Tog arrested for photograph of police van going wrong way on one way road

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http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news...king-photo/article-275765-detail/article.html

Bristol man was arrested after he took a photo of a police officer who had ignored a no entry road sign.

Plumber Andrew Carter, of Bedminster, has since had an apology from the officer and Deputy Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset police Rob Beckley.

Mr Carter, 44, was walking his two dogs when a police van reversed into South Road, Bedminster, ignoring no entry signs.

The van stopped near a fish and chip shop in the street and two officers went into the shop to look at CCTV footage relating to an earlier incident.

Mr Carter said: "I had nearly been run over the previous day by a car going through the no entry signs so I was a bit miffed when a police van did the same thing.
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"He reversed into the road rather than going round the block and coming in the other way, like the rest of us have to.

"I pointed at the sign and said "no entry" to the driver who swore and said 'police business'.

"I went home and got my camera. I took a photo of the van and then a picture of the officer, through the window of the chip shop.

"He came running out, smashed the camera from my hand. I was put in handcuffs and he said I had 'assaulted' him with my camera and that I was also being arrested for resisting arrest and being drunk and disorderly.

"This was complete nonsense. They bundled me into the back of the van. I offered to delete the photos but the male officer was having none of it."

Mr Carter was taken to Broadbury Road police station in Knowle where he was kept for five hours until a doctor examined him. He had very high blood pressure and was freed on police bail.

When he returned to answer bail the following week, with his solicitor, he was kept at the station for another five hours.

Mr Carter, who was not charged with any offence, made a formal complaint about the wrongful arrest by PC Aqil Farooq who faced a disciplinary tribunal in July, seven months after the incident in January.

PC Farooq apologised to Mr Carter and later he received a letter from Deputy Chief Constable Rob Beckley, who chaired the disciplinary tribunal.

Mr Beckley said in the letter: "I know that PC Farooq apologised personally to you but I would also like to add my apologies on behalf of Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

"We expect the highest standards of our officers and PC Farooq fell below what was required. I know that his colleagues feel he let us down and he has learnt a difficult lesson.

"As you know, he was spoken to by the Head of Professional Standards Department immediately after the hearing.

"I am told he realises his actions were totally unacceptable and he could and should have apologised to you much earlier.

"I have also ensured that his line manager is aware of the issue of his judgement on this occasion and that aspect of his performance will be monitored in the future."

Mr Carter said he was happy with the apology but was pursuing a claim for compensation for wrongful arrest.

Avon and Somerset police declined to make any further comment.
 
Rob Beckley, Deputy Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police, has written to Mr Carter saying: “I would like to add my apologies.

“We expect the highest standards and PC Farooq fell below what was required.

“I will be meeting him in the next few weeks and will reinforce our expectations of his behaviour.” :police: :bat: :police:
 
and we wonder why so many hate the police......
 
I think its a ****in disgrace, he should have at the very least been suspended not just a smack on the wrist. It's bad enough he did it but to tell the bloke to '**** off' as he was on police business makes the whole thing a 1000 times worse!

and we wonder why so many hate the police......
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Agreed !
 
GoLotus said:
and we wonder why so many hate the police......
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CScottMcQueen said:
I think its a ****in disgrace, he should have at the very least been suspended not just a smack on the wrist. It's bad enough he did it but to tell the bloke to 'fu*ck off' as he was on police business makes the whole thing a 1000 times worse!



Agreed !
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Its so very disturbing to see our police acting in total disrespect of the citizens there employed to protect.

I remember new years eve last year, my 14 year old boy, his mates and I all waiting patiently for hours on the embankment along the Thames ..these three boys, sitting cross legged on the pavement, all quiet, all very nice, polite and decent, all without deep prejudice in any bones what so ever...

...next moment a bloody senior officer ...with police persons following in a row, comes across our group in a packed crown and shouts at the boys , GET UP, GET OUT OF THE WAY, very aggressively! The boys Jumped up, looked very shocked, then, spent the next half hour debating there disgust in the police force. :eek:

In an instant, a parents responsibility to support the police ruined.

I'm still furious, flipping disgusting behavior.
 
As a BMXer i have had to deal with Police Officers on many an occasion. Some are great, they come up to you, talk civily and treat you as an equal. Most of the time, they ask you to finish up what you are doing and move on, when they see the camera gear, they usually don't think that you are there just to cause trouble. The problem is, with the good comes the bad. I have had countless ocasions where the PC comes up screaming and shouting, threatening arrests on jumped up "Public Disorder" charges, calling us all the names under the sun. These are the Police Officer's that are seen as bad in the public eye, problem is they Tar every other with the same brush. If the Police treated people as EQUALS, there may be more respect for them, but as there are a few who treat you as a threat and as someone who should respect them, no matter how they act towards you, they are treated with little or no respect at all.
 
Utter joke tbh - I would be so angry if that happened to me (more than I am reading the article which is alot)

Disgusting!
 
Just to play devil's advocate for a second, bearing in mind this is in the Sun ;)

I sort of said, ‘Hey mate. no entry’
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I wonder what he actually said. :suspect:

I'm not condoning the police reaction but I suspect there's slightly more to this than meets the eye. He initiated the contact, continued it by going home and getting his camera to take photos, who knows how he then reacted to being challenged. If he'd minded his own business in the first case, and let the police get on with whatever they were doing, this probably wouldn't have happened.
 
I think the reason he went and got his camera is because he says he had been nearly hit by a car going backwards through the No Entry signs a few days earlier.

The reaction from the police officer was completely off the scale.
 
Nice to see our council tax being well spent again.
 
So the camera wasn't damaged? He should have somehow gotten the police to compensate...and somehow gotten a D3 out of it heheh
 
was the previous incident a some pre-ordered fish and chips from the station???
 
dod said:
Just to play devil's advocate for a second, bearing in mind this is in the Sun ;)

I wonder what he actually said. :suspect:

I'm not condoning the police reaction but I suspect there's slightly more to this than meets the eye. He initiated the contact, continued it by going home and getting his camera to take photos, who knows how he then reacted to being challenged. If he'd minded his own business in the first case, and let the police get on with whatever they were doing, this probably wouldn't have happened.
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Those were exactly my thoughts when I read this. If all that has been reported is true I wonder why the police officer wasn't charged with assault. I'd bet a lot of money that there is a lot more to this than meets the eye or the media have blown it out of all proportion, we all know that our tabloids who espouse high morality are not averse to being economical with the truth.
 
I read that in todays Metro on the train and couldn't believe it. Sad world we are all living in. :(
 
dod said:
Just to play devil's advocate for a second, bearing in mind this is in the Sun ;)



I wonder what he actually said. :suspect:

I'm not condoning the police reaction but I suspect there's slightly more to this than meets the eye. He initiated the contact, continued it by going home and getting his camera to take photos, who knows how he then reacted to being challenged. If he'd minded his own business in the first case, and let the police get on with whatever they were doing, this probably wouldn't have happened.
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My thoughts exactly. But still, yet again another example of the police being a law unto themselves.
 
This story was just on News at Ten (ITV) and the police have offered him £1500 in compo :cuckoo: (very genorous with our money)
 
i thought the plods were getting chips!!! :D
 
antc said:
My thoughts exactly. But still, yet again another example of the police being a law unto themselves.
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Not "The", just one :suspect:

But even though this was the Sun and probably a lot more went on than we will ever know, this Police Officer should be sacked. I wonder how many more similar incidents he has been involved with?

But, just something to think about, if the names were reversed, The Sun would be reporting it as a racist incident.

Allan
 
The nationals picked this up from the Bristol local press, hence why they're a long way behind the story. (see post 4). The incident was in January and the disciplinary tribunal was at the end of July, hence the story now.

Why does it take a senior officer a few weeks to meet him to discuss his behaviour.

Still the compensation will come in handy. According to the accused, he had a week off work and was on anti depressants following the incident.

Janice said:
i thought the plods were getting chips!!! :D
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From the local comments on the sory
"His home is opposite where the incident occured, therefore he didn't have to go far to get his camera.

the reason he was annoyed was that he had almost been run over on his own street on a couple of occasions by vehicles travelling the wrong way up the street.

In addition, the police had done the same thing on several occasions - just to buy fish and chips!

And yes, the camera was smashed out of his hand. Also, the relevant images were deleted and the evidence bag that the camera was placed in had been slit open."
 
imagine living opposite a chip shop! I'd end up being huge.....
 
Byker28i said:
In addition, the police had done the same thing on several occasions - just to buy fish and chips!

QUOTE]

You mean that the police actually pay for their fish and chips in some areas?
A flippant comment, but I think that some of the resentment that many of us feel is caused by the fact that takeaways always seem to feel that they need to give free food to the police - is there anyone here who hasn't seen this happen?
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martinsmith99 said:
Why wasn't the police officer charged with assault or at the very least sacked.
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At the risk of being foully condemned by everyone on here, perhaps a clue as to the leniency with which this officer was treated is in his name...

I once had a similarly-named colleague who was so bad at his job that he was never sent on jobs that actually mattered - all he ever covered were the soft and fluffy domestic jobs (as opposed to rugged, windswept and glamorous war-togging)...

When I once asked why he hadn't been re-traded or RTU'd (returned to his parent unit), it turned out that once when he'd been 'spoken-to' about his conduct, he'd hinted that he'd be seeking a claim for racial discrimination if it were taken any further.
The Bosses were so terrified at that prospect that he was allowed to meander on, happy in his own mediocrity.
The Command Master Photographer at the time (well-known for his 'hands-on' approach to discipline) used to go outside and punch trees whenever this 'person' f'd-up...which he did with depressing regularity...

Perhaps, maybe, possibly this is a factor in this case...?
 
dod said:
If he'd minded his own business in the first case, and let the police get on with whatever they were doing, this probably wouldn't have happened.
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It is his business, as it is the business of each and every one of us when those who are employed to serve us behave like we are there to serve them.
 
trapper501 said:
It is his business, as it is the business of each and every one of us when those who are employed to serve us behave like we are there to serve them.
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My thoughts exactly. Police officers (and politicians, council officials, etc.) are our servants, not our masters.


Steve.
 
Arkady said:
At the risk of being foully condemned by everyone on here, perhaps a clue as to the leniency with which this officer was treated is in his name...
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I don't think that's really the case, you only have to look at the way the Met has orchestrated campaigns against its senior Asian officer to see that they aren't terribly bothered about making race an issue.

The real problem is that the administration of discipline within the Police is proving to be a total failure, nobody can have much faith in the way complaints are handled by the police themselves or the IPCC.
 
trapper501 said:
I don't think that's really the case, you only have to look at the way the Met has orchestrated campaigns against its senior Asian officer to see that they aren't terribly bothered about making race an issue.

The real problem is that the administration of discipline within the Police is proving to be a total failure, nobody can have much faith in the way complaints are handled by the police themselves or the IPCC.
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This wasn't the Met - different animal altogether...
 
Arkady said:
This wasn't the Met - different animal altogether...
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I agree that the Met is the worst police force in the UK, streets ahead of the others, but the complaints and discipline system is a failure right across the UK.
 
trapper501 said:
I don't think that's really the case, you only have to look at the way the Met has orchestrated campaigns against its senior Asian officer to see that they aren't terribly bothered about making race an issue.
The real problem is that the administration of discipline within the Police is proving to be a total failure, nobody can have much faith in the way complaints are handled by the police themselves or the IPCC.
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My best mate has just retired from the Met as a 'skipper' (Sgt) after 30 years service and he has been moaning about how racial minorities are treated favourably (with kid gloves) within the Met for the last few years. He had two individuals on his team over that period who both had various performance and sickness issues and nothing was ever done about it because of their race.
 
DOD - I know you said that you don't condone the action/reaction of the PC, but the chap shoul dhave minded his own business........it is that kind of attitude that allows the Po Lice to do exactly what they want and to overstep their powers.

I am on the side of the photographer, I would also have challenged the Po Lice* if I saw them transgress....I even have a go at police cars who turn without signalling properly as they should be setting n example, and therefore they should be behaving in such a way that is close to perfcet. That is what I expect of them. They get paid a decent salary, they have pirks that you wouldn't believe (mortgage paid for them etc) and a pension that anyone in the private sector would kill for. They have to take the flip side of the coin and put up with the job they VOLUNTEERED for, knowing full well the kind of situations they would be exposed to during their initial training. They are trained to deal with this kind of incident and to behave appropriately, maintaining their decorum as they do so. This PC lost control, something that is completely unforgivable in my book, from someone that is supposed to uphold the law and protect the general public. That is their remit. Being a PC is not a license to ride roughshod over anyone that gets in the way of their perception of going about their business.

As for the Po Lice and losing peoples' respect, they have suffered that for a long time, ever since Panda cars with withdrawn. The reduction in Po Lice presence on the beat was the start of the loss of respect. Funny that recently this has been recognised and more uniformed "people" are on the beat again, in the form off yellow coated busy bodies withlittle power other than to report incidents as they happen and wait for a proper Po Lice officer to attend.


* Po Lice - not a misprint. It is something in the lower order of pond life that crawls around in the bottom of a lavatory pan. An amoeba is higher up the chain. This gives you some idea of the standing I hold the Po Lice in.
 
That is a carbon copy of an incident reprted a couple of years ago.
I wonder if it is accurate.
The Sun is not exactly the seeker of truth and justice.
 
Met Po Lice....you musn't knock the Met.

Everyone knows they are the best force money can buy.
 
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