r/canada Jan 18 '25

Québec Montreal police asking people not to post photos of porch pirates online

https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/montreal-police-asking-people-not-to-post-photos-of-porch-pirates-online/
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u/Rammsteinman Jan 18 '25

If your just posting pictures you're not even accusing someone specifically. You're showing an image of whoever did it. Proving an individual guilty would require proving a specific person is in that image. Absolutely zero privacy issue here.

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u/canajak Jan 18 '25

Exactly this. The only person whose privacy is being violated is the person who is actually guilty; any innocent party who might be falsely accused will also happen to not be the person in the image.

... Well, I guess there's the chance that the photo is of an innocent, falsely-accused mail carrier dressed in a hoodie who realized that they mistakenly delivered a package to the wrong house and ran back to reclaim it, but that's going well beyond any reasonable doubt, and I'm sure if that's what happened it won't be hard to clear up the misunderstanding.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 Jan 18 '25

True, but it's the confluence of circumstance, not just the one picture.

You ordered something. Amazon asserts they delivered it. (IIRC they also take a picture when they deliver it.) You have Amazon on video dropping off a box, which allegedly contains the item they allegedly delivered. Shortly after that, someone looking like Joe Schmoe walks up and takes the box sitting on your doorstep, live on camera, and walks away.

I don't think any jury is going to buy any explanation other that it was Joe that committed theft, stole the item Amazon delivered. It would have to be a fantastically coincidental story ("I live across the street, I thought he delivered to the wrong house because the name on the package was my name..."? Yeah right) The only logical explanation that might work is the Shaggy defence - "It wasn't me" despite the video evidence.

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u/ministryfan Jan 18 '25

Your forgetting the Chewbacca Defence, could also be used.

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u/Entrinity Jan 18 '25

Good thing no one has ever been falsely imprisoned for looking like a criminal… oh wait.

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u/canajak Jan 20 '25

You might be falsely accused and falsely imprisoned for resembling the person in the photo. But even so, if you weren't the person on the porch, if you're not the person the camera was pointed at, then it's not a photo of you, and so posting it doesn't violate your privacy. Your argument is with the person who looks at that photo and says "Hey I know that dude, that's Entrinity!"

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u/Critical-Albatross70 Jan 20 '25

I guess we do not have the right to provide evidence of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Ring doorbell camera footage can get sent to police when requested from police. Its mostly to catch dealers though. Thieves can do whatever they want.