London's Metropolitan Police Launches Anti Photography Propaganda Campaign

timothy*    says:

sick!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

phoneyman [deleted] says:

This posting seems odd.

*dials

Pierre
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

REALJimBob    says:

Well that's something to look forward to...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

isshokenmei    says:

Hear hear.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Thomas Hawk    says:

This posting seems odd.

Pierre, I thought so at first too. In fact the first thought that popped into my head was that this piece felt an awful lot like Banksy and I wondered if it was not legit. But after spending time on the Metropolitan Police website it does very much appear to be a true campaign against us all.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

richard winchell    says:

All of the people in this Flickr cluster, for starters.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

phoneyman [deleted] says:

Thomas, I learned about the Met campaign yesterday and apparently there is a radio version as well, the script goes:
"Female Voice over:
How d'you tell the difference between someone just video-ing crowded
place and someone who's checking it out for a terrorist attack?

How can you tell if someone's buying unusual quantities of stuff for
a good reason or if they're planning to make a bomb?

What's the difference between someone just hanging around and
someone behaving suspiciously?

How can you tell if they're a normal everyday person, or a terrorist?

Male voice over:
The answer is, you don't have to.

If you call the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321,
the specialist officers you speak to will analyse the information.
They'll decide if and how to follow it up.

You don't have to be sure. If you suspect it, report it.

Call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321 in confidence."

You can listen to it here

But what I was implying is that I was going to report you

*reports

Pierre
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Thomas Hawk    says:

But what I was implying is that I was going to report you

Haha! I missed that. I'm sure if people saw me running around the streets of London I'd be reported. I even have my own set of images of surveillance cameras:

www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/sets/7215760 3803085459/
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

phoneyman [deleted] says:

This one got me questioned. Oddly this one did not.

Pierre
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

♥ shhexycorin ♥    says:

Any excuse to harass photographers gets my vote.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

shotbart    says:

That's absolutely incredible... but (let's face it) realistic.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

jimheid    says:

This reminds me of a poster that appears in the background of some scenes in the film "Brazil":

Don't suspect a friend -- report him!

Grim.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

apolide    says:

what means "odd" ? is there a standard good for all ?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

where's charlie? [deleted] says:

All your photos seem odd.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Rhett Redelings    says:

This makes me sick. Watch out for your neighbor, he/she/it is probably evil and a Communist besides. The evil's gonna get you if you stand still. Don't be a sucker, report everyone. Let the government sort it out. It's what we're best at.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

hrifai    says:

there goes taking interesting pictures...thanks LMP!!!!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Sven Boogie says:

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

(*Watching him back is not permitted.)
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

{ jonny } says:

So in other words... Don't go out and about taking photos in the city if you are an young-adult of middle eastern origin because you'll probably get arrested.

Total Bullsh*t


touche sven!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

CiaoChessa    says:

I've been harassed on the street too here in NYC. It's ridiculous. It just keeps stretching out further and further.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

sonicwalker    says:

In our Dutch town they are following the British CCTV obsession and are installing hundreds of those this year. I was going to document it and I guess according to UK police point of view, that would make me a prime suspect. This world is getting crazier every day.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

phoneyman [deleted] says:

Don't let this stuff stop you. Photograph anyhow. I do. After a while the "official" harassment is kind of fun.

Pierre
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

sduffy    says:

Unbelievable.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Martin Isaac    says:

What are you looking at?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Doug Felts    says:

I recently posted about being stopped on a Washington State ferry, since I was taking photos of "things that normal tourists wouldn't take pictures of."

www.flickr.com/photos/dougfelts/2292357847/

Pretty threatening, huh!

BTW, sorry I missed your recent visit to Seattle, but my wife thinks she saw you in Pioneer Square! Look forward to a future Seattle Photowalk with you...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

[etch-a-sketch] says:

thomas, hope you don't mind me linking this to my blog.. thanks in advance..
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

MediaMisfit    says:

This shit is fucking crazy!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Michael Seneschal    says:

The metropolitan police should know better.

They are essentially saying, don't bring out your cameras in public.

I understand why.... if terrorists can't get their hands on blueprints, the next best thing is to photograph their target.

But isn't this campaign giving into the terrorists? Don't the terrorists want everyone to hide in their homes?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

aqui-ali    says:

oh christ...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Dan's sordid & sundry pictures    says:

God help us all....
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

M J M    says:

Wow, that's awful! Thanks for the heads up on this. I blogged it.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

io the mad cow says:

...this is depressing.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

KAGoldberg    says:

That's it. I'm reporting all of you.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Aaron Siladi    says:

Man this is so sad... wasn't Britain the first to install public surveillance cameras too?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Cindersmom & Roma    says:

As we get more cameras, cell phones w/cameras, the powers to be must feel threatened, but the paranoia is out of hand in our wonderful world... This makes me sick, and rebellion isn't too far ahead... before long we will be a world of terror.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

20after4    says:

This may be useful, at least for U.S. Residents:

The photographer's right: www.krages.com/phoright.htm
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

George Vye    says:

A few years ago, my partner of 52 years and I were taking photos on a warm May day in Trafalgar Square, as we have done for over 50 years.
On the way back to the hotel to take an "old folks" nap we were stopped by 4 police officers who wanted to see the photos we took of the children in the square. We had taken the usual Sunday in the square photos. About 100. The upshot of all this, after 45 minutes of being accused as pedophiles, our shoulder sack being searched, our passports being recorded, and the photographs deleted, we were told we could protest in front of a magistrate, or pick up a transcript of these proceedings the next day. We left the next day. After 50 years, we will never return. Oh yes, our sack contained a bottle of water and a Timeout guide to London....just what every pedophile uses to attract children. Fuck you London police!!!!
Oh yes, I was also arranging with a gallery for a show of my art.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

MrPhilDog    says:

This is totally depressing. It won't add security just more paranoia. As Bruce Schneier Says "If you ask amateurs to act as front-line security personnel, you shouldn't be surprised when you get amateur security."

www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_wa r_on_the.html
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

*ade    says:

No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

johnpiercy    says:

thanks for the headsup

--
Seen on pownce.com (?)
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

donneek11 says:

My friends you are looking at the way of the future, is it too late to do anything?
check out this site;
salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/cam paign.jsp?ca...

Join and Support the ACLU. I don't know what the equivalent is in the UK but if we don't get involved we can only hold up the middle finger as the tanks roll over us and even that will be punishable...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Daniel Cormier    says:

Are there any recorded cases of terrorists using photography to scout a target?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

davidbrin@sbcglobal.net    says:

Ironically, both the London Metro Police and their critics completely miss the point.

In fact it is perfectly legitimate to ask that citizens be aware of what is going on around them, and for them to serve as an outer line of detection and defense against those who might be seeking to do harm. But the odds are SO microscopic, in any one case, that our professional protectors simply have no business at all, getting involved at such a low -- and vast(!) -- level. I mean, don't you guys have any sense of scale? Or better things to do?

No, the way to do this is not to turn neighbor against neighbor, reflexively reporting each other to overparanoid state authorities. The answer, indeed, is to make greater use of the tool in question -- photography. People who spot suspicious photography taking place should simply take their own pictures to those doing it!

Generally, these should NOT be given to the police! That is the road to Big Brother. Nor should it deter any legitimate business for one citizen to view and “remember” another, who was in the act of doing precisely the same thing.

It is called "reciprocal accountability". The mere act of expanding the number of citizen “eyes” at the roam does not by itself impinge on other peoples’ right to look and record. It is simply the same right, after all. We need, as citizens, to restore our habit of being slightly wary but politely tolerant and reciprocally protective neighbors. Not a trivial balance to strike, but then, what is, these days? Anyway, it’s our job, not the cops.

The heroes of UA 93 proved we have a role to play - again - in our defense. But it isn't a role of being hysterical stoolies, accusing our neighbors whenever our imaginations get carried away. Snap a picture of your own... and move on.

David Brin, author of The Transparent Society: Will Technology Make Us Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? (For more see www.davidbrin.com or davidbrin.blogspot.com/
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

MrPhilDog    says:

davidbrin@sbcglobal.net I don't disagree with much of what you say. However the passengers on UA 93 proved what we already know: Sometimes the only option is to fight back. They weren't being wary and suspicious they were fighting for their lives.

Unfortunately when we encourage people to be fearful and suspicious it doesn't result in security it just results in fear and suspicion. This is when we have situations like dark skinned men being escorted from planes for making other passengers uneasy news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5269106.stm

Generally I agree with what you say I just don't think that UA 93 is relevant to the discussion and to say that both the MET and their critics are all missing the point just sounds a bit arrogant - like saying "only I can see the real truth everyone else is too dumb".
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

...Steve    says:

Oh for God's sake... this is insane! You don't even need a camera to take photographs... What are they like... fascist enforcers.

--
[discovered in the photophlow main room] (?)
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

ScarletPeaches    says:

Maybe they've got terrorists and tourists confused?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

MrPhilDog    says:

LOL - well they do sound similar! :-)
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Kadath    says:

Qui custodes custodet?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Kenny Maths    says:

Ah but wait...why draw the line at photographers? After all, maybe the terrorists will deploy sketch artists next? Actually, they could just take detailed notes...so best to round up anyone with a notepad and pen. Is that enough? Come to think of it, anyone displaying signs of an unusually good memory should be viewed with suspicion.

This is just barking mad. I'd like to know how much police time will be spent investigating hysterical calls as a result of this campaign. I've only just returned from a week in London (ironically because I had won a prize in a photography competition). Without this sort of nonsense being involved, I got more hassle about taking photographs (which let us recall is a perfectly legal hobby...at least for the moment) in that week, than I've had living in Edinburgh in the last twenty years.

Unbelievable.

Perhaps they could spend some time watching the excellent Adam Curtis documentary series The Power of Nightmares, before devising idiotic posters/policies like this?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

opacity    says:

This is terrible. Thanks for bringing our attention to it.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

rediguana    says:

Sounds like a damn good reason to find other, less paranoid cities to visit and take our tourism dollars...

We should let the Met know our feelings
secure.met.police.uk/enquiries/index.php

And also the City of London
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/about_us/ departmental...

A little bit of blow back will at least let them know that this is not a well thought out policy.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Pink Albatross says:

Thousands of people love teddy bears. What if one of them seems odd?

Drug smugglers hide drugs in teddy bears and often have children carry them, although they have been known to carry teddy bears themselves, claiming they are gifts for some child. If you see someone buying a teddy bear or giving a teddy bear to a child or carrying a teddy bear, we need to know. Let experienced officers decide what action to take.


(I suppose you could also hide bombs, anthrax and such in teddy bears)
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

rediguana    says:

Sent to the City of London...

Hi,

I would just like to raise my concerns at the new Metropolitan Police policy and marketing campaign designed to stigmatise urban photographers. As a New Zealander likely to pass through London later this year on holiday, I will now be looking at avoiding London entirely, including my tourist dollar. Instead I will look at visiting other cities/towns that are more friendly to photographers, and where I can minimise my risk of being called a terrorist.

I also sent the following complaint to the Met.

I am just writing to raise my concern at your new policy designed to stigmatise urban photographers in the name of counter-terrorism security. If anything you should be encouraging more photographers, as they will be more likely to capture suspicious behaviour , as opposed to scaring people into avoiding urban photography. This may also have an impact from tourists such as myself that may decide to avoid non-camera friendly cities such as London to avoid being hassled by Police just because I travel with a suspicious looking digital SLR.

Regards from down under

David Mery    says:

This is not a new move but a refinement on last year's campaign. More at It's March, this year let's arrest photographers

Schneier's quote above by MrPhilDog sums it up nicely.

br -d
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

George Vye    says:

I'd like to make an addition to my former statement.
This incident happened before 9/11, and the policy was in effect then.
There are, and were, cameras all over the city.
Upon our return I had complained to a dozen different organizations in the UK , including one to the gay police officers organization. Not one response.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Andy D Duncan says:

Being a large format photographer, I really get harassed sometimes, as it's a pretty big deal to set up a 5x7 camera on a really big tripod, and go through all the steps to make the photograph.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

jdepould says:

What terrorist in their right mind would lug as much kit as a typical SLR shooter? If they're half as smart as we give them credit for, they'd be using camera phones, or Google Images.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

jmillerdp    says:

The kind of insanity depicted here is like something out of "1984."

England would not have had to worry as much about terrorism if Blair had not supported The Iraq War. Breaking away from the Bush war machine would have been the best way to stop terrorism in England.

p.s. I am surprised that Bush did not come up with this one first!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

George Vye    says:

Oh the madman has tried, but we do have a few checks and balances left, and he would not get away with it. Besides, the gun loving Americans would have shot up the cameras.
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Owin Thomas    says:

Nice to know our tax pounds are being spent to catch 'real' criminals!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

gtvone    says:

what a blatant waste of money...

i'll be emailing my local MP...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Mig - Le Miserable    says:

It just strikes me!
What are they trying to achieve?
We, the People?

"Treat me like a Terrorist and I will not disappoint you"
I will not give my Freedom without a fight!
Nor to Sharia or to Security.

What is worst for a terrorist,?
Being photographed by 10 or 20 persons (even if they don't know him as such) or by none?

It's about gathering more information to get Intelligence not less Bozos!
They are just lost, they just don't know what to do so they turn against the ones they should defend.
We just lost the War on Terror because instead of being Free People (the major difference between us and them) we put our own society in a deadlock of our own Terror.
Fear paralyzes. Well done.
What will be next? Dress code?
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Trueth    says:

everyone is a terrorist for living, apparently...
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

digi.film ~ occasional tourist    says:

Next! A word from your local Thought Police!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

-Chihiro-    says:

just think the Met are probably monitoring this feed as we speak...I reckon there's some suspicious characters in here who might be terrorists:)

Oh for God's sake what has happened to the world where a photographer fears taking photographs in case they are accused of being a terrorist!?!?!

The point that has been stated over and over again is that right what minded terrorist would splash out a few grand on DSLR equipment where he could be putting that money to better use like buying more bomb equipment or whatever stupid quest for world domination they are currently hatching. (oh no, I've given the terrorists an Idea!)

It is an utter joke of the highest order to think that we should report suspicious looking photographers...What constitutes suspicious??

My partner is of mixed English and North African descent and like me is an avid photographer....Does he look more 'suspicious' because of this fact?? We all know what they are saying when the Met use the word suspicious...Non white. I would just like to point out after 9/11 the worst terrorist attrocities perpetrated on American soil were home grown...As are the worst attrocities taken out on UK soil...they were white.

Oh I give up!
Posted 17 months ago. ( permalink )

Mig - Le Miserable    says:

On getting a Form fill two weeks ago I got to a point where it ask
race: White (non Hispanic)?
Black (non Afro)

I left!

!!??! Hispanics are not White, nor Black! They just got a bit over cooked?!!
I'm Portuguese and live (and born) in Hispania (Iberic Peninsula)... so what am I? Rosty!
Someone got really crazy.... but supported!
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

Martin Isaac    says:

This photo seems odd, please add it to this group
Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

20after4    says:

The "culture of fear" is simply to 1) distract and enervate the public & 2) break down mutual trust in the community, leading to the impossibility of concerted resistance to tyranny.

20after4    says:

Posted 16 months ago. ( permalink )

italiantourists says:

They can kiss my ASSemblad!!!
Posted 15 months ago. ( permalink )

Georgieporge    says:

The terrorists will have to get their paints out!

I'm pretty sure they won't spend ages faffing around with the white balance either.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

isihija says:

The word "Stalin" echoes in my ears after this picture...
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Ollie Gapper    says:

t...w...a...t...s
the only reason for them doing this is because they dont have the power they would like to stop us, so they are asking people to be vigilantes and take matters into their own hands. next it'll be the danger of owning a mobile as people get killed for them. the british government need to sort thier priorities out.
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

David Mery    says:

This year's Police campaign is not as much about photographers.

br -d
Posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

Teacher Dude's BBQ    says:

This kind of ad deserves to to parodied.


Posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )