Mastermind and the road to Damascus

[John Wilson]

2009/2/24 Brian Morrison <bdm@fenrir.org.uk>:

> While I see what you are driving at, I still feel that the ability to
> frustrate the immediate intention of photographers by arresting them
> will be used on occasions that could show the police in a poor light.
>
> No amount of supplementary questions are going to make it clear that
> such behaviour will not be tolerated.

It's really not a matter of arrest. Press photographers can be
prevented from taking photographs whilst the officers "investigate"
the possibility that an offence has taken place. Amateurs can be
browbeaten into deleting images and dissuaded from continuing to take
photographs. In these cases it nigh impossible to successfully
complain to the Police about harassment. I really don't expect anybody
to be arrested for this offence.

This is a really stupid thing for the government to do. Senior
officers in the Police plainly don't want these powers, it will be
lower level officers and PCSOs (who don't actually have this power)
who get involved photographic disputes with the public out of
annoyance or ignorance. The people they will be tangling with will be
white, aged 30-60, middle class, educated, informed and self
confident. If I was the commissioner of the Met (heaven forfend!) this
is a demographic I'd rather not piss off.

John Wilson