WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. March 18, 2006 UPDATED March 19, 10:40 A.M. E.S.T. UPDATED 1:47 P.M.:  Ben Hider, a White Plains resident, notes the following experience he had was at the hands of "Court Police Officers" and wishes to correct his previous statement that White Plains Police were involved. Instead, he says this was a Court Police operation.  Inspector Daniel Jackson of the White Plains Police contacted WPCNR to explain the White Plains Police were not involved in any way. Inspector Jackson's communication appears at the end of this letter: The complainant's letter:

On the morning of Friday, March 17th, 2006, at 10:00 am, I was walking to the White Plains Metro North train station for an 11:00 am dentist appointment in Scarsdale. Being a graduate of SUNY Purchase BFA (Hons) in Photography, and working as a Photographer, I was carrying my Digital SLR camera. I had noticed the day before that the flags outside of the County Courthouse building on 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr St were flapping in the wind and looked great in front of the blue spring sky. So on this morning I decided to snap a few pictures. I wasn’t photographing the building or intending to publish, print or sell any of the images.

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I was instantly surrounded by 3 police officers (erroneously mistaken by the writer as White Plains Police), who began questioning me. They escorted me inside the building, treating me as if I was under arrest. Telling me to remove my hands from my pockets and not to make any sudden moves. They took me into what I thought was a police cell, but later found to be a witness room alongside Court House 15. My pockets were emptied, belongings searched and was forcibly spread against the wall and frisked.

The officers were using terms such as “terrorist activity,” “Suspicious behavior,” “Surveillance,” and were quick to tell me about the past five years of terror activity in America. My citizenship was a large question, as I am only a Resident Alien with a valid US Green Card, which the officers implied left me under greater suspicion. They photographed me and told me I was to wait for the Counties Terrorism Unit, who were going to review my case, question me some more and investigate the equipment I was using.

I waited two hours in that room alongside the courthouse. The officers let me call my dentist to cancel my appointment and my fiancée to communicate my forthcoming tardiness. They then continued to talk about other officers and departments while using profane language and derogatory remarks.

The other unit never showed up, and after two hours, I was released for the holding cell and walked to the front of the building. During that walk officer 2047 told me that I was very fortunate not to have been taken by the terrorism crime unit, as “99% non-citizens that are taken by this unit, are never seen by them again.”

He encouraged me to become a citizen and to not take photos of anything suspicious like shopping malls, bridges, trains, county buildings or any official structures. I was thanked for my co-operation and released.

I am very disturbed by the way I was treated. Not only did they make me feel like I was breaking the law by taking a photo of a flag that was flying in a public area, but that my current legal status in the United States puts me under greater suspicion. I have lived in the country for nearly 9 years, graduating from a State College, Working for local Westchester businesses and am currently engaged to a wonderful American citizen.

Ben Hider,

White Plains, N.Y.

(Name was previously redacted by WPCNR for reasons of personal privacy, but Mr. Hider has chosen to have his name publicized.)

Inspector Daniel Jackson of the White Plains Department of Public Safety notes to WPCNR:

Mr. Bailey,
As I explained to the complainant when I spoke to him the day of the incident, the courthouse incident that your anonymous writer complains about in no way involved the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety. I instructed him as to where he could address his concerns. We were not involved in the incident at any time.
Thank You,
Inspector Daniel Jackson 
The City of White Plains
Department of Public Safety