image Thomas Hawk
I was disappointed to read the post that Paul Buchheit published in today’s FriendFeed regarding the recently passed law in Great Britain, which would make it illegal to photograph police there. In an article from Prison Planet , citing counter-terrorism Law 2008 as containing the relevant legislation: From Prison Planet: “ The British Journal of Photography Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 which became law on February 16, allows the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who has pictures of d?stojník? ‘might be useful to a person committing or preparing a terrorist act’. “punishment for this crime the penalty is imprisonment for up to ten years and pokutu.Nicmén?, even before the passage of legislation, police in Britain have already harassing and arresting journalists fully accredited photographers for taking pictures of them at meetings and protests. “ In the UK, the section counter -Terrorism Act 2008 which deals with this in section 1976 , where states that it will now be a crime to “promote, publish or communicate” information about members of the armed forces atd.Z legislation: “(1) A person commits an offense that-(A) causes or attempts to obtain information about the individual who is or has been (i) member of Her Majesty’s forces, (ii) any member of the intelligence services, or (iii) constable “While I am still not quite 100% sure what” ellicting and disclosure “the police officers could mean, I could definitely see the issue being raised, where the officer was identifiable, perhaps even with their names on their uniforms. In any case, it would certainly seem to give the police more ammunition, so to speak, so they can use when asking photographers not to photograph je.Tento legislation appears to be yet another step in cooling the UK in support of harassment of photographers. Last year he could remember that London’s Metropolitan Police has launched a public advertising campaign I asked the people to turn in a “strange” looking fotografy.Zachování our right to photograph the police is important. Whether the case of Rodney King or the more recent case of killing a police officer Johannes BART Mehserle Oscar Grant of Oakland, it is important that we as citizens are allowed to record the daily activities of our police officers. Police officers handle an incredible amount of power over the common citizens in our everyday lives. Being able to record their activities (as I’m sure our record) is an important right and power to insist that they handle their own power with responsibility, with which m?l.Tento law in Great Britain is unfortunate. It stains the water for other photographers, what can and can not photograph with regard to the police and also paves the way for the police harass photographers. While the law seems to be aimed at people who would photograph the police with the intent to use it for terrorism, I could easily see how it could be used by any police tried to stop photographers taking pictures of them. I’d much rather see this as legislation that explicitly said that regular citizens to have any and all rights to photograph the police kdykoliv.Vzal I have lots of photos of the police here in the U.S. You can see my PhotoSet” cops “here.

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