By: Deputy Steve Sobodos
As a reserve assigned to the HTSRU (then TSRU) in April of 2000, I was given an assignment to take photos of ‘reserves in action’ at Mason Park in Irvine for the Persian holiday. For those who don’t know, this event draws 20,000 – 30,000 people into the park for the day. The attendees are mostly families with children, etc. out for a day in the park. Sometimes there are a few people there to promote their own agenda. One such person had brought a relatively large public address system and was using it to broadcast political/religious messages. The amplified sound system is prohibited in a County Park per OCCO 2-5-26, unless one possesses a permit issued by the rangers. After several warnings by the Park Rangers and attempts by the Sheriff’s Deputies to get the PA system turned off, several Deputies detained this person.
I was called to the scene to take photos of the equipment in case a dispute came up later. After taking these photos, I began taking photos of the subject’s arrest. One of the Deputies decided the photos I took should be booked into evidence, so into the envelope went the roll of film.
Fast forward to May of 2002, I get a summons to give testimony at a deposition regarding a multi-million dollar civil case filed by the subject arrested in Mason Park. I am asked many questions about what my camera settings were, what lens I used on a particular photo and at what focal length. This process took several hours. I heard nothing for a few more years, and then I was told that the subject lost the case.
Fast forward to June 2007, Lieutenant Gallivan of North Operations tells me that the case went all the way to the California State Supreme Court, which just recently refused to hear the case. Lieutenant Gallivan expressed the opinion that the photos I took seven years earlier were instrumental in getting the case dismissed.
It all goes to show – a simple reserve assignment can support the department and the County in many ways years later.