this is appropriate, it's important and it sends a strong message to those who are out there participating and then recording these types of activities and thinking that this is entertainment," says Griffo.


Are these two dolts for real? Criminalize taping an incident? My God, haven't they heard of the United States Constitution? Granted, the videographer may have instigated public outrage, maybe even the fight, but you can't just arrest someone for recording something you don't like, unless your name is President (of Iran) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.


Roefaro agreed by saying, "Those who believe that videotaping a fight or altercation on our city streets is somehow entertainment, we don't see it as entertainment."

Hey, Roe! You may not see it as entertainment, but more important, your Founding Fathers wouldn't see it as criminal. Legislating your sensitivities is not good government, even for a Democrat.

[tanouryjr]

Do these guys realize that they wouldn't even know about this fight if it had not been for the guy videotaping it? How about solving the problems on the street and stop worrying about the guy filming it. Just sayin.

[Ralph]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Clipper]

Sounds as if putting those two brilliant political minds together resulted in almost enough gray matter to cover the head of a common pin. LOL Roefaro might have been better off to allow Angelo to address the issue.

PS: Excellent observation Larry!

[lioneljoe]

Right on Larry... Now where is the new Utica Chief of police Dan Labella? I don't recall him being quoted in the OD.

[Clipper]

LaBella was not quoted because he is still hunting for a "talking head" to do his press releases. Rumor has it the Roefaro family has lined up all the Mayors younger relatives to interview for the position.

[bblvr]

I sort of agree that the guy that was video taping should have done something to stop the fight, but he most likely would have gotten hurt too. He is not the cops or fire fighter that go into the danger area.
The film is good it shows who did what. Posting to youtube maybe wrong, but it got everyones attention which is good. So this would give the Mayor a good chance to do something good. But no WE HAVE NO PROBLEMS THE CRIME IS DOWN. Wizard of OZ thing pay no attention to the film!

[fiona]

Our Mayor is MIA and has been for some time. I am starting to prefer those little blurbs by Angelo ( my statement is my statement) Rofaro. I went to a lecture once about the Titanic. One woman spoke up and asked, in all honesty, why couldn't the passengers sit and wait on the iceberg for someone to save them.

[Ralph]

Keep in mind that crime is down in Utica……..but which crimes?

Crime has been “down” in Utica for so many years now that by the law of averages, this should be a crime free city and the safest place in the USA to live!!!

I am a great lover of statistics……and food……and magic. Statistics are a lot like food, and with the right sleight of hand can be made into almost anything you want them to be.

We often used to remarked that on a lightly toasted square whole wheat cracker, with a triangular slice of muenster cheese and a parsley garnish……you could substitute Ken-L-Ration for pate` and no one would be the wiser.

Same holds true for crime stats, put the right twist on them and garnish with the correct attitudes and embellishments during delivery……viola!!!! What a great serene and peaceful city we live in.

Bite me……..twice!

[dgriffin]

It takes a certain amount of time for a policeman to arrest and process a perp. The cop isn't going to arrest any more perps during his shift if the crime rate increases. It takes more cops to arrest more perps. Therefore the ARREST RATE has to follow the number of ACTIVE cops on the beat. UPD is conveniently confusing the Arrest Rate and the Crime Rate, as Fiona and Ralph can attest.

To be buggered (in the psycho-social sense) each time one steps out his or her door by harassing youths of any color, unable to call upon the police because they're elsewhere, is a quality of life issue that is not indicated by the Crime Rate Stats.

On the other hand, how many cops would it take to police a city rampant with this kind of behavior? Thousands?

But on still another hand (yes, I have three), the most interesting aspect of the Cornhill tape to me (other than recognizing buildings and corners I hung around on 50 years ago) was the amount of TIME invested by the NUMBER of policemen attending to the incident. I'm no expert in police work, so perhaps I shouldn't comment, but during the time all those guys spent clustered on James St., it might be that Fiona was trying to get away from harassing youths over on Genesee St. and could have used some police assistance.

[Ralph]

Unfortunately times have changed Dave. Used to be if an officer required back-up, a single officer in the background may have been sufficient. Now…..you better have a squad on standby.
Used to be a single car could make a traffic stop, now another if not three or more cars can be seen after the initial pullover.

We have learned since 2007 what can happen in the blink of an eye on our streets. Not that we didn’t know before, just that we were not thinking it would ever happen here.

It may be just a group of folks hanging around to see what transpires, but one false move and they all get “froggish” and then it hits the fan.

[Will]

Just another example of our constitutional rights being trampled on.

Edit: After watching both part 1 and part 2, I'm torn on weather the guy shooting the video was just an observer recording it or a director participating in it. When in doubt.... hmmmm... Knock em out maybe? I dunno... Surely Mr. A. Game is smoking a blunt in part 1. So at least lock him up for that.

[Clipper]

I agree Will. It seems that it has become the norm to panic and ram through a law to cover a particular incident, and then to find out that it is either unconstitutional or it conflicts with some existing law.

We need more than bandaids on the crime problem in Cornhill. Jumping in with both feet to make a political publicity splash is not the answer.
No special law is needed. If the person behind the camera, filiming an illicit event can be proved to be a part of the whole thing, I am sure that he could be convicted as an accessory to the crime committed.

It is a shame that the only time we see Roefaro speak for himself, rather than having Angelo speak for him, he makes a total ass of himself with some poorly hatched politically motivated action or another. I am beginning to think that Angelo is not the talking head, but rather he is the brains at city hall. With that in mind, the city is in big trouble, haha.

[Will]

Agreed Clipper, I edited my post as you were posting. I should have watched both videos before posting rather than watch part 2 first. Your right, no special law is needed. The cops should be able t discern who is a participant or an observer.

[Deleted]

What we have is 2 pinheads in Roefaro & Griffo. Griffo is only interested in one thing. Getting reelected so he can continue to feed off the public trough which is his forte. So he runs his mouth & shows his ignorance in regards to free speech. Nothing new here. Roefaro is no better. Also nothing new there. They are both a couple of empty hats & make a good pair. So while Rome burns, two half wits get press & all is well in la-la land.