Photographers, not terrorists
An interesting update from Mike, who attended the photographer’s protest at Scotland Yard this afternoon.
Counter-terrorism legislation, which comes into force today, means if a photographer takes a photograph of a police officer, they could be arrested and possibly put in jail for potentially taking a picture that ‘is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’.
The photo of me below, taken way back in 2001 before 9/11, was back in the ‘good old days’ when you could ham it up in front of riot police.
In protest to the Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008, hundreds of photographers descended on to Scotland Yard and took endless photographs of the police there.
You can read more about the legislation at the British Journal of Photography’s website.
About nine months ago I mentioned the Downing St petition asking for clarification on photographer’s rights. The response was that:
There are no legal restrictions on photography in public places. However, the law applies to photographers as it does to anybody else in a public place. So there may be situations in which the taking of photographs may cause or lead to public order situations, inflame an already tense situation, or raise security considerations..
Each situation will be different and it would be an operational matter for the police officer concerned as to what action if any should be taken in respect of those taking photographs. Anybody with a concern about a specific incident should raise the matter with the Chief Constable of the relevant force.