MAYBE THIS IS WHY COPS DON’T LIKE PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS: “Not only does this Seattle police car appear to be parked more than 12 inches from the curb, its officers carelessly left this AR-15 rifle sitting on the trunk of the car while they ate donuts or drank gourmet coffee or whatever it is Seattle cops do . . . Police officials now say they are ‘very embarrassed’ over the incident, adding that they are not sure if the gun was loaded, which means it probably was.”

And people need to read Morgan Manning’s piece on photographers’ rights.

UPDATE: Reader Phil Dean writes:

Since you linked this incident and connected it with Morgan Manning’s piece, I think it’s only fair to point out that the photographer here was not charged, harrassed, or anything like it. In fact, the SPD expressed GRATITUDE to the person, who flagged down other officers and brought it to their attention.

Lots of creepy gratuitous cop-hate in the comments at Pixiq, though, including a guy who expressed outrage that a female officer placed her car behind him with the lights going while he was changing his tire on the side of the road.

Good point.