Olympic Stadium © London 2012 Press Office
With a huge police operation, thousands of troops, private security and new legal powers taking over parts of London during the upcoming Olympic & Paralympic games, the PHNAT campaign will be closely monitoring the experiences of photographers, both amateur and professional, around the events & sites.
We want to hear from you any experiences or incidents, positive or negative, that you’ve had photographing around the olympic site in the run up to or during the games, or otherwise in connection with the olympics (increased stops with olympics given as a reason etc).
Help us track the impact of London 2012 on press freedom & the right to photograph, share this page and if you or anyone you know has issues, please let us know. Email us at olympics@photographernotaterrorist.org *
* – Please note, we cannot give any form of legal advice regarding any incidents, we are just collating accounts.
More Reading: Olympic 2012 Security: Welcome to Lockdown London - The Guardian
Posted by julesmattsson
Tags: Amateur, games, incidents, London, London Photographers Branch, Metropolitan Police, military, National Union of Journalists, olympic, olympics, operation, paralympic, Photographer, Photographers, Photographers Rights, photographing, Photography, Police, Press Freedom, Press Release, Professional, security, Security Guards, site, Stop & Search
Filed under: Featured, News, Olympics
I’ve been photographing up at Pudding Mill Lane (the View Tube) this past 8 months months and never had any issues. Only once was I stopped by security and asked what I was doing while another photographer (possibly foreign) had their camera checked. However, it felt like a security mini-checking blitz and I’ve never seen the same team since.
My only disappointment with the View tube location is that it’s due to close one month before the Olympics (presumably for security reasons), hence removing a great spot for tourists and myself.
I was stopped by the police in January of this year while photographing around the perimeter of the park.
Two officers seconded to the Met’s ‘Olympic Command’ effected a ‘stop and account’ on me. They had earlier threatened to effect a ‘stop and search’ on me, using handcuffs and force if necessary. I was stopped under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and given a receipt. This piece of legislation was only quoted to me after one of the officers initially told me that he didn’t need a reason to stop me, which I then disputed.
Constable Birch entered the following information on the form: “STOP + ACCOUNT. Information received by G4S Security at Olympic Park that subject was seen taking photographs of North Search Plaza. Subject was evasive + obstructive to security officers at location. Satisfactory stop.” Also present was Constable Doherty PL5335.
Apparently if a photographer declines to show any ID, give their name or give a specific enough reason for taking photographs to private security personnel, they are now deemed to be ‘evasive and obstructive’, and the police are liable to be called.
More info and images here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suburbanslice/6744870081/in/set-72157605990430451/