[...] > >The policewoman was bang out of order, abusing her authority. The > >photographer appears to know his rights rather more than > most of us do, > >so presumably was deliberately pushing for this to happen, just as > >Willcock did in 1951, but somebody needs to put a stop to > this type of abuse of authority. > > Hmm - there is nothing in the above para that I disagree with > except the abuse of authority bit. If the police have the > power to stop and search under a lawful act, how is that an > abuse of authority? [...]
The stop and search powers are essentially the same as the sus law which was repealed back in the 80s because it was abused to such an extent that it was a major factor in the race riots of that time. The police abuse their authority whenever they stop someone without due cause for suspicion. Now, that's wide open to interpretation of course, but hiding a Leica behind your back or inside your jacket normal and legal for a certain type of photography, which is itself legal. People going about their business should not be subject to this sort of thing. The stop and search powers are themselves an abuse of power by the government and by the police, and have been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/police/powers/stop-and-search/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8453878.stm -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
