Nearly six years ago in downtown Keene I was shocked when Emergency Medical Services worker Ronald Leslie snatched my phone out of my hands (here’s another angle) as I was recording video of my friend Kurt Hoffman being loaded into an ambulance. Hoffman had allegedly been attacked by now-sheriff, then-KPD-officer Eli Rivera while in a secret court hearing at Keene District Court. Though I had forgiven Leslie shortly after the incident, others have not forgotten the assault and theft.
Indeed, now that Dave Ridley is back in town, he’s been cornering bureaucrats and politicians in various places. Recently he attended a Keene city council meeting where the very same Ronald Leslie was receiving an award prior to his retirement. Ridley confronted him about the theft and at first it almost looks like Leslie has changed for the better – he even tells a female companion to keep her hands off Ridley’s camera after she begins to assault him. Despite the golden opportunity Leslie has to apologize publicly for what he did or at least admit fault, he actually claims that he thought I was giving him my camera! My mouth just about hit the floor when I heard the ridiculous excuse for his unprofessional behavior. Here’s the video:
Does this really matter? An EMT was protecting his patient. Activists can argue all they want about right or wrong but I felt what the EMT did was appropriate. During the time I was an EMT-Paramedic, there wasn’t internet but there was people who felt they had the right to walk through the scene and take pictures all they want. They were invading my space and my patient’s space. There is no reason to walk through a scene and film a patient on the worst day of their lives. I knocked a few cameras to the ground, I had people… Read more »
What is an enclave
c) Photography. A person may take photographs, films or audiovisuals, for personal or news purposes on the grounds of the enclave or in entrances, lobbies, foyers, corridors, and audito- riums in use for public meetings, ex- cept when contrary to security regula- tions or Department of Health and Human Services policies, or where pro- hibited by appropriate signs. Photo- graphs and similar activities for adver- tising or commercial purposes may be taken only with the advance written approval of the Director. A person may take photographs of a patient only with the informed consent of the pa- tient (or the… Read more »