> > Tell you a story. I was filming in the centre of a city and > we had finished and I was putting my kit away in the back of > the land rover. As I drove away I noticed a strange woman > looking at me and thought she was just staring because I was > pulling out perilously close to her car or something. Next > day I had a phone call from the police - was asked if I could > meet them in a car park that I would be passing close to that day. > Turns out that the woman had seen something she thought was a > gun being holstered and put away in the back of my land > rover! The police had done some digging based on my vehicle > registration (license plate) and seeing what I did for a > living, assumed a mistake in the lady. They were doing a > 'soft stop' on me to check. I figured out what the lady had > seen, I have a microphone and holder with wind-gag that look > like this: > > <http://tinyurl.com/notagun> > > and before it goes in the case the wind gag (the furry part) > often needs adjusting up tight (looks like a gun going into a > holster). We all had a good laugh about it - and the copper > said he had thought it would be something like this - had > done the digging and decided a soft stop was in order rather > than a 'hard stop' which would have involved armed police > stopping me in an uncompromising manner - slightly scary. > However, common sense prevailed (as did my website, which > they looked at in assessing the situation) and we went away chuckling. > > My point is that the system worked. The woman might have seen > a gun going into a holster, and on a different occasion it > might have been a gun and not a mic. The police did their job > well and no harm done. If it had been a hard stop instead, > the outcome would be the same and aside from me being scared > out of my wits, would have been just as satisfied. > Seriously. > > That story doesn't really relate to the other stuff above > because we have had a history of mainland terror in the last > half of the last century but all the same, I still think > public awareness in the UK has changed, and anyone out > filming or photographing has to be more aware of this and in > tune with the consequences.
There's an enormous difference between your story about your furry friend, and the hassle that a lot of people get. In your case a woman reported her suspicions, the police followed up on the report, clarified that nothing untoward was happening and the story was done. That's how it should work. All too often it doesn't work that way. If she had reported me wandering around with a camera hidden in my jacket the police would have checked me out, quite reasonably. Having established that it was a camera and not a Colt 45, do you think they would allow me to go about my business? Would they buggery! They would try to move me on. I know this because it's happened before to me and to other amateur photographers. Now, I'm a middle class, middle-aged, mild-mannered white guy. How do you think they react to young Muslim lads who want to take a few pictures? Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
