Canterbury - 'Not A Good Idea To Take Pictures Here'

snoop69

snoop69

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Was walking around Canterbury on Tuesday this week & there was the usual
festive activities, buskers, Firebrigade, & a Police van with leaflets & stuff.

As I was walking past the Fire engine & towards the Police officer standing by
the van, he called me other & asked what I was doing.

I explained that I was just taking photos.

He replied 'not really a good idea round here is it?'

I asked 'why not?' He replied 'well, in the current climate'.

I said 'what about all these hundreds of tourists?'

He said 'well'.

I replied with 'yep, read it all before' & walked off.

Put me on a right downer for the rest of the afternoon :(
 
snoop69 said:
there was the usual
festive activities, buskers, Firebrigade, & a Police van with leaflets & stuff.

........


He replied 'not really a good idea round here is it?'
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Sounds like a very good idea to me.

Did you get a picture of him?


Steve.
 
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What a plum. Makes me feel like driving to Canterbury just to take loads of photos. Given all the tourists and all the Christmas lights, I'd say the 'current climate' is exactly right for a spot of photo taking.
 
MagicMynx said:
what a plum... I'd have carried on taking pics TBH
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I did carry on taking pics but only managed to get a crap one of the officer
whilst he wasnt looking. Someone may have bubbled me up to him though :thinking:
 
You know what i think.....Kick him in the nuts!
 
I'm a little surprised with this police officer quite frankly, as Canterbury is often visited by organised groups and tourists who visit the locations used for the film "A Canterbury Tale". Much of the film was actually filmed in the centre of Canterbury as well as the surrounding areas, so you'd think the police would be used to seeing photographers all over the place.
 
I am going to stick up for the old bill here, at least in a general sense. My thoughts are not directed at the OP!
I was watching the news when they showed the video of two police officers who spotted the potential terrorist taking pictures with his phone. With just a good old fashioned bit of Q&A he was worth a 'collar'. Had they spent too much time reading memo's from CC's about not upsetting togs and walked on who knows what would have happened.....
So I expect to be stopped and asked questions if I am taking photos in public places. And I will give a civil answer to any questions, show ID and the photos I have taken. I have nothing to hide and they have a job to do! Attitude goes a long way, so don't p*** them off they might be having a bad day as well.
Just remember although this might irritate the 'free citizen' in you, who do you call when something hits the fan? Someone nicked your kit? Hit your mate? Someone suspicious hanging round the back of your house? :cool:



Dunc
 
I don't think it's so much the being stopped and asked politely what you're doing, that people have an issue with TBH. I think it's the "prove who you are and by the way, I say you can't take photos here!" that bugs people. You can act suspicious while taking photos or you can take photos and not be suspicious and shifty.
 
Duncan.F said:
I was watching the news when they showed the video of two police officers who spotted the potential terrorist taking pictures with his phone. With just a good old fashioned bit of Q&A he was worth a 'collar'. Had they spent too much time reading memo's from CC's about not upsetting togs and walked on who knows what would have happened.....




Dunc
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What are the chances of a copper actually catching a real terrorist taking a picture though, are they going to stop and ask everybody with any kind of a camera pointing it at anything , it's pointless, I was in Costco today, £45 buys you a pen with a micro camera in it which shoots video, are they going to stop everybody with a pen in their pocket as well.

All it does is annoy the public
 
wack61 said:
All it does is annoy the public
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and runs the more serious risk of getting the public right offside so they no longer trust/support the police in their day to day activities. Once you have lost the ability to police by consent then it will be hard to recover.

Hugh
 
Duncan.F said:
I was watching the news when they showed the video of two police officers who spotted the potential terrorist taking pictures with his phone. With just a good old fashioned bit of Q&A he was worth a 'collar'.
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I wonder how they train the police to spot pictures taken by a terrorist? Was he arrested and charged?
Duncan.F said:
Had they spent too much time reading memo's from CC's about not upsetting togs and walked on who knows what would have happened.....
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They wouldn't have wasted another member of the public's time. Heaven forbid!
Duncan.F said:
So I expect to be stopped and asked questions if I am taking photos in public places. And I will give a civil answer to any questions, show ID and the photos I have taken. I have nothing to hide and they have a job to do!
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Agreed - but when they make statements like "its not a good idea to take pictures here is it?" it goes further than asking questions - it's implying that either the OP is doing something wrong, or that he's behaving in a suspicious manner.

Duncan.F said:
Attitude goes a long way, so don't p*** them off they might be having a bad day as well.
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Sorry - that goes both ways. The attitude that everyone is a terrorist until questioned is BS. And, they are not supposed to allow their "bad day" to affect their judgement as a police constable.

Duncan.F said:
Just remember although this might irritate the 'free citizen' in you, who do you call when something hits the fan? Someone nicked your kit? Hit your mate? Someone suspicious hanging round the back of your house? :cool:
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And wait 48 hours to be told there's nothing they can do. Could this be because they're all out checking photographers?

All the above should be taken with a little tongue in cheek. And any mention of photographers could also apply to any person - ice skaters I predict will be next. Apparently all terrorists use ice skates when on recon missions.

Oh - and I don't necessarily blame the PC's - I blame the Govt (lack of coppers on the street), the fact that they are burdened with paperwork, and they are lacking in training.
 
OutLore said:
And wait 48 hours to be told there's nothing they can do. Could this be because they're all out checking photographers?
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or when the scroats upstairs nick your ramp so you can't get down the steps and leave the damn flat cause some vindictive git nicked it..... oooh what I'd do to get my hands on the little gits....
 
Duncan.F said:
Just remember although this might irritate the 'free citizen' in you, who do you call when something hits the fan? Someone nicked your kit? Hit your mate? Someone suspicious hanging round the back of your house? :cool:



Dunc
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do you mean like when your wife is assaulted within clear view and 50yds of two of London's finest who were too busy helping a crowd of peaceful grown ups cross the road on the way to a Rugby match??? not really very cool :(
 
Anyone who trusts or respects coppers is a fool. I spent too much time with them at a masonic Lodge to think otherwise, I've heard what they get up to from ytheir own mouths, I've heard them laughing about how the harrass people, how they styand on street corners looking for motorists not wearing seatbelts just to get their "nicking rate" up, I've heard about how they will take a drive round the block when they know a drunk is pushing his luck with door staff, just to come back when the fight is over.

Coppers? I wouldn't give them the time of day.
 
sheddy said:
Anyone who trusts or respects coppers is a fool. I spent too much time with them at a masonic Lodge to think otherwise, I've heard what they get up to from ytheir own mouths, I've heard them laughing about how the harrass people, how they styand on street corners looking for motorists not wearing seatbelts just to get their "nicking rate" up, I've heard about how they will take a drive round the block when they know a drunk is pushing his luck with door staff, just to come back when the fight is over.

Coppers? I wouldn't give them the time of day.
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You cant judge the whole police force by a few that belong to your local lodge.As with any occupations you get a few rotten ones, a whole load that are just ordinary people with some faults, and some really special people who put themselves out to help others. I'm sure that I have met a lot more police officers than almost anyone else on here. I have also had good and bad experiences of their work but we have to be able to trust that the majority are well intentioned and are doing a difficult job, tied up with red tape.
 
sheddy said:
Anyone who trusts or respects coppers is a fool. I spent too much time with them at a masonic Lodge to think otherwise, I've heard what they get up to from ytheir own mouths, I've heard them laughing about how the harrass people, how they styand on street corners looking for motorists not wearing seatbelts just to get their "nicking rate" up, I've heard about how they will take a drive round the block when they know a drunk is pushing his luck with door staff, just to come back when the fight is over.

Coppers? I wouldn't give them the time of day.
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I take it you are no longer a member of the 'handshake' gang ?
Thought you had a code of allegiance where you didn't disrespect fellow mason's.
As ladysue says - Some good,some bad in all walks of life - I know of one family who dont think they are a waste of time, after they resuscitated their child who had just been pulled from a burning house.

Anyway - a latin phrase for your collection - Sit vis nobiscum :wave:

Regards

david700
 
Steve Smith said:
Did you get a picture of him?
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Here he is.....
Candid1of1.jpg


OutLore said:
Agreed - but when they make statements like "its not a good idea to take pictures here is it?" it goes further than asking questions - it's implying that either the OP is doing something wrong, or that he's behaving in a suspicious manner.
Click to expand...

Not sure that I was acting suspiciously. I was standing around 10ft away
talking to a couple of friends.

People were snapping away all around us what with the Fire Brigade there
collecting donations.
 
sheddy said:
Anyone who trusts or respects coppers is a fool. I spent too much time with them at a masonic Lodge to think otherwise, I've heard what they get up to from ytheir own mouths, I've heard them laughing about how the harrass people, how they styand on street corners looking for motorists not wearing seatbelts just to get their "nicking rate" up, I've heard about how they will take a drive round the block when they know a drunk is pushing his luck with door staff, just to come back when the fight is over.

Coppers? I wouldn't give them the time of day.
Click to expand...

aint that just masons?
 
david700 said:
I take it you are no longer a member of the 'handshake' gang ?
Thought you had a code of allegiance where you didn't disrespect fellow mason's. >>>>
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Yes, I have resigned from the lodge.

There is a part where you swear to support your fellow Masons but as I felt unable to support not just the coppers but some of the hierarchy, the only option I had was to resign.
 
sheddy said:
Anyone who trusts or respects coppers is a fool. I spent too much time with them at a masonic Lodge to think otherwise,
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Not all coppers are masons, in fact some I know actively oppose masonic croneyism in the force. I grew up with guys who went on to join the police and I've met many good dedicated coppers and a few bad ones. The bad ones have an effect far greater than their numbers warrant because what they do at some point will become public and nothing travels quite like bad news.

Referring to the op's picture, up here a blue band on a police cap means probationer, if it's the same down there it might help explain his mistaken ideas.

Oh and "He replied 'well, in the current climate'"........... I'd have said, "what does global warmimg have to do with photography??"
 
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Steep said:
Oh and "He replied 'well, in the current climate'"........... I'd have said, "what does global warmimg have to do with photography??"
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Oooh, don't say that. Next they'll be trying to stop us film users, including myself, from working in the darkroom claiming that the chemicals are harmful to the environment. ;):lol:
 
I think I'll take my film camera to Canterbury. Be fun responding to a request to view my pictures from a PC by asking him to accompany me to Boots the chemist!! ;)
 
Scarecrow said:
I think I'll take my film camera to Canterbury. Be fun responding to a request to view my pictures from a PC by asking him to accompany me to Boots the chemist!! ;)
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And it would be great to get there and find there was no film in the camera!



Steve.
 
^^^ :lol:
 
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