Your rights under s44 of the Terrorism Act

[Midas]

For anyone who is concerned about their rights to take photographs in public under section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which allows the police to stop and search anyone in a specific area, this card might be of interest or even use.

http://PhotographerNotaTerrorist.org...-1-599x419.png

There are some further details about s44 to be found here - Liberty - Protecting Civil Liberties Promoting Human Rights : Your rights under Section 44

[Marxist Nutter]

This is of course true but even way back before we became a dictatorship and we actually had things called "civil rights" if you actually did anything Liberty suggested (asked to warrant card, ask for record of a search) during a stop and search with a police officer you would be taken aside into and allay and they would kick the crap out of you. Now do you really think things are gonna be any better now?

seriously people people try it, see what happens. If anyone actually lives to tell the tale, the please tell us all about it!

[Midas]

This is of course true but even way back before we became a dictatorship and we actually had things called "civil rights" if you actually did anything Liberty suggested (asked to warrant card, ask for record of a search) during a stop and search with a police officer you would be taken aside into and allay and they would kick the crap out of you. Now do you really think things are gonna be any better now?

seriously people people try it, see what happens. If anyone actually lives to tell the tale, the please tell us all about it!

Yes, of course you've always had rights, however I think that one of the big differences these days is that the public are generally far more aware of what those rights are and that the police are also far more aware of the consequences of their breaking the rules. On the other hand I'll freely admit that a minority of police officers are perhaps just thugs in uniform and if they think they can get away with some summary 'justice', they will.

I'm sure that to a large extent what happens when you challenge police authority depends on who you are, what you look like and your general demeanor. The more like a responsible and upright citizen you look, the more you know exactly what your rights are, and the less aggressively you challenge what you're being told to do, the more likelihood there is of just being told to get on your way. An aggressive, shouting and swearing challenge by a scruffy looking youth is far more likely to result in a kicking than a calm and knowledgeable challenge by a well dressed person.

Complaints against the police, if pressed correctly, do result in disciplinary action being taken, as I know well from my encounter a few weeks back which I briefly mentioned to you in the ChatBox.