Police Incident with my camera
Discussion
Yesterday I went to a supermarket. Walking from my car to the entrance I saw a photo opportunity & pulled my camera out, framed the photo and I may or may not have taken a photo. The photo I framed included the local Cathedral in the background, a bird flying above a Tesco sign and three cars in the foreground, one of the cars had a man and a woman loading their shopping into the back of the car. The reason I framed the photo is that I do a 365 daily photo project and so I'm always on the hunt for today's photo.
When I got into the store the man who had been loading his car came up to me and asked why I was taking photos. I declined to answer & he said 'fair enough' & left.
When I got home much later on I found a calling card from a policeman asking me to contact him regarding 'an incident'.
This morning I phoned the police. They wouldn't tell me what the incident was but they would send somebody to my house to discuss it or I could go in and see them. So I drove over to the station.
When I arrived I was asked why did I take a photo of a woman outside the supermarket. My answer was that I framed a photo opportunity with my camera but declined to answer whether I had or had not taken a photo. I was told that somebody from the police would contact me next week regarding this incident.
I mentioned to the interviewer that as I left the supermarket I noticed the person who complained possibly taking a photo of me and my car on their phone. I can only assume that they did take a photo which is how the police traced me.
Have I done anything wrong and should the police be following this up?
When I got into the store the man who had been loading his car came up to me and asked why I was taking photos. I declined to answer & he said 'fair enough' & left.
When I got home much later on I found a calling card from a policeman asking me to contact him regarding 'an incident'.
This morning I phoned the police. They wouldn't tell me what the incident was but they would send somebody to my house to discuss it or I could go in and see them. So I drove over to the station.
When I arrived I was asked why did I take a photo of a woman outside the supermarket. My answer was that I framed a photo opportunity with my camera but declined to answer whether I had or had not taken a photo. I was told that somebody from the police would contact me next week regarding this incident.
I mentioned to the interviewer that as I left the supermarket I noticed the person who complained possibly taking a photo of me and my car on their phone. I can only assume that they did take a photo which is how the police traced me.
Have I done anything wrong and should the police be following this up?
threespires said:
Yesterday I went to a supermarket. Walking from my car to the entrance I saw a photo opportunity & pulled my camera out, framed the photo and I may or may not have taken a photo. The photo I framed included the local Cathedral in the background, a bird flying above a Tesco sign and three cars in the foreground, one of the cars had a man and a woman loading their shopping into the back of the car. The reason I framed the photo is that I do a 365 daily photo project and so I'm always on the hunt for today's photo.
When I got into the store the man who had been loading his car came up to me and asked why I was taking photos. I declined to answer & he said 'fair enough' & left.
When I got home much later on I found a calling card from a policeman asking me to contact him regarding 'an incident'.
This morning I phoned the police. They wouldn't tell me what the incident was but they would send somebody to my house to discuss it or I could go in and see them. So I drove over to the station.
When I arrived I was asked why did I take a photo of a woman outside the supermarket. My answer was that I framed a photo opportunity with my camera but declined to answer whether I had or had not taken a photo. I was told that somebody from the police would contact me next week regarding this incident.
I mentioned to the interviewer that as I left the supermarket I noticed the person who complained possibly taking a photo of me and my car on their phone. I can only assume that they did take a photo which is how the police traced me.
Have I done anything wrong and should the police be following this up?
So did you take a photo or not? Why did you not tell the police what you did or didn't do?When I got into the store the man who had been loading his car came up to me and asked why I was taking photos. I declined to answer & he said 'fair enough' & left.
When I got home much later on I found a calling card from a policeman asking me to contact him regarding 'an incident'.
This morning I phoned the police. They wouldn't tell me what the incident was but they would send somebody to my house to discuss it or I could go in and see them. So I drove over to the station.
When I arrived I was asked why did I take a photo of a woman outside the supermarket. My answer was that I framed a photo opportunity with my camera but declined to answer whether I had or had not taken a photo. I was told that somebody from the police would contact me next week regarding this incident.
I mentioned to the interviewer that as I left the supermarket I noticed the person who complained possibly taking a photo of me and my car on their phone. I can only assume that they did take a photo which is how the police traced me.
Have I done anything wrong and should the police be following this up?
If it is all as innocent as you say, then you are probably sending their weirdo/something suspicious radar off the scale, you'll probably get your door kicked in at 4am and all your electronic goods seized now!
Why didn't you simply explain about the project/your hobby and say that the people were incidental, and show them the photo if you took one.
If it's an ordinary public place you can take any photos you like (in a non-harassing/non-pervy way), unless requested by the property owner not to.
Why didn't you simply explain about the project/your hobby and say that the people were incidental, and show them the photo if you took one.
If it's an ordinary public place you can take any photos you like (in a non-harassing/non-pervy way), unless requested by the property owner not to.
Cant see what youve done wrong here. Photography in public has no real restrictions- I do a lot and always have a camera out with me.
Voyeurism rules dont come into play here - loading shopping isnt a private act.
You dont seem to have been causing any type of nuisance by grabbing a quick snap.
Unless youre suspected of terrorist activity you dont have to disclose any shots youve taken.
Did the cops tell you what they suspected youd done wrong?
Theyd be glad of any pics you took if that same woman was being mugged!
Tha caller should have been told you'd broken no laws unless theyd made more of it than there actually was - shouldnt have come to this
Voyeurism rules dont come into play here - loading shopping isnt a private act.
You dont seem to have been causing any type of nuisance by grabbing a quick snap.
Unless youre suspected of terrorist activity you dont have to disclose any shots youve taken.
Did the cops tell you what they suspected youd done wrong?
Theyd be glad of any pics you took if that same woman was being mugged!
Tha caller should have been told you'd broken no laws unless theyd made more of it than there actually was - shouldnt have come to this
Edited by Bigends on Saturday 30th January 21:15
imagineifyeswill said:
For years I was under the impression that you couldnt take photos in public willy nilly with people in them but recent articles Ive read seem to suggest Im wrong and you can take pictures in public quite freely.
Of course you can, it's a public place, you can photograph pretty much anything. How do you think TV crews can film in the street with loads of people around?The main question here is, what rules does Tesco have have for photography on their land? The car park will be classed as Public for the purposes of cars/traffic, but I would have thought it remains classed as private land for all other things.
Nigel Worc's said:
It would appear you can, but why be an arse when asked by the Police ?
Because photographer.They tend to dig their heels in massively and quote law when confronted, instead of trying to diffuse a situation by being friendly, open, and explaining their hobby.
I've hung around a few photography forums over the years and this seems to be the way.
imagineifyeswill said:
For years I was under the impression that you couldnt take photos in public willy nilly with people in them but recent articles Ive read seem to suggest Im wrong and you can take pictures in public quite freely.
I imagine it's different if you're on private property - but maybe a supermarket's car park counts as a public place?However the OP declining to offer an explanation when asked would no doubt have lent strength to the complaint. Without that, the Police may have told him to stop wasting their time.
NinjaPower said:
Nigel Worc's said:
It would appear you can, but why be an arse when asked by the Police ?
Because photographer.They tend to dig their heels in massively and quote law when confronted, instead of trying to diffuse a situation by being friendly, open, and explaining their hobby.
I've hung around a few photography forums over the years and this seems to be the way.
Nigel Worc's said:
It would appear you can, but why be an arse when asked by the Police ?
It's assumed that I took a photo so am being treated as guilty of something, yet they have no proof that I took a photo and from what I understand in a situation like this they don't have the power to ask. Please correct me if I'm wrong.Yes, perhaps I'm being belligerent in not saying yes or no, but that's my decision.
Dr Jekyll said:
NinjaPower said:
Nigel Worc's said:
It would appear you can, but why be an arse when asked by the Police ?
Because photographer.They tend to dig their heels in massively and quote law when confronted, instead of trying to diffuse a situation by being friendly, open, and explaining their hobby.
I've hung around a few photography forums over the years and this seems to be the way.
Whole situation would probably have been dealt with if the OP had given the car park subject a friendly explanation. As it stands now he's had to waste his own time and petrol driving to a police station, and this might not even be the end of it.
Bigends said:
They should know hes done nothing wrong and would question why they're even wasting time asking him
From the OP's description he's done nothing wrong but we have no idea what was reported to the police. Without knowing the nature of the complaint to the police it is impossible to say they shouldn't be wasting their time.
If the OP had explained the circumstances and his actions then that would almost certainly have been the end of the matter. He didn't and so it isn't.
Cat
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff