By Carlos Miller
Less than a year after the United Kingdom enacted a new law that turned all photographers into terrorist suspects, officials are now backing off from that policy.
The Association of Chief Police Officers sent out a memo Friday night warning officers to stop harassing photographers under the guise of anti-terrorism laws, which we know has been happening at an alarming rate.
According to the Independent:
“Officers and community support officers are reminded that we should not be stopping and searching people for taking photos. Unnecessarily restricting photography, whether from the casual tourist or professional, is unacceptable.
“Everyone… has a right to take photographs and film in public places. Taking photographs… is not normally cause for suspicion and there are no powers prohibiting the taking of photographs, film or digital images in a public place.”
He added: “We need to make sure that our officers and Police Community Support Officers [PCSOs] are not unnecessarily targeting photographers just because they are going about their business. The last thing in the world we want to do is give photographers a hard time or alienate the public. We need the public to help us.
“Photographers should be left alone to get on with what they are doing. If an officer is suspicious of them for some reason they can just go up to them and have a chat with them – use old-fashioned policing skills to be frank – rather than using these powers, which we don’t want to over-use at all.”
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11 responses so far ↓
1 Scott Chamness // Dec 5, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Sweet. Score 1 for free speech everywhere.
2 JR // Dec 5, 2009 at 4:36 PM
One tiny step in the right direction doesn’t make up for the huge leaps that have been taken into the wrong direction.
3 Scott Chamness // Dec 5, 2009 at 5:22 PM
No, naturally not. And yet it is still the right direction, which could lead to more. I’d also hardly call it a tiny step.
4 Stephen Sidlo // Dec 5, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Wonderful news. I have a sneaky suspition that it won’t stop a vast majority of Police officers though. But still I’m very happy after the madness of ‘Im a Photographer, Not a Terrorist’
5 the lone white boy // Dec 5, 2009 at 7:20 PM
wait… didnt NY do a similar thing? Yet NY cops are still using it to bust photographers’ balls.
6 Harley // Dec 5, 2009 at 8:07 PM
In comparison to the NYPD, at least the bobbies actually do have a law to enforce. And for all the hoopla, that law still exists, all that’s changed is that there is now a memo from headquarters clarifying the circumstances in which a photographer should be questioned.
7 Workingindust // Dec 5, 2009 at 10:37 PM
But during the course of the last year there have been numerous incidents of PCSO’s and Bobbies going absolutely anal on photogs with no or very little said from the higer up’s (“isolated incident – it won’t happen again” they say). but it’s only when two incidents happen to BBC photogs then the shit hits the fan and they go in to damage control mode.
Step in the right direction absolutely but as LWB said also, NYPD put out an Ops Order to the same effect but very little has changed.
8 Long_Time_Reader // Dec 6, 2009 at 3:38 AM
First off, good to see a glimmer of hope.
“alienate the public” – check
Sorry, too late for that, especially when people like myself are putting off travel to the U.K. for this very reason.
Came to post that this already happened with the memo to NYPD officers, beaten to the point twice over.
It was a few weeks before the next major incident in NYPD harrassing photographers after the memo right? What’s the odds for the nanny state doing it in a even fortnight?
9 rbonini // Dec 6, 2009 at 8:05 AM
I think I’m going to print out that memo and carry that around with me.
10 Frank // Dec 6, 2009 at 11:50 AM
I agree. This didn’t work for NYPD and I don’t see this message changing things in the UK. And the only reason this was released at all was the two BBC photogs getting harassed in the space of a week.
Never piss off a man who buys paper by the tractor trailer load and ink by the barrel. Or the electronic equivalent thereof.
11 Jonathanjk // Dec 25, 2009 at 10:52 AM
It's always been legal to take pictures in public, I don't get it.
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