Well, in the last few days we have seen the death of Ian Tomlinson through police action; a police medic using a truncheon on a protester; and finally an officer unnecessarily hitting an unarmed female (not that sex really matters) protester and causing bodily harm. My point is not one of police brutality, but rather the illegality in which this knowledge came to light.
On the 16th February 2009 it was deemed an illegal act to photograph a police officer. The Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act permits the arrest of anyone found "eliciting, publishing or communicating information" relating to members of the armed forces, intelligence services and police officers, which is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".
That means anyone taking a picture of one of those people could face a fine or a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
A question; How would one define a photograph that is "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism"?
We all know police brutality exists, 1926; 1973; 1984; 1985; to name a few. And perhaps less well known is the murder of Toni Comer, or, the beating of Mark Aspinall. The list goes on. My point however; How many of these incidents will now be unknowable to the public? How can we publicly hold accountable the police force of the UK?
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