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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

A Message to SCD43

If police officer SCD43 from the Met Police is reading, I can confirm that you took my photograph earlier without my consent. You were the guy outside the Houses of Parliament while I was walking from Waterloo to Westminster Central Hall, with the huge purpose-built camera rail (complete with Nikon D2H and Sony compact camcorder). You took a few photos of me I think before I noticed, and then went on to take portraits (latterly with my camera in while I took a picture of you) in a very in-your-face an unapologetic way.

Your colleague and minder GD1 told me you were "recording the events", presumably in conjunction with the Greenpeace protest that was happening next to Big Ben, but I found your behaviour threatening and chilling and did not in any way consent to it. Since you would not talk to me, I asked a local (female) bobby, PC CX698 about you, but she had no idea where you were from, so presumably you're associated with some special unit building dossiers on people associated with dissent - I noticed you and your minder leaving alone in a big van a few minutes later. If you're associating me with the protest you were in error (although I am now protesting, about your chilling behaviour).

Mind you, your behaviour did help the protestors because it made me ask Jamie, one of their orange-jacketed minders, what was happening. The fact all the Greenpeace minders were clearly marked in orange jackets should have given you a hint I was not associated with them, by the way. Anyway, Jamie told me that four people climbed a river crane outside Big Ben around 7:30am this morning to protest about "WMDs" ahead of a vote in Parliament. They had a banner reading "Tony ? WMDs" and I have to say they had some guts to be protesting that way. Unlike the people who behaved with chilling silence, recording the peaceful events in a flak jacket with a heavy minder. I wonder if it was your intent to politicise me, Mr SCD43?

Labels: Police, politics, UK

posted at 3:08 PM (UK) | Comment? (3 so far) | links to this post | |

British Police Say Lies Are OK - If The Cause Is Good

Originally uploaded by grewlike.

For as long as I can remember, my very best therapy has been a long drive, and since I got my Roadster it's been even sweeter - low emissions and still great fun. Right now I love my car, and the best place I can be is driving it somewhere a long way away on a clear day. The only problem with it is it really does like to drive at 80 MPH and I do have to watch carefully that it doesn't run away with me.

Which is to say I have been watching closely for speed cameras on a few long journeys recently, especially one to and from north Wales. I saw plenty of signs, but almost no cameras. Indeed, on some roads I saw no cameras at all. The same happened on a local journey yesterday. So what's the deal here? It seems to me this is actually an untruthful use of the signs, and I wonder what the social consequences are.

It might sound trivial, but I think it sets a tone in society. It says that it's OK to lie about the speed cameras because the objective is a good and important one. It says, with a nod and a wink, that the police know you know it's probably a lie but they like the uncertainty it causes in you. Which means the Police think it's fine to lie, and that we all know it and share the secret. That all has to swirl around in the collective subconscious, and I can't help feeling it contributes to the erosion to society that seems obvious over here.

Labels: Driving, Law, Police, Society, Trust, UK, Zeitgeist

posted at 12:20 AM (UK) | Comment? (3 so far) | links to this post | |