Here we go again

Just like Australia and the U.S., England is experiencing an epidemic of law-enforcement officers who just can't seem to understand the fact that taking pictures in public, even of the cops themselves, is quite legal:

"But to the police officers who arrested [famous local artist Reuben Powell] last week his photographing of the old HMSO print works close to the local police station posed an unacceptable security risk." (Emphasis mine)

Incredibly, the building he was taking pictures of wasn't even the station, but was merely too close by it for the officers' tastes. How close is too close? If the cop shop is somewhere in the same zip code, apparently.

This audacious act got Mr. Powell handcuffed and jailed at the local lockup for five hours, and resulted in having his DNA collected and added permanently to the intrusive database they have over there. He was only released after a local Member of Parliament got involved.

Faced with this and many other similar complaints, the police heads spout that "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're aware this kind of activity is legal, what's the issue? ":

"Yet, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers, the law is straightforward. 'Police officers may not prevent someone from taking a photograph in public unless they suspect criminal or terrorist intent. Their powers are strictly regulated by law and once an image has been recorded, the police have no power to delete or confiscate it without a court order. This applies equally to members of the media seeking to record images, who do not need a permit to photograph or film in public places,' a spokeswoman said."

Well, the issue is that these incidents keep happening with irritating regularity, despite law enforcement's feeble protestations to the contrary. Many more examples similar to Mr. Powell's are documented in the article, proving that this was no isolated incident.

Maybe a few court judgments awarding damages from the officers' own pockets to the aggrieved photographers will be the catalyst that speeds the process of getting the knowledge of the law regarding public photography filtered down to the street cops.