After nearly a year of FBI "terrorist warnings" ("We don't know where, who, what, why, but sometime this week, a terrorist will strike") and paranoia that swept a nation, a photo hobbyist was arrested in Pennsylvania for taking pictures of a small-town police car. As the story hits the AP wire, copcar dot com presents you with...

copcar dot com presents: The Classified Vehicles of Pennsylvania

There's a slight possibility that a terrorist might want to plan an attack on the CENSORED, PA, police unit. Sorry, can't show it to you.

This CENSORED, PA, police vehicle is puuling out onto CENSORED street ready for patrol in the CENSORED district. Please don't try and read the street sign at the corner. copcar dot com respects the classified status of this photograph and we have actually changed the names on the sign.

Certainly this photographer committed a felony by Pennsylvania standards when he shot this CENSORED, PA, Ford CENSORED. Please don't try this on your own.

This is a shot of a CENSORED State Police unit. We figured it would be okay to show the hubcaps. We have been very careful not to show the signs and electric pole in the background.

Now, this Chevy CENSORED is really top secret and we here at copcar recognize the importance of keeping secrets. The CENSORED belongs to the CENSORED PA, Police Department. While we recognize its highly classified status, we are hoping that showing just the headlight isn't going to run us afoul of the law

All joking aside, the incident in Pennsylvania is surprising and sad. Below is one of the articles on the incident. I do not condone how this "hobbyist" went about trying to take his photographs but I do support our right to photograph a publicly owned vehicle as much as an NRA member would defend his right to keep Uzi's for duck hunting.

Pa. Man Charged for Police Photos

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Associated Press Writer

September 4, 2002, 9:16 AM EDT

PHILADELPHIA -- College student Mohammed Budeir says he enjoys taking photographs of police cars. An FBI warning and Sept. 11 sensitivities may soon put an end to his hobby.

Budeir, 21, a U.S. citizen of Syrian descent, was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after Willistown Township police said they found him in their parking lot taking photos without permission on two days in August.

Willistown Police Chief Hugh Murray said the FBI issued a warning in late July to watch for people taking photos of emergency vehicles. Murray said Budeir "made no attempt either day to come to our station and talk to me or anybody else and say, 'This is my hobby, do you guys mind?'"

Budeir, a Villanova University student, said by e-mail that he had no comment. His attorney, Richard Meanix, said the student merely wanted the photos for his collection.

There is a thriving online community of former officers and civilians who are interested in police vehicles. Thousands of photos of police cars, both vintage and late-model, are posted on the Internet on dozens of Web sites.

Ed Sanow, author of "Encyclopedia of American Police Cars" and numerous other books on the subject, said he does not know of any other hobbyist getting arrested for taking photos.

Nevertheless, Sanow said he always asks for permission, even if the police car is on a public street.

In Budeir's case, "common sense would tell you, stop at the front gate. I've done that and have been granted immediate access to the fleet, as have dozens of my fellow police car enthusiasts," said Sanow, editorial director of Law and Order Magazine.

Others say police are being heavy-handed.

Dave Arnold, a former Colorado police officer and proprietor of www.copcar.com, an Internet site with 6,000 police car photos, said a hobbyist should have to ask permission only if the car is parked in a police garage, a fenced-in lot or some other secured place.

"If it's in a public-access parking lot on public property that tax dollars paid for, how can you charge someone with trespass even though you've been given a warning?" said Arnold, whose site gets 4,000 to 5,000 hits a week.

Budeir was taking photos of Willistown police cars on Aug. 1 when a police sergeant told him to delete the photos from his digital camera and stay away from the suburban Philadelphia police station, according to court documents.

"They told him it was not a good time to be practicing this hobby," Murray said, especially in this post-Sept. 11 climate.

The FBI has said terrorists may try to case emergency vehicles to help carry out an attack.

Budeir allegedly returned the following afternoon to take more photos. This time, he told police he was a hobbyist who posted his photos on the Internet, but he could not recall the name of the Web site, according to court documents.

Budeir waived his preliminary hearing last week and applied for a rehabilitation program for nonviolent offenders. The program would allow him to perform community service and have the arrest wiped from his record.

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