The Grand Island Police Department's investigation into a Grand Island photo studio may only involve Dennis Beins Photography, but the collateral damage extends far beyond that business.
Six other photographers who shared a studio at 2326 N. Broadwell Ave. with Beins are trying to impress on the public that they are not under investigation and are not at all involved with the allegation that Beins videotaped customers in a dressing room at the studio.
"The whole group of us were pretty much as shocked as the general public," said Kelly Hixon, owner of Creative Focus, of the news of the police's search of Beins' equipment at the studio. "We had no idea anything like this was going on."
Hixon, who has rented time in the studio for 10 years for her home-based photography business, said Beins voluntarily left the studio after the police's search.
She said the remaining renters hadn't used the studio since the search last Thursday, but they met Tuesday night and determined to continue using the studio.
They've stripped the name of Beins' business off the building and may change the building's name from The Studio to avoid any further association with Beins.
"We don't want to lose our businesses because of something one person did," Hixon said.
The police's search of Beins' property in the studio turned up a clock radio with a hidden camera in a changing room, as well as computer equipment, tapes and CDs labeled with female first names and notations such as "hot," "no nude" and "swim suit," according to a search warrant.
Beins had not been charged Wednesday afternoon.
Hixon said eight photographers, including Beins, rented time in the studio. (One other photographer has left the studio since the search because of concerns about its reputation, Hixon said.)
The lease for the studio was in Beins' name, and he maintained an office there, Hixon said.
But the photographers each ran separate businesses and were almost never at the studio at the same time. The building's schedule was organized using an online calendar.
Hixon said the logistical difficulties led her to doubt that anyone but Beins' clients would have been videotaped.
Still, she said she and the other photographers are cooperating with the police's request for photos of all of their clients from that studio in order to help identify those who were videotaped.
Police are also asking for people who used the changing room within the last three years to contact them. (See accompanying information box for details.)
For now, though, the photographers are in full damage-control mode, Hixon said, dissociating themselves from Beins and trying to reassure customers of their safety in the studio.
"We're all in the same boat, each one of us," Hixon said of the six remaining photographers.
Police seek information
The Grand Island Police Department is looking for the public's help in identifying victims in its investigation into Dennis Beins Photography.
The department is looking for people who have been in the changing room of the photography studio at 2326 N. Broadwell Ave. within the past three years.
Those people are asked to call the department's Criminal Investigation Division from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at 385-5413.
