More clearcut stories of the same shit, one from Toronto and one from NYC:

BB 2008

..and similar, from the same thread

BB also 2008

i dont work for anyone involved nor do i work in middlesbrough, nor do i know anyone involved. nor did i take sides in my previous post.

if you really want to know my opinion i think the security guard is an idiot, and that the photographer was completely abused. but i also didnt see anything that happened prior to that clip. nor did you.

At what point is London’s anti-photo BS going to piss off the natives? Don’t they have something like the ACLU in GB? Truly, this is not a culture that I should support with my money. I’ll send a note the Tourism Department and tell them I will not be coming this year. I won’t be spending my good money in a police state.

I’ve got around many scrapes by putting on a posh accent and threatening to sic my solicitor on security guards, most commonly for assault. It can scare them because conviction on an assault charge will be enough to disqualify them from most security jobs; if it gets around, they’ll be less willing to put themselves on the line for no reason.

Insinuating shenanigans on the part of the photographer is also not smthng n wld ssct wth n pstndng ndvdl. If you have knowledge of what occured beforehand, please state it. f nt, thn kndly kp yr cnfbltns t yrslf.

I was outside on public land when i spotted a police officer and a security guard talking to a suspect. i had a quick look at this on my zoom lens and then walked off. The security guard chased after me saying i cannot take photos in public. He tried to detain me and radioed for back up, when another 5 guards and shop workers joined in to detain my friend and I. When the police arrived i was realised without any charge.
The security guard who works in the Dundas arcade had no legal right to detain me.

i hope the previous poster MAMMAL retracts his previous post.

#86 – “Don’t film cops… especially when they are breaking rules or you might end up with a dirt nap.”

I disagree. You should always take pictures of cops whenever possible. What would the world be like if the Rodney King camera man had run away.

You disagree? With who, me?

You took my words completely out of context. I was saying that is the MESSAGE the cops were trying to get across to us. It wasn’t some kind of “warning” from me to everyone here or whatever. Re-read my original post a little slower. I think we should film authorities every bit as much as they are filming our asses on a daily basic with security cams, etc.

Street photography is friendly here in the midwest. … I saw a girl get arrested recently and while she was being cuffed & stuffed, her boyfriend was videotaping the arresting officer. The cops didn’t care one bit; I wouldn’t be surprised if they smiled for the camera.

I guess it depends on your local cop climate. I lived in a city rampant with corruption and my friend attempted to video tape city cops breaking up a peaceful party (only loud music, no fights) with a ridiculous amount of force.

They grabbed him and the video camera, threw him in the cop car and threatened him in various ways all the way to the station. Along the way, they destroyed the tape. I can’t remember what they charged him with, but the point was made. Don’t film cops… especially when they are breaking rules or you might end up with a dirt nap.

All that aside, the whole mentality of constant fear and suspicion just sounds like a euphemism for hating people outside your norm. People need to just live and let live, and by “people” I mean our governments as much as the guy next door.

http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/history/thehartlepoolmonkey.asp

You may also wish to file a complaint at the police station and to the IPCC against the officer involved – you are legally entitled to take photographs or film of a police officer whilst they are on duty.

Accosting innocent photographers? Kiddie stuff. In the US we pull people off the street and send them to Gitmo.

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then… they came for me… And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came…

And what is up with the random street people assisting in detaining some damn photographers? Pathetic.

Every time something like this happens, we need to keep highlighting it until police and security guards begin to understand that it’s not illegal to take photos in public places.

The UK has more CCTV cameras per head than anywhere else in the world. We’re under surveillance pretty much everywhere we go. If “they” can take photos of us, then we’re allowed to take photos of “them”.

But these kinds of stories are just crazy–especially the crowd/mob reactions, as if the cops weren’t bad enough…reminds me of the Simpson’s episode where Grandpa Simpson accused a photographer “you’re stealing my soul!!!”…my own grandmother really disliked being on videotape, would always shirk from the camera when my dad would take home movies with his shoulder-mounted VHS camera (early 1980s, mind you).

But seriously, what gives with the self-appointed vigilantes aiding and abetting this kind of soft fascism…? pure batsh*t crazy! Needs to stop, needs to be fought back against. Best wishes to the photographer in this case.