A troublesome bird.

Taking this picture this morning got me accosted by Philadelphia's Finest (aka, the police).

I spotted this pigeon on top of a Pizza Hut sign in the bowels of the Suburban Station Concourse (a huge underground labyrinth that links the regional rail lines, the Market Street Elevated, the Broad Street Subway, and all of the subway-surface trolley lines) and couldn't resist - it was just a strange juxtaposition of the organic and the man-made that I whipped out the small digital camera I always carry and snapped one off.

As I tried to get a shot from a different angle, a Philadelphia police officer hurried over to me, with another close behind. He informed me what I was doing was illegal, and needed a permit to take photographs in the concourse.

Both of these facts are wrong. SEPTA nor the City of Philadelphia have passed any laws against taking photos in specific public places, such as transit areas. Keep in mind that I wasn't taking pictures of tracks, electrical equipment, trains, or even people, just a pigeon on a sign hanging from the ceiling. Last week I took pictures all over the 30th Street Station train platforms, as well as many inside the station of the IKEA ads. No officers bothered me, not even the US Homeland Security officers with their dogs.

Thankfully, last week I also read this helpful document, The Photographer's Rights, so I knew what I was doing was not illegal, and certainly did not need a "permit". (Who would issue such a "permit"? Would the city of Philadelphia have to issue one of these "permits" to every person with a camera on their cell phone?)

Since I had a strange enough morning already (only possible when you ride SEPTA), I didn't argue with the officer. Maybe I should have. I wasn't scared or worried, but it was just easier to make up some crap about being an art student and always looking for ideas, and walk away. He had been polite and non-threatening, and actually interested in what kind of photos I take.

I do not have major issues or problems with the Philadelphia Police. Do I think there's corruption within the department? Of course. Do I think they often shoot first and ask questions later? Sometimes. Do they do racial profiling? Find me a law enforcement organization that doesn't. However, the Philadelphia PD has eased up since the Frank Rizzo era, where you were likely to be harassed by police for just having long hair. Or an Afro. Or being between the ages of 18 and 25.

While there are times that I am critical of the Philadelphia PD, I also believe they do a very difficult and necessary job everyday (the street cops in particular), and this dedication should earn respect.

However, although I did not entertain them with a tirade about the misinformation the officers gave me this morning, choosing instead to walk away, the confrontation left me angry because it was a waste of police resources.

Two days ago at 2:30PM, a 36-year-old Starbucks manager Sean Patrick Conroy, was beaten by four truant teenagers in the 13th Street subway concourse. The four of them circled Conroy, beat and kicked him, and ran away when a SEPTA Transit intervened. Unfortunately, Conroy had asthma, and the beating sent his body into shock. The officer tried CPR, but Conroy died at a nearby hospital 45 minutes later.

The one teenager who was captured has been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy. He also gave up the names of the three other thugs, but they have not been picked up.

The most terrifying element about this attack - besides that it took place at 2:30PM in the afternoon at a busy subway station located directly beneath SEPTA's main offices - is that it was a completely unprovoked attack, and that robbery was not the motive. The teen who was caught said that the four of them just decided to randomly jump and attack someone.

There have been calls for more police (both SEPTA and city forces) in the subway, and when an incident such as this happens, yes, for a few days there are more police in the stations and concourses. The city and SEPTA recently increased patrols at the North end of the Broad Street Subway, where there are several high schools, between 2PM and 5PM because of problems of kids jumping other kids for valuables when school let out. It's been theorized that this increased police presence at that end of the subway line instead drove teenagers into Center City and onto the Market Street El instead.

Unfortunately Sean Patrick Conroy was in the wrong place at the wrong time, which was just about two blocks away from where I was detained for taking a photograph this morning.

It doesn't matter how many police walk the concourses and the platforms if they're not looking for true potential sources of trouble - e.g., large groups of boisterous youth, mentally unstable people who may hurt themselves or others, and people obviously having a fight or a disagreement - and instead question a person who is clearly not disturbing anyone, or photographing any sort of classified transit secrets, just taking a picture of a pigeon in an unusual place.

Please officers, I'm not worth your time.