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London's Metropolitan Police Launches Anti Photography...
thomashawk.com — In what I can only view as troubling and a move surely to invite more backlash against photographers, London's Metropolitan police has launched a new counter-terrorism PR campaign complete with anti-photography propaganda.
koltregaskes- 54 diggs
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- DuxDucis, on 03/05/2008, -2/+7Bloody Hell, I don't think terrorists are the ones who are taking happy-snaps of monuments and government buildings out in the open.
Give me a break.
Give innocent and law-abiding citizens a break. - jcpiercy, on 03/05/2008, -2/+4Doesnt London have all the video cameras , watching everyone , everywhere .
Big Brother is watching you .- martalli, on 03/05/2008, -0/+1That makes this so ridiculous. Why take their own photographs? I wouldn't be surprised if the big terrorists just simply tap into the centralized system that the British have developed.
- delightfulallie, on 03/05/2008, -4/+2Have you even read closely what the ad is saying? They are not banning photography. They are just simply stating that if someone is taking weird photos of security devices or stuff they shouldn't be taking pictures of, then that is a cause for concern. I like how people think this is anti-photography when it really isn't.
- daggett, on 03/05/2008, -0/+1Absolutely right. That's what they meant.
Of course the folks who have any inclination to rag on the Police will interpret this one way, and others will interpret it in other ways depending on their personal bias. If you are able to think and reason outside your own bias and try to look at this from the perspective of someone assigned the job of protecting the general public, especially in a place where terrorist incidents have already taken place, you might be able to understand why the Police would ask the public to help.
Granted , that invites people who are not trained to identify "suspicious" activity to report perfectly innocent people. And I'd imagine that even the Police will mistakenly interrogate some people, especially if they're foreigners, and especially if they're from the Middle East.
I bet that people take pictures of 'sensitive' areas quite often, and that the Police question them when they see it happening. That's their job. Not to harass unnecessarily though.
Asking the public to help is always going to be a two-edged sword. It does tend to bring out some odd folks, but it can also provide valuable information. I would hope that if this experiment generates too many wasted leads, and starts to waste valuable Police resources they would stop this campaign.
As for professional photographers, scrutiny is something we have to deal with, although generating unnecessary paranoia from those who are inclined to be suspicious anyway could be an extra hassle.
All in all, I don't think this is any where near the big deal that many are making it out to be. - lpferris, on 03/05/2008, -1/+1You're both missing the point. This is just another attempt to turn citizens against each other. Divide and conquer (or control), my friends.
- daggett, on 03/05/2008, -0/+1Absolutely right. That's what they meant.
- Chaomancer, on 03/05/2008, -2/+2So, will I look less suspicious when I try to secretly take a picture, because I worry anyone seeing me take a picture will think I'm a terrorist? Mind boggling.
- jamesdowden, on 03/05/2008, -2/+1This campaign clearly violates the sections of the Police Code of Conduct on impartiality, politeness and tolerance, and abuse of authority. I therefore suggest that all concerned report the Metropolitan Police to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (ipcc.gov.uk), requesting that they prosecute the Metropolitan Police for this campaign.
- brendanryder, on 03/05/2008, -1/+3who the hell do these people think they are?
banning photography in one of the most visited places in the world, haha good luck. - loudribs, on 03/05/2008, -1/+3"Thousands of people eat bread everyday...What if one of them seems odd?"
For
*****
Sake - digindrivefast, on 03/05/2008, -1/+1http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23443706#2 ...
This is what happens to normal everyday people who become targets of "big brother" hype! everybody watching...
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