This little kerfluffle is going on up the road a bit.
chicagotribune.com
Cedar Rapids investigates photo of officer
Associated Press
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-policephoto-inves,0,3782007,print.story2:10 PM CDT, May 12, 2011
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa
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Cedar Rapids police are investigating a photograph obtained by an anti-tax activist that appears to show an officer sleeping in his squad car.
Tim Pugh, who helped organize opposition to a sales tax referendum last week, said Thursday he was forwarded the photograph by a friend. Pugh said the photo was taken Tuesday on the city's southwest side by another individual who wishes to remain anonymous because he fears retaliation.
Pugh e-mailed the photograph to police and media outlets Thursday, complaining about what he called a waste of tax dollars.
Sgt. Cristy Hamblin says the investigation is in its infancy and has not yet been able to determine whether the photo is authentic. She says investigators are trying to determine whether an officer was involved and should face any discipline.
AP-WF-05-12-11 2204GMT
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Who is Tim Pugh and why is this photo suspect? Tim Pugh is the head of the Cedar Rapids Teabagger organization and he's the one who turned the picture over to media and the police. Tonight on KCRG they ran an item about the investigation of this photo and reported that all the markers had been removed from the digital photo and they could not prove or disprove that it was a fake.
Pugh also spearheaded the effort to defeat a local option sales tax that would have allowed CR, which was devastated in the 2008 flood, with getting matching funds to rebuild protections along both sides of the river to protect the city in future floods. He argued that the city didn't need to be taking people's money to use for projects. The measure was voted down.
Edited to add update.
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Cedar-Rapids-Police-Identify-Alleged-Sleepy-Cop-121810414.htmlSgt. Hamblin said “we have determined who the officer was, so it’s really a moot point whether it’s been “Photoshopped” or not. We’ll take it at face value.”
Several workers at Henry Russell Bruce, an advertising and creative services agency, looked at the mysterious police officer photo. They used the Photoshop program to view it from a number of angles and blew it up in size repeatedly.
Creative Service director Steve Erickson said one problem in finding any digital trickery was the low quality of the photo. It’s the size, and quality, usually associated with phone cameras.
“I would not be able to tell you one way or the other,” Erickson said. “I have my suspicions, but it’s one of those cases you see so much on the internet you suspect of being manipulated and with tools like we have it is easy to do.”
One graphics designer pointed out original electronic photos carry hidden data giving the type of camera and other technical information. If you have that, it’s easier to see if something was altered. But that was stripped away from the photo sent electronically to police and the media on Thursday....
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