The police have a tough job to do, especially in a rowdy college town, but it shouldn't be an excuse for the destruction of film.

During Friday's riot, a police officer caused the partial destruction of a Collegian photographer's film. The photographer had taken a picture of another police officer spraying a woman by Beaver Hill when the first police officer approached her and demanded her film.

The officer who confronted the photographer, Jenn Borkosky, held a can of spray in his hand as he demanded that she give him the film. At first, she refused.

"I was like, 'I'm with the press; you really can't do that,' " Borkosky said. "And then I saw the can coming up towards me, and then I started rewinding the film."

Thinking that her film was completely rewound, she opened the back of her camera to take the film out but realized too late that some of it was exposed.

"Then I just told him, 'It's ruined now,' but he lost interest and left because I think something else more important was happening," she said. With all the chaos surrounding her, Borkosky was unable to identify the police officer, either by his badge number or by asking him what his name is.

When asked to comment about the incident, Sgt. John Wilson of the State College Police Department said yesterday that it was the first time that he heard about it.

"There were a lot of people taking pictures, a lot of people taking videos, and that wasn't a problem," Wilson said. Wilson, who was a platoon commander during the riot, said that the police force did not make it an objective to confiscate anyone's film.

He added that the police department did not mind that people were taking pictures. In fact, he said that they are encouraging anyone who has footage or photographs of the riot to turn them in for the police department to possibly use as evidence.

Although the general attitude of the officers who were at the riot may have been benign toward journalists and other people who had cameras and recording equipment, the fact remains that a law enforcement official demanded film from a journalist who clearly identified herself as one.

Not only was the behavior of the police officer in question disturbing, it was also illegal for him to ask for the film in the first place.

"All folks have a right to photograph and there was also no effort on the part of the commanders to prevent that," Wilson said.

While there are those who will say that the police were merely doing their job, so was Borkosky. Just as the police are vital to enforce the law in a community, journalists play an essential role in keeping public officials in line — to serve as a watchdog for the rest of the people. The police department should consider implementing more media training for all of its police officers, and that they make sure that officers who are brought into State College during emergency situations like the riot are properly briefed on how to treat journalists and other citizens. Demanding a photographer's film without a subpoena, especially after she identified herself as a member of the press, is inexcusable.