from experience
and study.. it more often the case that the letter of the law is enforced, yet the spirit is not.. while there is, by way of implied limitation, exceptions to being able to photograph officers, in practice the actual law will be enforced wherever and whenever anyone wants to use it. All it requires is for an officer to justify it anyway s/he likes.
examples of this are with the anti-terrorism laws being used to punish litter louts by local councils
your country is becoming more and more a police state
(, Tue 17 Feb 2009, 13:29, Reply)
A major problem is that most people don't know the law or their own rights well enough.
Therefore, when a police officer tells someone to do something or makes demands for which compliance is voluntary, they tend to do as bidden, even though they don't need to. This is even more likely when done in what could be perceived as a threatening manner as experienced by many photographers in the last few months (see links throughout this thread).
(
elephant rider property shark sighted!, Tue 17 Feb 2009, 13:42,
Reply)
i've experienced misconceptions myself
taking some pictures in a park local to here, i was verbally abused by a woman that wanted me to delete all the images from my camera because i was "taking pictures of kids".. i was taking pictures of plants, flowers and a squirrel i saw (for a project)..
she stopped short of calling me a perv, though did threaten to call the police..
she didn't believe me when i told her it's a film camera..
the odd thing that struck me, was that she had crossed halfway across the park to shout at me, leaving her two kids and a pushchair alone over 100yards away
a lecturer here told me a should wear a dayglo jacket to look official..
i can only imagine this kind of misguided and misinformed nonsense will be on the increase.. police are just as human as the public
(, Tue 17 Feb 2009, 15:49, Reply)
oh and as i was about to add
this police state you are getting is being implemented under the guise of anti-terror and public safety.. when it's nothing of the sort
(, Tue 17 Feb 2009, 15:52, Reply)