Guy arrested for photographing sewer grates
polycounter lvl 18
This guy got arrested and held for 2 days under suspicion that he was photographing sewer grates in Manchester but was released when they couldn't find any pictures of the sewer grate on his cell
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It made me think of all the times I've wandered around taking photos of random stuff for reference.
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It made me think of all the times I've wandered around taking photos of random stuff for reference.
Replies
fixed!
In 2000 someone got arrested crossing the border from here into the US because they were going to poison the outside ventilation of a building, killing everyone inside. I forget the details, but it made big news.
These guys just had their subway bombed. How do you expect them to react when some creepy unabomber looking dude comes and starts photographing things?
Go about it in the right way.
No, the guy was doing nothing wrong. Innocent until proven guilty and all that?
People are so shit scared of terrorism and you are more likely to get hit by lightning or win the lottery. People need to stop using it as a crutch or a catch all to explain stupidity.
Anyway, Ruz is correct. The UK has been turning into a bit of a police state of late and unfortunately some police (like their US counterparts) are simply unaware of some the legal aspects of photography.
You however CAN be aware:
http://digital-photography-school.com/photographers-rights-and-photography-privacy-advice
TGZ - hope you have a cool trip! Don't worry, you won't be arrested.
There used to be a guy who would come around here and take photographs when people had their garages open, then break into cars, steal the openers, and loot them. He would pretend to be photographing other things, trees, flowers, etc, and then snap a photo of the garage contents.
How do you tell the difference?
It's not hard to give someone a ring and state your intentions. "Hello, we're working on a project and we'd like to take some reference pictures at said time and date, blah, blah, etc."
Everyone stopped by a cop is innocent. Everyone in jail is innocent. Everyone pulled over for drunk driving is innocent and claims the cop is abusing their power. As usual, the 'victims' in these things always leave out the wrongdoing on their part. Like being rude and uncooperative with the officer. I bet, as usual, the victim felt he was under no obligation to explain what he was doing.
And it's not just terrorism. How do you know he wasn't a voyeur? If you show up unannounced, and start taking pictures of random objects, while acting nervous, you are a suspicious character. If you run a warehouse, what are you supposed to think when some random guy shows up and photographs all your doors, windows, and loading docks?
What does it tell you? - Argument that games affect players mind is just a load of crap (unfortunately in this case).
A perfect example of a police state was Northern Ireland in the 70s. I can't stand fascist bully boys. I hope someday we'll live in a world with no religion and social inequality.
The man in this video was harmless, its the police who arrested him who needed a good kicking.
i said "would", not "should"
Is that illegal?
For how long?
So let me get this straight, Daaark, you're advice is to not look suspicous. The guy had it half right, he was white, unfortunately his hair was a bit unkempt and he needed to shave, so the 2 days in custody was deserved.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/217341/february-02-2009/nailed--em---amtrak-photographer
eg.
an officer sees a suspicious man that looks like hes taking photos of the grids and sewer grates, he questions him(just like any cop would do), Mr. Clarke is offended to the point of hostility "maybe i WAS taking photos of the sewers, so fucking what? what the fuck are you going to do about it? No you cant see my fucking phone" etc. The officer handles the situation by arresting him.
that doesn't sound too far fetched.
my friend was taking photos of a secure warehouse at 2am when he was approached by police. he was polite and explained himself and showed the police the photos he took. they let him go and gave him no trouble. though this isnt manchester..
its funny how the news story itself has footage of sewer grates being sealed by LEO...
does anyone have any other sources for this story?