Harrasment of Ipswich photographer

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Harrasment of Ipswich photographer

whisperycat 17/04/2008, 1:52 PM
Saw this on the BBC website -

Phil Smith thought ex-EastEnder Letitia Dean turning on the Christmas lights in Ipswich would make a good snap for his collection.

The 49-year-old started by firing off a few shots of the warm-up act on stage. But before the main attraction showed up, Mr Smith was challenged by a police officer who asked if he had a licence for the camera.

After explaining he didn't need one, he was taken down a side-street for a formal "stop and search", then asked to delete the photos and ordered not take any more. So he slunk home with his camera.

--- This is local news - any more details?

Re: Harrasment of Ipswich photographer

James Goffin 17/04/2008, 7:52 PM

It is local news, but a bit old now:

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&itemid=IPED29%20Dec%202007%2009:14:35:500&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=search

Re: Harrasment of Ipswich photographer

whisperycat 18/04/2008, 9:35 AM
The 'Christmas' mention did give it away :-) The context in which this news snippet appeared on the BBC
was that amateur photographers are getting increasing levels of harrasment from the police for doing nothing
more than innocently pursuing their hobby.

( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7351252.stm )

One wonders, now that the thin end of the wedge has been gently slid into place, whether this irrational paranoia
is going to escalate. Just think about what actually happened here, in Ipswich. An innocent man was led down a
side street by a police officer, and his personal, private property (the pictures on his camera) were searched
through and then destroyed! And all without this man actually having done anything at all against the law.

Suppose that amateur photographer had been a newspaper journalist. Have we now reached the point in this
country where the police could take a press photographer down an alley, rifle through the pictures on their
camera and delete the ones they didn't like?

When were the police given the authority to impose instant, arbitary censorship on civilians taking pictures,
in a country which is supposed to be part of the 'free' west?

This is quite scary.

Re: Harrasment of Ipswich photographer

James Goffin 18/04/2008, 4:02 PM

It does happen to journalists - nationally there have been examples of photographers being cautioned or arrested for doing their job. Thankfully, most know the law well enough not to let the police overstep their powers. Where it has gone wrong the result tends to be an apology from the relevant chief constable and compensation.

I know our reporters and photographers have been stopped by police while filming or photographing on occasion. To be fair to the police this is usually from good intentions - such as trying to prevent someone involved in an accident being photographed and adding to their distress, pictures we probably wouldn't print in any case - but the law says it's not their call, and we'll always resist any attempts to interfere.

Re: Harrasment of Ipswich photographer

bernie 29/04/2008, 10:30 AM
As there is no law agains taking photos, take the officers number and note the time and date and report the incident to the officers bosses.