Section 76: Taking photos of Police to be a crime under terrorist legislation

[FridgeMagnet]

Because the 16th is the only significant date around at the moment, basically. Without a date there's no focus, and the existence of a pool of pictures and/or signatories does at least indicate discontent.

The actual pledge and action is less important than the publicity of the Act really.

 

[pk]

Simple.

EVERYBODY takes cameras to demos from now on, even if they don't work.

Give them their shit straight back to them.

Smile and say "oink"!

 

[Hocus Eye.]

It would be very difficult taking photographs at a demonstration without getting pictures of police, who could then claim that you were doing it to elicit information. This might also be true on any day in London with tourists milling about with cameras and police very evidently present.

One of the aspirations of the British judicial system is that "justice should be done and seen to be done". While this is generally assumed to refer to the appearance in court, it should also apply to the actions of the police in advance of a possible appearance in court. On this basis the police should be liable to scrutiny in their work both live and on camera, still or moving.

Thinking about this further, if it is illegal to photograph a policeman because it might be eliciting information for terrorist purposes, then what about just looking at a police officer? By looking at a police officer you might be trying establish his identity from his number or perhaps judge his capabilites or state of alertness which may also be of use to a terrorist.

 

[pogofish]

This is almost beyond belief!

 

[girasol]

does that mean the police can no longer take photos of (or just generally survey) peaceful protestors, for example? Or people 'going about their business'?

oh, no, of course it doesn't

free license for police to abuse their powers - what a terrible step backwards.

 

[bluestreak]

What utter cunts. Presumably the cops were sick of evidence showing up in court that destroyed their cases and revealed them to be liars and thugs. Now we can stop that happening, keep police morale high, and justice can be done.

Fuck them all, cops and government. Determined to bully and threaten us in cowed passive consuming indolence. A nation of broken yes-men, unable to defend themselves from whatever predations they sell us to their corporate backers for. Fuck them in the fucking ear.

*pledges*

 

[snadge]

pledges AND you only need 9997 more photographers for the picture taking demo, utter fascists.

 

[e19896]

Been a long one this.. there is a team named Forward Inteligence Unit, their life began at Football Matches, the 1994 criminal justice act, the aim was to do something about holingism within football, as with all pernicious laws it crept into other areas such as The Protest Movement, my first time of seeing overt owelian police surrveileance was at The Actions for The Liverpool Dockers it has moved on, there claim is to record for evidence but take a look see www.fitwatch.blogspot.com/ there are post on the sheffield group www.flickr.com/groups/sheffield/discuss/72157602563860699/ and across groups on here on this subject.


A Forward Intelligence Team (FIT) officer this week admitted publicly that he entered data from FIT operations onto a centrally operated database. This is the first time the Met has publicly acknowledged the existence a database containing details of people involved in political protest.
The admission is significant because this database would hold a great deal of sensitive information about an individual’s political activity. The accumulation of information by the police on a person’s political affiliations or beliefs is a very sensitive area, and potentially a breach of the Human Rights Act.

http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-01-05T11:...

http://www.urban75.org/photos/photographers-rights-and-the-law.html

 

[winjer]

By using those [highlighted] words, I suspect the police officer was preparing to make an arrest under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

More likely he'd been briefed on Section 241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, see:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/393970.html
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?ActiveTextDocId=2357720

 

[e19896]

used some of the text from here my own, ask indymedia for a feture artical you can all so ask here imc-uk-features@lists.indymedia.org. and when ive worked out how to there will be a myspace page and facebook i have done flicker and my blog along with my e mail list over 300 people on that list..

lets see if we can get an action going for the 16th if we need to network this one to death it could be rather big.

a letter to the papers is also on the cards should be there by friday, any other thoughts you like to input then put them here..

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57175249318 done the group now to myspace

 

[stowpirate]

Is it just another symptom of management hysteria forcing democracy into tyranny. You might not have noticed i t but it is not just photography that is under attack. The whole problem I think is routed in a democracy that is based on 51% telling the other 49% how to live there lives. When you think about it this whole principle is oppressive and has caused countless other issues of contention

 

[LX365]

Fitwatch proposal for resistance

http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/search?q=mass+resistance

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

So will this be illegal?

 

[Hocus Eye.]

You would never get a chance to take the equivalent of that photograph. Downing Street is gated off at all times.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

You would never get a chance to take the equivalent of that photograph. Downing Street is gated off at all times.

Well I used to walk past there.

What about visitors to No. 10?

 

[winjer]

You would never get a chance to take the equivalent of that photograph. Downing Street is gated off at all times.

Actually, you can gain access by requesting permission for a demonstration under the awful SOCPA s132, the police's legal advisors told them the wording of the law did not allow them to prohibit this.

You have to show ID, on top of becoming complicit in the criminalisation of other people, but that's not much different to getting a press pass ;-)

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Would this be illegal?

 

[bluestreak]

It fucking should be already. Those poor girls forced to gyrate against their will to appease The Man. VIVA LA REVOLICIUN, LET ME SISTERS GO!

 

[winjer]

And it's yet more disgusting voyeurism!

(cf. Police prevented the Review from publishing pictures of people sledging in Welwyn Garden City yesterday by destroying them to stop them being used for sexual gratification. Reporter Alex Lewis took several photos on his mobile phone near the North car park of Stanborugh Park yesterday afternoon, but called police when threatened by a man who apparently thought he was photographing his children for sexual purposes. [...] An officer who gave her name as Police Constable Martin told him she would confiscate the phone as evidence for a charge of "voyeurism" unless he agreed to let her delete the photographs. [...] The Review has asked Hertfordshire Constabulary how photographs of fully clothed people sledging in a public park are covered by this legislation, but no response has yet been received. http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/news/4101762.Police_destroy_Welwyn_sledge_pictures/)

Meanwhile, at Scotland Yard:

The National Union of Journalists, in association with BJP, has called for photographers to make their voices heard at a media event on 16 February as a new law is introduced that allows for the arrest - and imprisonment - of anyone who takes pictures of police officers 'likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'.

[...] The NUJ has teamed up with Mark Thomas, a writer, broadcaster, comic and political activist, Chris Atkins, who is behind the documentary Taking Liberties, photojournalist Marc Vallée and BJP for a media event outside New Scotland Yard on Monday 16 February. 'The plan is simple, turn up with your camera and exercise your democratic right to take a photograph in a public place,' says Vallée. (
http://marcvallee.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/im-a-photographer-not-a-terrorist/)

For more information, visit www.nuj.org.uk, the Facebook event page (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47417324089)
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=838048

 

[spitfire]

Good stuff, I'll be there.

 

[Barking_Mad]

I've contacted Henry Porter at The Guardian as well as the head of VII Photography Gary Knight who has some ex-Magnum photographers as part of his organisation. I know him reasonably well so hopefully he might lend his voice to this.

 

[ska invita]

Pics of plod to become a criminal offence

Unbelievably the police are getting powers to arrest anyone who takes a picture of them...

...im lost for words...but cunts does spring to my lips:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/12/photographers-anti-terror-laws

Supposedly the NUJ is calling a demo on Monday...

 

[pogofish]

Ahem! - there are two threads on this already.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

to be fair, they're both in photography forum though.

hey, pogofish, here's some cops at the emirates recently for the visit of 9,000 travelling plymouth argyle fans.

and just to prove that they can behave themselves whilst having pre-match drinks (in a pub deep in gooner territory too) - not a single arrest afaik.

</derail>

 

[ska invita]

Ahem! - there are two threads on this already.

wooPs! where they? I checked in protest and saw nothing? oh well...

 

[pogofish]

So what?

Saturday before last, I stood & watched a crowd of Man-U fans playing coconut-shy with beer cans & a beggar. That was a "no trouble" day too, apparently.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

course you did old bean, course you did.

 

[SpookyFrank]

They will now be able to arrest you if a photograph could potentially incite or provoke disorder.

I daresay photos of police officers kicking someone in the brains for no reason could incite disorder, but that's hardly the fault of the photographer is it?

 

[pk]

So at the next demo - everyone in attendance pulls out a camera - what are they going to do - nick everyone?

 

[Fictionist]

So at the next demo - everyone in attendance pulls out a camera - what are they going to do - nick everyone?

You devious fellow.