Are you a tall photographer?

[yelvertoft]

Andy (admin) is 6ft. 3in. Joe is another tall guy over 6ft. They'd better watch out.....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07...photographers/

My advice is to crouch down.

Another PR disaster for the police.

The blog of the "suspect"
http://monaxle.com/2009/07/08/sectio...ge-1/#comments

[andy153]

I'm 6 ft and 15 stone, with my helmet on I topped 6 ft 3 inches, but when I joined the police in 1967 we had height restrictions, those who were vertically challenged, were not allowed to join. In these PC (politically correct) days the selection process is different and a vertical challenge or a gender issue is not able to interfere with acceptance by the police. So now we have a number of officers who would feel physically or mentally intimidated by mice or amateur photographers going about their lawful business. One of the points of wearing a helmet, was so that the officer could, if he wished, "loom large" over people in order to nip in the bud or stop disorder by his physical presence alone. In those days we didn't have radios, or tazers or pepper spray, so we learned to talk to people and we learned discretion - two assets to police work that are sadly lacking today. One of the first lessons we were taught is that at Common Law ( the bedrock of all our Laws ) a Constable as an inviolable power of discretion. He or she alone takes the decision whether or not to take action to bring the Law into operation. These days they tend to also lack the common sense that is essential for the office of Police Constable and are incapable of making such judgements. As a retired officer, proud of the service I gave, these sort of incidents make me want to weep at times.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by yelvertoft

Andy (admin) is 6ft. 3in.

Actually, at a fraction under 6ft 4, I'm the shortest member of admin

[robski]

Good job I'm only a 5ft 6 short ar$e living in Kent

[miketoll]

Originally Posted by robski

Good job I'm only a 5ft 6 short ar$e living in Kent

Ah, you will no doubt be accused of trying to obtain information of possible use to terrorists by subterfuge! The police sure seem to be good at alienating members of the public which aids terrorism in itself.

[Joe]

Thanks for the link Duncan. a totally bizarre story!
I'm 6' 6" but quite a number of years ago did wear a policemans helmet with a blue flashing light on top (long story), which probably would have made me a silly height......not sure I would have looked threatening though?!

[yelvertoft]

And another one.......
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...le-phone-court

[miketoll]

I should not read these stories as they depress me but we should be aware.

[graham harcombe]

Yes, Mike. I too get irritated reading about such incidents.

As an ex-police officer (30 years service in Liverpool), I can't help but feel that the problem should be tackled from another direction. All police officers should be advised to assume that they are being filmed/photographed when they are having dealings with the public such as arrest and search. From the police point of view the complete defence to such surveillance is to behave 'according to the book'. That's not too hard, is it?

Post arrest and in interview conditions video recording now routinely takes place.

[yelvertoft]

I was watching one of the many "Street Crime/Traffic Cops" type TV programs last night. In one scene, a drunk youth who had attracted the attention of the police was complaining that he was being filmed and that "it was illegal to film him"; his face had been blurred out. The cops pointed out to the man that he was in a public place and therefore the TV crew had the right to film him.

There's a lot of this kind of TV programs, and they do a lot of good PR for the police. They do show that policing is a very difficult job and most coppers do a good job under very trying circumstances. I find it odd that when it's a good bit of PR cops don't try and hide behind the false accusation that it's illegal to film a policeman.

But, it's just like any job/profession, some people are better at it than others. Cops are human, not clones, there's good ones and bad ones. Shame that the bad ones don't get weeded out as this clearly impacts everybody else in a very bad way.