The Register's been following this sort of thing for a while now. It's both angering and alarming.
Part of it is down to idiotic knee-jerk laws, and the rest of it is poorly trained officers and ill informed policies.
Last edited by Steve; 22-02-2010 at 06:15 PM.
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Bloody plonkers, is all I can say.
was this guy "threateningly tall" as well?
VodkaOriginally Posted by Ephesians
Who's the plonker - the Police or the Photographer!?
I'm not certain we have the full story here. I'd be interested to hear how the Police came to the conclusion the two photographers were acting suspiciously. IF they really were being highly suspicious (and I have no idea about how this could be manifested) then the Police were probably right to stop them. Refusing to co-operate is hardly going to reduce the Police officer's suspicion levels. But that's a big "if".
PC plod of course.
That's made a certain liquid boil within me.
Honestly? I mean, really? Is that what constitutes 'suspicious activity'? Will I be safe to take pictures of beaches and sunsets, as I frequently do during the summer, or will that amount to 'suspicious activity', I could be planning a beach landing or anything!!11
The world's gone mad.
Since when was taking pictures a crime?
Anti social behavour? Bonkers. No right what so ever.
I'd disagree. The "member of public" is just being a rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish, he or they are just being totally unreasonable. Acting as if the world is out to get them.
Obviously it's just me but I can't see how this annoys people so much
the fact the Police are requesting his details, without reasonable justification.
The fact that Joe Bloggs would have <insert expletive> their pants at the very mention of terrorism and handed over all their details.
I don't know about you, but I'm a private person and if a PO asks me for my details, I would like to think there is reasonable justification for their request.
The law is there to be upheld, not mis-interpreted.
I'm in two minds about this, sometimes I think its just power crazed police asserting themselves over the middle class (because they know we can't really fight back, any attempts we make are marred in red tape).
But I also think that this is Tony's fault. He often stated his love of clinton economics, the dollar vote concept, whilst acknowledging some of its flaws and bigging up the target driven culture.
So with the police they really do seam to like the easily solved crimes, in my personal experience at the least.
Therefore tackling a photographer is quite an easy win, a tick in the performance box.
throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)
Either detain them straight up for doing something illegal, or leave them alone. You shouldn't have to give up your details otherwise.
This way, they get away without having to deal with a heap of false arrest allegations, making their lives easier and ours less privileged.
And if you think that'll somehow make us less safe, well you'd be wrong. If, as a police officer you spot somebody doing something suspicious, stand in a prominent location and observe them. If they continue to ask suspiciously then talk to them and get a feel for their character. It'll soon become apparent if they're actually doing anything wrong.
Don't start weighing in with anti-terrorism laws straight away - do some proper police work by working within the community.
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How completely unreasonable for a member of the public to photograph a marching band in a town centre entirely in accordance with the law, and then decline to comply with the PCSO's unlawful demand for him to identify himself when there was no grounds for suspecting any crime had taken place or any complaints at all, and then be held for eight hours for no reason whatsoever.
Clearly we should should get rid of these scurrilous loopholes immediately by declaring a national state of martial law, so that everyone has to just do what they are told without argument
I can understand how candid shooting from the hip could be seen as "suspicious". I don't know what his "suspicious photography" was in this case, though.
Taking the video at face value, it seems like he was winding things up by refusing to give details, whether deliberate or not. However, if he is not obliged to give details then he should be allowed to refuse if he wishes. It seemed like the police were getting frustrated and turned his photography non-issue into a reason to arrest him to perhaps get at him.
MadduckUK (22-02-2010)
It does make my blood boil. I've taken pictures in London lots of times and i've never been stopped so far. Thankfully the European courts have shown they're good for something http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture...nk-section-44/ and may be about to put a massive nail in section 44's coffin. It is simply crazy that they can nab you for taking pictures...
Whilst the police were, as usual, out of order (this one is worse: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2...lice-terrorism) the guy didn't really help by asking if they were being detained. Stupid question really - clearly they weren't, they were being asked for details (which fair enough they denied to give). Might have been aggravated further because he was filming, not just taking pictures.
My advice? If someone tells you to delete your pictures, do so. Carry an extra memory card and immediately swap it out. Odds are you can salvage the majority of them later. Or get an EyeFi and beam them up before these nutjobs get the chance to stop you
Oh and let's not forget the statistics:
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows the police to stop and search people. In 2008:
* Number of people stopped nationwide by British Transport Police using s 44: 160,000
* Number of people stopped in London by the Metropolitan Police using s. 44: 200,000
* Number of people amongst the 360,000 stopped under s. 44 and found to have any terrorist material or links: 0
Last edited by Whiternoise; 22-02-2010 at 09:35 PM.
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