Storm Chase Tour Director Arrested This Month

This month a storm chasing tour director, brian Barnes, was arrested for "blocking the road/public passage." Although presumed innocent until proven guilty, emotions are high. Chasers across the US are up in arms on both sides of the issue. Everything was caught on tape. What do you think?

Storm chasers assemble on our roads nearly all year round as they search for severe weather. There are many different types of chasers, motivations, and purposes for chasing. Learn about storm chasing here. Even storm chasers need to follow the rules and have respect for officials as in this case.

Important: Nothing can substitute for the good professional volunteer spotters and storm chasers we have. They provide valuable public service as well as contribute to science. Unfortunately, not all spotters or chasers fall in this category.

This month in Crane County, Texas, storm chase tour director brian Barnes was arrested by the local Sheriff department. He was operating a tour that was watching a severe thunderstorm. We found quotes from various news sources of him stating he was "helping out the National Weather Service in San Angelo." So what happened?

Apparently a law enforcement officer asked him to leave or move from the area. All accounts indicate that he refused to leave and was then arrested. Please note that he is innocent until proven guilty. However, he probably made some bad decisions.

Being objective, everyone must agree unless you are an official (emergency, EMS, government, police, fire, etc - someone with a State/National license). Just because you are running a storm chasing business or volunteering as a Skywarn spotter doesn't mean you have freedom of movement during an emergency (tornado warnings are an emergency). State and federal laws give priority to licensed and certified individuals in emergencies.

A law enforcement officer can request you to move for your safety. Your best option is to take the professional route and respect the officer. You can always speak with him to let the officer know what your doing, but it should stop short of arguments or confrontation. It should be noted that this individual (Barnes) was under NO obligation to be in the place he was at (he is not obligated to the National Weather Service). At the same time, it may be true he was in a public place. At any rate and especially as the director of a tour - he should have respect for law enforcement. If any of his customers were watching - it couldn't have been impressive.

The majority of people agree, if they encountered an angry cop they would leave and then maybe report him later. This is both professional and smart. You have options always. Don't lose your cool. Go somewhere else. Move on.

Hopefully this will be a learning experience for the law enforcement officer involved as well as Barnes. We may also have been left out as to both sides of the story. That still doesn't change the fact that a professional storm chaser should respect the law. If this all boils down to arguing with the police over simply moving to another location, it was all preventable.

More updates as they happen... Another account of this story including video of event is available here. Image credit: (Crane News in Crane, Texas).

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Visitors made 5 comments about this post.

10/16/2008 07:27:50 AM USA Eastern Time, Posted by nick.lowe

he was eventually out but must have settled or something because we havent heard from him. has anyone else?

09/03/2008 12:50:22 PM USA Eastern Time, Posted by tmoi

what ever happened to the guy?

06/29/2008 10:20:41 PM USA Eastern Time, Posted by Roger

If he was within his rights then I'm glad he stood up for them. The cop that arrested him was terminated, so it sounds like the storm tracker did the right thing. We need more people in this country willing to stand up for our rights.

05/15/2008 03:54:52 PM USA Eastern Time, Posted by uhoh111111

he should have just moved its the ego thing i bet he regrets what he did deep down in side... some of the other so called chasers were saying he was their martin luther king... i just laughed... hes not standing for anything here

05/10/2008 02:54:07 AM USA Eastern Time, Posted by nick09

yea it would have been better to just move i guess

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