Taking pictures of Police officers

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Without reading either (sorry) I would be guided by what the met say rather than the beeb.
 
In general there's nothing wrong with taking their photos, unless you stop them doing their job. They can also stop you if there's a terrorism related risk (cant remember which section but it comes under the terrorism act), but that's very unlikely, especially if you aren't doing anything wrong! I can tell you that most officers are unlikely to care unless you get in their way when they're dealing with something.

Basically go for it. If they stop you just tell them what you're doing and be friendly, and you'll have no problems. Just don't go getting all defensive and angry if they stop you and ask what you're doing. So many problems between police and photographers can be avoided just with simple communication. Don't forget that they can't make you delete a photo either :)
 
This paragraph in the MET document says it all really.

Freedom to photograph and film
Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.

Edit :- As Carl says above, spot on.
 
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As part of an amateur project I wanted to take pictures of police officers.

I would have asked them first but I just found out that it is a criminal offence: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7888301.stm
but this article seems to say the opposite: http://content.met.police.uk/Site/photographyadvice

It's all a bit confusing so does anyone know a bit more on the subject? And feel free to comment on the general issue.

That BBC link refers to an offence of taking a photo of a police officer which is used to help terrorism. Basically if Terry the terrorist goes around taking photos of police so that his terrorist buddies can attack or kill them, he's going to go to jail. Normal people who are just snapping away at police for innocent reasons have nothing to worry about.

Also I feel I need to add that just because it's not an offence to take a photo of a police officer, doesn't mean they necessarily want you to. The threat level to police has just been raised, and with recent events and planned attacks on police, they might not be overly eager to have a hi-res image of their face and uniform stuck on the internet for everyone and their dog to see. They're quite within their right to turn away or hide their face, just like every other person on the street.
 
Photographing a single police officer may not constitute preparing an act of terrorism however the Police may find it a little unsettling if you're building a catalogue of officers, especially if you're planning on publishing it anywhere. We know you have innocent intentions but they might not see it that way, this part of the 2000 and 2008 Terrorism Acts covers it, and the last sentence may be the killer for you.

(1)After section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information) insert—

“58AEliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of armed forces etc
(1)A person commits an offence who—

(a)elicits or attempts to elicit information about an individual who is or has been—

(i)a member of Her Majesty's forces,

(ii)a member of any of the intelligence services, or

(iii)a constable,

which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b)publishes or communicates any such information.
 
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Interestingly, the section after that is this:

(2)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for their action.

So basically, as long as you can say as an amateur photographer on with a project you could be okay. However any online publishing is likely to upset the authorities :LOL:
 
Just don't let them spot you :D
RJB_4898.jpg
 
I usually find that asking an constable/officer nicely with a smile will result in cooperation. I have cheesy tourist shots of two nephews with various uniformed persons taken around London (Met, BTP, Yoeman Warders, etc.) to prove it ;)
 
I usually find that asking an constable/officer nicely with a smile will result in cooperation. I have cheesy tourist shots of two nephews with various uniformed persons taken around London (Met, BTP, Yoeman Warders, etc.) to prove it ;)

My son is a serving officer, he says almost every day he goes out on foot patrol he gets asked to pose with someone for a photo and always says yes if he isn't busy with something.
 
Ask and the chances are that ye shall receive! Act furtively and you might get a different reaction.
 
Several years ago I was in a G20 protest kettle, with many other thousands of people. Some of the Police officers were trying to tell people not to photograph or video them, because it could be a terrorist act. Nothing to do with the fact that their id numbers were removed or covered, or that some of them went on to misbehave. Just as well that members of the public did continue to video, because somehow the entire Forward Intelligence Team, all of the police cameras, the CCTV, and constant coverage by police helicopter failed to record passer-by Ian Tomlinson being assaulted by an officer, shortly before he died in the street. Initially, police tried blaming the protestors, until amateur video footage proved otherwise.

I wasn't there when Tomlinson died, because I managed to escape out of the kettle earlier. I made my way out, and at Westminster, witnessed a police officer, posing for photographs with tourists.

From the G20:

3416517316_8f351c184b.jpg
 
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The Beeb were correct when they wrote it, but section 76 has since been repealed.

Not sure where you got that idea from. It's wrong. Section 44 of the of the Terrorism Act 2000 was suppressed and amended in 2011, but Sect 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000
and Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 are still extant.
 
Ask and the chances are that ye shall receive! Act furtively and you might get a different reaction.
I know a lot of people ask for "permission" to take a photo and that's fine if that's what makes them comfortable, but in some ways it could reinforce peoples perception that photography is something that requires permission. I would never feel happy with asking for "permission" to take a photo.
 
There is such an easy get out if you use Sandisk memory cards. If asked to delete a photo do it in front of whatever authority. Most do'nt realise the data is still on the card and can be recovered at a later date
 
There is such an easy get out if you use Sandisk memory cards. If asked to delete a photo do it in front of whatever authority. Most do'nt realise the data is still on the card and can be recovered at a later date


I'd rather be banged up than delete a photo when some idiot demands it.
 
There is such an easy get out if you use Sandisk memory cards. If asked to delete a photo do it in front of whatever authority. Most do'nt realise the data is still on the card and can be recovered at a later date

If you are ordered to do this then the person ordering it does not understand the extent of their authority.


Steve.
 
Just be careful. You can get prosecuted for taking pictures of the police.



But worse if they spot you in the wardrobe they may kick the crap outta ya first. Best use the quiet shutter setting
 
There is such an easy get out if you use Sandisk memory cards. If asked to delete a photo do it in front of whatever authority. Most do'nt realise the data is still on the card and can be recovered at a later date
Fixed that for you.

But as above, no one can legally demand that.
 
But as above, no one can legally demand that.

It's completely logical:

1. If your act of photography was in some way illegal, the picture is evidence. If you were forced to delete it, that would be destruction of evidence - a serious crime.

2. If your act of photography was not illegal, forcing its deletion would be destruction of your property - also illegal.


Steve.
 
I think I've related this before on here somewhere but I'll repeat it as it's relevant to this thread.

Many years ago, I was shooting an arrest which involved several coppers clearly putting the boot in to an arrestee that was already down. On spotting me taking pictures, one copper came running over and demanded I hand over my film. Seems he'd sort of forgotten that intimidating a witness and attempting to tamper with evidence are both serious offences. I reminded him and he went away muttering to himself.
 
There is such an easy get out if you use Sandisk memory cards. If asked to delete a photo do it in front of whatever authority. Most do'nt realise the data is still on the card and can be recovered at a later date

A Police Officer has no lawful authority to ask you to do this in the street.
 
question is, how legitimate are digital photos in law anyway as evidence? Seeing how easy it is for anyone to "mess" about using an editing suite to alter them. I understood, but may be wrong, that the police still use the film cameras to prevent this. Maybe someone on here can confirm or deny this is the case ?
 
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A Police Officer has no lawful authority to ask you to do this in the street.
I'd have thought a Police officer could ask you to do anything he wanted he just does not have the authority to require you to do certain things.
 
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