Should you obey the police?
Any photographer who does newspaper work will inevitably come into contact with the police at some point.
I have a very positive opinion of the police, and this has been reinforced by many encounters in which officers went out of their way to be helpful and co-operative. But I've also had some negative experiences, and in each case I've been forced to obey police officers even though I knew they were in the wrong…
This first photo shows a man being arrested during a street party in Alness:
I had watched the two officers leading him away from the high street and up a side street to where their car was parked. As they neared the car the man turned towards one of the officers and immediately both of them threw him onto the bonnet of the car and put their weight on to him. Now, rightly or wrongly, it seemed like an over-reaction to me and I dashed over and took a photo. As I prepared to take another photo, one of the officers pointed at me and told me to stop. I hesitated a moment and he told me again. So I did.
This photo of the Kessock Bridge in Inverness was taken two days before the fireworks display to mark the end of Highland 2007:
The photo was taken from the garden of a couple who had offered to let me park my car in their driveway when I came back to shoot the fireworks, so I wouldn't have to carry my equipment too far. At least that was the plan!
When I arrived about an hour before the fireworks were due to start, the police were stopping people at the entrance to the street, to ask if they were there to view the fireworks or if they lived inside the cordoned-off area. They were limiting the on-street parking so only residents and visitors were being allowed through. I explained that I was there to photograph the fireworks for the P&J but I had arranged in advance to park in someone's driveway. The police officer insisted on seeing my P&J identity badge, but of course I don't have one because I'm just an occasional freelancer. His response wasn't to call me a liar, but he stated: "If you worked for the P&J then you'd have ID." That was as far as the discussion went, and I was told to park about half a mile away.
And finally, this photo of an accident on the A9 was taken from within the police-controlled incident zone, with the permission of one of the officers:
Unfortunately, the officer who gave me permission to go into the controlled zone, soon decided that I had enough photos, and he politely told me that I'd need to leave, which of course I did. On the way out I mentioned that I was going to walk further along the road and take some photos from outside the controlled zone, showing the whole area of the incident. He told me that I wasn't allowed to do that. Why not? His words: "Because this is a controlled incident zone and you need my permission to take photos of it, and I'm not giving you that permission."
Now, the title of this blog entry is: Should you obey the police? And in my opinion the answer is yes. In each of these three situations, I believe I was right to do what the police told me to do, even though I knew they were wrong. There was no legal reason why I couldn't photograph someone being arrested in a public place. I shouldn't have been forbidden from making a pre-arranged visit to someone's house, simply because I didn't have a newspaper ID badge. And I shouldn't have been forbidden from taking photos of an incident scene from a public road outside the controlled zone. But even so, in the same situations I would advise anyone to do exactly what the police tell you to do, both for your own good and to avoid giving the police any extra hassles in what might already be a difficult situation.
But having answered that question, we must ask another one:
What can we do about the few bad apples in the police force who are abusing their authority to unlawfully dictate what members of the public can and cannot do?
(For what it's worth, I don't differentiate between journalists and members of the public. We're just members of the public who are occasionally granted some extra privileges. We have extra responsibilities, yes, but no extra rights.)
This question will hopefully be one that I can answer some time soon, as I'm going to pursue the matter with my local police force and the Home Office. Having to obey an unlawful order is unacceptable. Disobeying it is unacceptable too. So what will the police themselves advise us to do? What is the correct course of action?
Stay tuned…
about 3 years ago
Interesting article. Here in America, I would venture to say that the photographers would probably NOT have obeyed as you did.
I certainly wouldn’t. If I knew I was within my rights, and some cop was outside of his bounds, I’d do what I was allowed to do, and let the courts sort it out later, in my favor!
But that’s the American way. :^)
about 3 years ago
In principle I agree with you Bill. But what concerns me is this:
Suppose the police tell you to put your camera down, but you lawfully continue taking photos. You’re then arrested for “interfering in police business” or some such nonsense. Obviously that’s not going to stick, but on the way to the police station an officer decides that you have become abusive and threatening, so that’s what he charges you with. Photographers have a bad reputation for this sort of behaviour so do you think a magistrate or judge is going to believe you or the police officer?
I think the police are just like the rest of us. Most of them are honest and decent, but there will be the odd one or two who want to “teach you a lesson” for disobeying them, even if you had a legal right to do what they told you to stop doing.