Cops Admit FIT Watch works
- | 24.08.2008 11:23 | Other Press | Policing | Repression
An article on The Register about amateur photographers getting nicked/harassed by the cops for taking photos includes, effectively, an admission that FIT Watch is worrying the cops
The relevant paras in the article are fully on the cops side (somewhat unusually and shamefully for a publication which is usually better than this on civil liberties issues - but see the comments section for numerous responses) and reads like this:
"Of course, there can be legitimate reasons for opposing the use of cameras. In talking to El Reg about the law on photography, several Police Forces made the fair comment that there were individuals who had learnt how to use cameras at demonstrations as a means to wind individual officers up.
Undoubtedly, this happens – although as with any such abuse, perhaps it should be punished appropriately when it does, rather than used as a reason for clamping down more widely. Part of the problem, as far as authority is concerned, is the sheer scale of public photography."
Still, "several Police Forces" are apparently willing to admit that they're finding FITwatch (it must be FITwatch they're referring to) a problem.
The full article is at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/23/camera_analysis/
"Of course, there can be legitimate reasons for opposing the use of cameras. In talking to El Reg about the law on photography, several Police Forces made the fair comment that there were individuals who had learnt how to use cameras at demonstrations as a means to wind individual officers up.
Undoubtedly, this happens – although as with any such abuse, perhaps it should be punished appropriately when it does, rather than used as a reason for clamping down more widely. Part of the problem, as far as authority is concerned, is the sheer scale of public photography."
Still, "several Police Forces" are apparently willing to admit that they're finding FITwatch (it must be FITwatch they're referring to) a problem.
The full article is at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/23/camera_analysis/
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