No photos please!

Returning to my An Alright Start blog after the hiatus I had taken, I didn't expect my next post to be of a particularly political nature, however, today, it has become an offence to photograph a police officer.  Monday 16th February 2009 is the enforcement date for Section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008.

Glasgow, 02/06/07

As a photographer and an aspiring photojournalist this is an incredibly important issue to me.  A vital aspect of photojournalism is the recording of political dissent as it takes place on the streets and this cannot be unaffected by the new legislation.  By taking a photograph or - in the case of an editor - by publishing a picture of a police officer you are in danger of being arrested, if the police believe that it may be "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

I have found myself in several situations in the last two years where either I or other photographers were asked by Police to "desist" from photographing in the street, be it at a protest or some other event.  Until now though, there has been no legislation that requires the photographer to cease as long as he isn't breaking another law, so I have politely declined and continued photographing knowing that if I recieve any further attention by the officer, I can take his number and take this up with his superior.  From today, of course, the fear is that this legislation may be open to abuse.  Photographers will be asked to stop, then simply forced to stop citing section 76.

There may be grounds for necessary legislation to ensure certain information does not find its way into the "wrong hands", however, rather than it being an offence to make these images, would it not be more sensible to make the offence to knowingly supply these images "to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism"?

As a side note, the new restrictions on photographers seem particularly distasteful especially when viewed alongside this country's particularly aggressive CCTV policy.  Yes, you can photograph us in every aspect of our public lives, but God help us if we turn the lens back on you.  Not content with this only, certain forces have been using a more intimidating form of surveillance.  A story from the Brighton Argus shows police setting up outside a club in the centre of town hosting a meeting of an environmentalist group.  Eye-witnesses reported officers "snapping visitors using a paparazzi-style lens" and behaving in a "deliberately intimidating manner”.  One rule for them...?

Returning to the original topic of this post, however, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Mark Thomas combined today to bring together an event outside New Scotland Yard.  Billed as "not a protest, just photography", photographers from the UK wide were invited to join them and simply take some photos.  Financial restrictions and work commitments prevented me from high-tailing it down there and I've yet to hear how it went - I can find little reporting of it in the press, however, I can only hope there was no trouble and that the point was emphatically made.

Comments

[last year's girl]

Excellent post, I have nothing to add but my outrage. I did read something about the Scotland Yard protest earlier - a peaceful and powerful way to make a point.