Kent Police clamp down on tall photographers
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New heights of absurdity (about 5'11")
By John Ozimek • Get more from this author

Posted in Policing, 15th July 2009 12:45 GMT

Updated Kent Police set a new legal precedent last week, as they arrested a photographer on the unusual grounds of "being too tall".

This follows a year of increasingly unhappy incidents, in which continued reassurances from on high appear to have had little impact on how Police Forces deal with photographers – and reinforces a growing concern that the breakdown in trust and cooperation with the Police warned of in respect of demonstrations could soon transfer to photography too.

According to his blog, our over-tall photographer Alex Turner was taking snaps in Chatham High St last Thursday, when he was approached by two unidentified men. They did not identify themselves, but demanded that he show them some ID and warned that if he failed to comply, they would summon police officers to deal with him.

This they did, and a PCSO and WPC quickly joined the fray. Turner took a photo of the pair, and was promptly arrested. It is unclear from his own account precisely what he was being arrested for. However, he does record that the WPC stated she had felt threatened by him when he took her picture, referring to his size - 5' 11" and about 12 stone - and implying that she found it intimidating.

approached by two unidentified men. They did not identify themselves, but demanded that he show them some ID

Illuminati

Undercover cops, more than likely bratty.

Undercover cops, more than likely bratty.

a PCSO and WPC quickly joined the fray. Turner took a photo of the pair, and was promptly arrested.

I've read his blog entry (being a local girl and all, it was of interest if I decided to stroll down Chatham High Street wielding my camera and partaking of my choice of creative hobby).

I understand normally, when asked by officers of the constabulary, to move on, this chap has done so without question. This time, when prompted to move on by the two plain clothes "officers", and not actually doing anything illegal by all that's right, he decided to question the request.

It snowballed from there. What followed is a worrying indictment of bad law, badly implemented. It's very worrying.

My God!! I'm screwed! 6ft 5in!!!

*note to self, don't take photographs, ever*

They should have identified themselves, there's no excuse for not pulling out your warrant card and introducing yourself.

The BTP managed it on the only occasion I've been asked a question by an plain-clothed Police Constable.