Texas journalist detained over oil spill photos

A photographer with a Texas newspaper was detained Monday for 45 minutes after he refused to show police his pictures of workers tending to an oil spill, the Galveston County Daily News reported.

Texas City Police Cpl. Tom Robison told reporter Chris Paschenko it’s department policy to stop anybody from taking pictures of city chemical plants and "review the photos to see if they pose any threat," the paper reported. 

"There’s no law that says you can’t take pictures from a public roadway," Robison was quoted saying, "but the issue becomes: Are any of the shots compromising security measures?"

He also told The Daily News he typically gets "overwhelming cooperation," in the paper’s words, whenever he asks television or print reporters if he can review their images. Local news affiliates told the Daily News otherwise.

Kevin Cox, the Daily News photographer in question, took most of his photos of the oil spill while standing on a street corner, according to the paper.