Since my last post on the issue of police stopping people from taking photographs in London under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, the subject has received quite a lot of press coverage in The Guardian. Here's a rundown:
We're photographers, not terroristsMarc Vallée argues that the government must scrap section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He also highlights a protest scheduled to take place at Trafalgar Square at 12 noon on Saturday 23 January 2010 "to exercise our democratic right to make a picture in a public place".
From snapshot to Special Branch: how my camera made me a terror suspect
Security guards stop journalist Paul Lewis from taking photographs of
the iconic Gherkin building, then call the police. Lewis captures the
entire incident on film. He doesn't identify himself as a journalist and he does push it a bit, almost as if he's trying to get arrested, but it does prove the point that the police are using these powers inappropriately.
Picture police alienate the public
The Guardian publishes a series of letters from people who've been stopped from taking photographs.
Scotland Yard warns police officers over photography concerns
Britain's senior counter-terrorism
officer John Yates warns his colleagues that:
"Unless there is a very good reason, people taking photographs should
not be stopped."
Italian student tells of arrest while filming for fun
An Italian student stopped by police while filming buildings explains how she was arrested, held in a police cell for five hours and given a fixed penalty notice.
Meanwhile The Times has published a story explaining that beat officers 'prevented terror attack by stopping suspicious tourist' using Section 44. Does this justify using anti-terror powers to stop and question photographers? I'm not so sure, particularly as the man was charged with "large scale fraud" and not terrorism.
I'm sure this issue will continue to rumble on... I'll be watching it closely.
