Taking photographs and policing etc ...

Status
Not open for further replies.
I call it the new section.

I can stop you at anytime,under any excuse i can find,and make it up as i go along section.

:)
 
cowasaki said:
This is a little out of date as s44 has been deemed illegal anyway but it is irrelevant unless you are in london as the met has no jurisdiction outside their own area in relation to what officers from other forces do or don't do.
Click to expand...

Does this mean there are different rules for shooting in London?
I'm going tomorrow and just want to check.:/
 
Pyro said:
Does this mean there are different rules for shooting in London?
I'm going tomorrow and just want to check.:/
Click to expand...

The law is the same anywhere in England or Wales unless a Bylaw has been passed. The reality is that the entire English law if written down would be more than 10 times the size of the encyclopaedia Britannica and as such not every officer knows every bit of it. Ask an officer in London about the laws on Hare coursing and you will probably get a blank look whilst an officer in the dales would real it off. Sometimes officers get it wrong but there are 200000 police officers and one getting it wrong makes headlines with people tarring every police officer with the same brush. On that basis every professional photographer is a thief and treats their customers fraudulently! Well we had a member on here who we banned for stealing a lens off a lens rental company and we had a discussion about a professional photographer who ripped off their clients after taking their money!!

The anti terrorism offences came out and as with any law police looked at the law and interpreted it. Courts made decisions based on these interpretations and following that these decisions effectively clarify parts of the law. Several forces decided that taking photographs of possible terrorist targets would fall within this law. This has since been shown not to be the case.

Now in 2012 the VAST majority of police officers and PCSOs know what the current guidelines are. Yes some don't but they are few and far between but yes you could possibly come across them.

The vast majority of issues come from peoples attitude, if you stay calm and explain what you are doing then you are unlikely to have an issue. If you stick your camera in the police officers face whilst shouting "YOU CAN'T STOP ME TAKING YOUR PHOTOGRAPH AND ANYWAY I EARN MORE THAN YOU.... BLAH BLAH BLAH" then you might find that you end up committing a public order offence. I have seen video footage of this exact thing happening and the person went to the papers who published the story. They didn't feel like publishing the story that it had been caught on CCTV and the chap with the camera had been found guilty of section 5 public order.

HOWEVER.....

There are some places where it IS illegal to take photographs such as into a military air base, nuclear power station etc.

AND.....

The place you are most likely to have an issue is from a security guard not a police officer or PCSO. Most security guards haven't got a clue as to what their powers are or the law in general. They can ask you to leave private property so you are normally best asking permission first (but not the security guard, ask the manager and explain).
 
cowasaki said:
The law is the same anywhere in England or Wales unless a Bylaw has been passed. The reality is that the entire English law if written down would be more than 10 times the size of the encyclopaedia Britannica and as such not every officer knows every bit of it. Ask an officer in London about the laws on Hare coursing and you will probably get a blank look whilst an officer in the dales would real it off. Sometimes officers get it wrong but there are 200000 police officers and one getting it wrong makes headlines with people tarring every police officer with the same brush. On that basis every professional photographer is a thief and treats their customers fraudulently! Well we had a member on here who we banned for stealing a lens off a lens rental company and we had a discussion about a professional photographer who ripped off their clients after taking their money!!

The anti terrorism offences came out and as with any law police looked at the law and interpreted it. Courts made decisions based on these interpretations and following that these decisions effectively clarify parts of the law. Several forces decided that taking photographs of possible terrorist targets would fall within this law. This has since been shown not to be the case.

Now in 2012 the VAST majority of police officers and PCSOs know what the current guidelines are. Yes some don't but they are few and far between but yes you could possibly come across them.

The vast majority of issues come from peoples attitude, if you stay calm and explain what you are doing then you are unlikely to have an issue. If you stick your camera in the police officers face whilst shouting "YOU CAN'T STOP ME TAKING YOUR PHOTOGRAPH AND ANYWAY I EARN MORE THAN YOU.... BLAH BLAH BLAH" then you might find that you end up committing a public order offence. I have seen video footage of this exact thing happening and the person went to the papers who published the story. They didn't feel like publishing the story that it had been caught on CCTV and the chap with the camera had been found guilty of section 5 public order.

HOWEVER.....

There are some places where it IS illegal to take photographs such as into a military air base, nuclear power station etc.

AND.....

The place you are most likely to have an issue is from a security guard not a police officer or PCSO. Most security guards haven't got a clue as to what their powers are or the law in general. They can ask you to leave private property so you are normally best asking permission first (but not the security guard, ask the manager and explain).
Click to expand...

What a useful post. Thank you.
 
I've attended a few London meetups with the TP crowd, often in close proximity to police officers. Not once has a police officer ever shown any signs of objection to our photography. As often as not they're quite happy to be part of the picture and will smile. The only time I've ever been approached was by a security guard, who was talking b......s, but I'd got the shot I wanted so didn't bother to engage him in any discussion.
 
This is why i love living in rural devon , i got "stopped" by our local cop this morning, conversation went like this

Him: Alright Pete , nice camera
Me : Hi Mike, yeah just been getting some beach shots
Him: Nice , you'll have to show me sometime , anyway have you got a minuite to talk about the jubilee
me: yeah no probs, come into the office, fancy a brew...

Its a hard life :lol:
 
Last edited:
big soft moose said:
This is why i love living in rural devon , i got "stopped" by our local cop this morning, conversation went like this

Him: Alright Pete , nice camera
Me : Hi mike, yeah just been getting some beach shots
Him: Nice , you'll have to show me sometime , anyway have you got a minuite to talk about the jubilee
me: yeah no probs, fancy a brew...

:lol:
Click to expand...

I was in Devon a few days ago :)

I got this picture :) That's my kind of medication :D

BeerChem.jpg
 
and they say that the NHS is under threat ... looks good to me :D
 
lol - just over the headland from me (I'm based in branscombe)
 
you get used to it - Ive been here about a year and these days i reckon if the wing mirrors arent touching both banks then its a major road

you think branscombes bad you want to try some of the little roads up towards luppit from honiton - Grass growing in the middle of the road isnt usually a good sign , nettles and small shrubs growing in the middle of the road is a sign that you should have brought the 4x4 :lol:
 
big soft moose said:
you get used to it - Ive been here about a year and these days i reckon if the wing mirrors arent touching both banks then its a major road

you think branscombes bad you want to try some of the little roads up towards luppit from honiton - Grass growing in the middle of the road isnt usually a good sign , nettles and small shrubs growing in the middle of the road is a sign that you should have brought the 4x4 :lol:
Click to expand...

That's the way our stupid sat nav sent us home!
 
cowasaki said:
The law is the same anywhere in England or Wales unless a Bylaw has been passed. The reality is that the entire English law if written down would be more than 10 times the size of the encyclopaedia Britannica and as such not every officer knows every bit of it. Ask an officer in London about the laws on Hare coursing and you will probably get a blank look whilst an officer in the dales would real it off. Sometimes officers get it wrong but there are 200000 police officers and one getting it wrong makes headlines with people tarring every police officer with the same brush. On that basis every professional photographer is a thief and treats their customers fraudulently! Well we had a member on here who we banned for stealing a lens off a lens rental company and we had a discussion about a professional photographer who ripped off their clients after taking their money!!

The anti terrorism offences came out and as with any law police looked at the law and interpreted it. Courts made decisions based on these interpretations and following that these decisions effectively clarify parts of the law. Several forces decided that taking photographs of possible terrorist targets would fall within this law. This has since been shown not to be the case.

Now in 2012 the VAST majority of police officers and PCSOs know what the current guidelines are. Yes some don't but they are few and far between but yes you could possibly come across them.

The vast majority of issues come from peoples attitude, if you stay calm and explain what you are doing then you are unlikely to have an issue. If you stick your camera in the police officers face whilst shouting "YOU CAN'T STOP ME TAKING YOUR PHOTOGRAPH AND ANYWAY I EARN MORE THAN YOU.... BLAH BLAH BLAH" then you might find that you end up committing a public order offence. I have seen video footage of this exact thing happening and the person went to the papers who published the story. They didn't feel like publishing the story that it had been caught on CCTV and the chap with the camera had been found guilty of section 5 public order.

HOWEVER.....

There are some places where it IS illegal to take photographs such as into a military air base, nuclear power station etc.

AND.....

The place you are most likely to have an issue is from a security guard not a police officer or PCSO. Most security guards haven't got a clue as to what their powers are or the law in general. They can ask you to leave private property so you are normally best asking permission first (but not the security guard, ask the manager and explain).
Click to expand...

Thanks you very much! :)
 
big soft moose said:
you get used to it - Ive been here about a year and these days i reckon if the wing mirrors arent touching both banks then its a major road

you think branscombes bad you want to try some of the little roads up towards luppit from honiton - Grass growing in the middle of the road isnt usually a good sign , nettles and small shrubs growing in the middle of the road is a sign that you should have brought the 4x4 :lol:
Click to expand...

Weren't you there when the Napoli went down, Pete? Those roads were fun during that! There were transit vans full of scavengers flooding in from all over the country. Took a week or so to get some traffic control organised - they did a one-way system, down through Beer, back through Branscombe, I think it was. Eventually they restricted access. I was a staffer with the Sidmouth Herald at the time. Was sent to get some `quick shots`on one occasion. Took me six hours! No sending by wire in those primitive days.
 
nah i didnt start here til february '11 , i've heard the stories so i'm not sad to have missed it.

incidentally everytime we get a storm it drags a whole bunch of napoli crap off the seabed and deposits in othe beach - cost me £200 to get a smashed freezer container torched up and shifted a couple of months back
 
A bit like Whisky Galore, but not so much fun!
 
cowasaki said:
There are very few places where it is actually an offence to take photos: train stations !; nuclear power stations; military bases etc
Click to expand...

I think it's important to note that it's not necessarily an offence to take photos at the above sites (apart from the former). It's illegal to trespass on the land and you can be apprehended and sanctioned by the Police accordingly.

If you are trespassing elsewhere, this is a civil matter and you cannot be sanctioned by the Police unless they believe you have an intent to cause damage or steal.

They can and do search you to ensure neither of the above have or are likely to occur.

If they can see you are legitimately there to take photos, once they are satisfied with the above, they may just leave you to get on with what you were doing.
 
Last edited:
although that cop does seem to have an extra hand growing out of his ear - is this a sign that the garda are genetically modified ?
 
It's his right hand, it's detachable.
 
big soft moose said:
This is why i love living in rural devon , i got "stopped" by our local cop this morning, conversation went like this

Him: Alright Pete , nice camera
Me : Hi Mike, yeah just been getting some beach shots
Him: Nice , you'll have to show me sometime , anyway have you got a minuite to talk about the jubilee
me: yeah no probs, come into the office, fancy a brew...

Its a hard life :lol:
Click to expand...

After reading tons of info and watching rogue "lawmen" try it on, this post genuinely made me p155 my pants! LOL!! thanks for cheering me up!!:lol:
 
"I am pleased with the settlement but money alone does not erase what happened and I am left with consternation that the systems in place to protect citizens from police brutality do not work," Bonomo said.
Click to expand...

Then why not have your day in court instead of running with the cash? :thinking:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top