Pixiq

so wait… it’s illegal to take pictures of sewer grates in england? and it makes you a terrorist if you merely have the capability to photograph a sewer grate?

There’s something else to this story. there has to be, nothing can be that ludicrous. really.

I hope the US never becomes the UK. This is so ridiculous and stupid that I have no words to explain why. It just speaks for itself.

A… sewer grating. Yes, yes, I can just see the gigantic threat to England’s national security.

God, and to think I wanted to move there after college.

so why is this guy not already suing? seems that the only way he is going to get any feed back nonetheless pay back from the police for spending 2 days in jail is to sue them into the ground, but he doesn’t seem to be pushing for it…
if i was locked up for 2 days for absolutely nothing i would be counting the days till my 6-7 figure payday!

Recent legislation in the UK made it illegal to photograph police and military personnel. Any photographer there can be seen as suspicious just for having a camera, and reporting photographers to police is encouraged.
One must provide ID to purchase kitchen flatware (knife control). Firearms possession is strictly limited and regulated; possession of handguns is banned and one may not use firearms at all in self-defense.
Meanwhile, the extensive surveillance camera system has done nothing to mitigate the rising crime rate and is now being used to enhance revenue with speeding tickets as highway speed limits are lowered. Muslim “demonstrators” of just a few weeks ago attacked and injured police and others with aparent impugnity; some authoritative figures have recommended the acceptance of Sharia law within the Muslim community.
England is down the tubes.
Active, conscientious and ongoing political participation can help to keep us more free here in the USA.

Every single time a situation happens like this, the victim must take strong action. I’m very glad to see that this particular victim went to the media. I really hope he files a lawsuit next, or achieves some form of policy/regulatory correction at the local level.

How many times have we read, on a flickr page for example, where someone encounters security, and backs down, citing their lack of interest in “pushing it any further” or “causing a situation.”

What happened to this guy in the UK will happen to all of us, if we don’t stand up if/when these situations happen to each one of us.

Hi Carlos.

Hats off to you for fighting the good fight. It’s hard to be right when the government is wrong.

What are your thoughts on Red-light cameras?

Thanks.

Buzz

can anyone post some links to UK photography law? just in case i ever decide to visit. thank you.

The cops think that terrorists are going to go into sewers to plant bombs or steal turds now. So they spend countless hours counting turds as they pass by to make sure none are missing. Then they put those funny seals on the grates so they know they were the last ones in there to view the turds and no one has burgled turds.

I guess this guy was violated some turd secrecy law in the UK by taking a photo of the seal. He might figure out how to be a turd burglar.

I don’t know which is worse, counting turds or taking pictures of turds. At least the cops were getting paid to count the turds. Does this guy have a turd fetish, why on earth would anybody want to photograph turds.

He wasn’t.

I am quite disappointed in the UK’s law-making abilities. I had no idea about photographing police and army personnel here but some other recent laws that I did know about aren’t any better.

You guys in the US might have some problems with some officers breaking the laws and lying about it but we have just plain bad laws.

I saw some police officers yesterday “talking” to several people outside my local internet cafe. I would have stopped and taken some photos if I had had my camera with me. I watched for a while but it turned out not to be very interesting after all.

I presume the law about police officers and military personnel only refers to when they are in uniform and on duty. Surely they couldn’t expect us to recognise them without those could they ?

On the DNA issue, UK police retain DNA samples of everyone who is arrested, even if they end up not being charged or convicted.