While all contributions to PhotoLegal are the personal opinion of the author and do not represent the position of PhotoLegal or any other contributor, I do feel obliged given the nature of this piece to remind readers that the following is my own opinion and not necessarily that of my co-hosts!
The British Journal of Photography has today published the results of 46 freedom of information requests that they made to every police force in the UK asking if the force have requested authorisation to use S44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to stop and search people without suspicion to prevent terrorism.
The exercise has revealed that every police force in the UK has requested use of the powers at some point, with the sole exception of Derbyshire. Even more disturbing is the attitude of some forces to the request, including Cambridgeshire who even had the temerity to suggest that BJP itself could be a terrorist organisation!
This is hot on the heels of a tumultuous summer for photographers who have been harrassed and physically abused by the authorities at every turn. At Kingsnorth Power Station in Kent, officers covered up and refused to reveal their identification numbers, a crucial tool of accountability which is essential if policing is to command the respect and co-operation of the public. At G20 and the Tamil protests we saw images and footage of police officers using physical violence against protesters and photographers who themselves did not appear to be behaving in this way, and also using controversial tactics such as kettling to contain protesters in an area, refusing to let anyone in or out, even those who were injured or ill and needed to obtain medical treatment.
Earlier this week we received reports that a photographer in London photographing an incident involving an air ambulance had her camera taken away and then was arrested, handcuffed and put in the back of a police van, apparently because she had the nerve to photograph the scene without asking the permission of a police officer. She was later de-arrested after the incident was over, because the paperwork involved would ‘ruin the day’ of the police officers concerned.
The police in the UK appear to have become an instrument of terror. An affront to our democracy. The Government seem unwilling to act to defend our freedom, indeed when the police engaged in outrageous tactics to arrest an opposition MP earlier this year, the Government at the very least adopted a ‘Pontius Pilate’ hands-off approach, although many had suspicions that they were supportive of the action.
They are there to preserve our freedom and our hard-won liberty from tyranny, yet they engage in bully-boy intimidation that would not be out of place in a third world or historical dictatorship, while anyone who opposes or questions their dubious tactics is a terrorist supporter or possibly even an enemy of the state, to be stopped at any cost.
Congratulations to the BJP for attempting to put this information together, and I’m sorry that our public servants have behaved towards you in such a disrespectful and thuggish manner. We should all take a stand against this now and say no more. We should start a fighting fund and ask every person interested in protecting freedom to donate a small amount that can be used to bring private prosecutions for false imprisonment, or similar civil actions, against police forces who behave in an unaccountable and power-crazy way, starting with the person who was detained at the incident with the air-ambulance.
This probably isn’t the task for a private company, so while I support the campaigns being run by the BJP and Amateur Photographer, I think this fighting fund sits best with the ‘I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist’ group of photographers.
Let’s take on these thugs in the only way we can, and hope that the courts are willing to defend us. The police have shown that they are an instrument of the state and the government and this reprehensible denial of our basic human rights must cease.
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Sadly Darren the state apparatus is there to protect it’s own existence and not that of the people it is for. The legal system is bent at every turn, we become more like a number everyday. Soon they will be carving national security numbers on gravestones instead of names as that is sadly fast all we are becoming.
[...] if you want to see the results when I bare my teeth, then check out the post I made over on PhotoLegal this [...]
Is this because the Police are no longer “keepers of the peace” but “enforcers of the law”?
Politically, Policing is now referred to as Law Enforcement and Police Officers are now Law Enforcers. Most of our MP’s are Lawyers. We no longer have a Home Office; it is now the Ministry of Justice. These are not merely name changes nor is this just a case of semantics; it is a complete change of thinking – most laws that have been written since 1995 reflect this subtle but important change. How can this be changed? Let us hope that a change of government may help.
I’m in complete agreement over the establishment of a ‘fighting fund’ to pursue police excesses and to shine a bright light on what the police are up to. I think part of the reason for the general public apathy is the relative success on the part of the police/government in portraying incidents as isolated, helped, no doubt, by the fact they are only generally reported on blogs or in the trade press.
The erosion of civil liberties is not only an issue for photographers, but abuses of police power against photographers is a good way to raise public awareness of the issues and generate debate – after all, everyone has a camera.
I would like to see every single incident collated, presented to and covered by the national press, with court proceedings brought where possible. Even the police might get bored at their negative portrayal, and the consequent loss of public confidence.