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Phnat is shocked and alarmed to hear that a Brighton-based professional photographer was detained by police for an hour under terrorism laws.

@brightonsnapper Eddie Mitchell of AerialNews was taking photographs of Hove town hall when he approached and questioned by a passing member of police staff. When he declined to give his details on the grounds he was breaking no law, he followed instructions to attend the local police station, where two officers detained him used section 43 of the Terrorism Act, which gives power to stop and search to officers of anyone they “reasonably suspects to be a terrorist”.

In a statement Phnat said: “This incident, in which it appears a civilian member of staff stopped and demanded details from a photographer who was going about their lawful business before police officers appear to have conducted a highly irregular search, shows that there are still significant issues with the police when it comes to the rights of photographers, and their legal powers.

The use of Section 43 of the terrorism act, a power requiring reasonable suspicion a person is a terrorist, to detain and search a photographer and view PACE protected journalistic material, is utterly bizarre. Taking photographs of a public building comes nowhere close to establishing “reasonable suspicion” of terrorism.

To make matters worse for Sussex police, which has faced successful legal action over searching journalists before, their press office and now chief constable have decided to give their unquestioning support to the employees involved. This raises significant questions about the impartiality of any internal complaint process that may follow.

We hope Sussex Police will reflect on the law and national guidance and apologise to the photographer involved, retrain these staff and educate the members of senior management responsible for defending it.

Members of PHNAT’s committee are in touch with the photographer involved.”

Brighton Photographer Detained Under Terrorism Laws

Source: Brighton Photographer Detained Under Terrorism Laws

Eddie Mitchell was detained by Sussex police for an hour under anti-terror laws while checks were carried out on his photographs
Hove town hall
The picture of Hove town hall that Eddie Mitchell was taking when police intervened. Photograph: Eddie Mitchell

Kevin Rawlinson

Thursday 4 May 2017 22.40 BST
Last modified on Friday 5 May 2017 00.30 BST

Police have been accused of abusing their powers by a professional photographer who was detained under anti-terror laws after he was seen taking pictures of Hove town hall on Thursday. Eddie Mitchell was held for about an hour while police checked his camera.

It was eventually decided that there was no reason to believe that the press photographer, who works for outlets including the BBC, was a terrorist.

“I respect wholeheartedly that the police have a job to do,” Mitchell said, “but there should be clarity on people taking pictures in a public place – it is not a crime … As far as I am concerned, it is a total misuse and abuse of power.”

Mitchell declined to explain who he was or what he was doing to a passing member of police staff on the grounds that he was not breaking any laws. Both he and Sussex police agreed that the conversation was not antagonistic.

After he followed an instruction to go to the police station to give a statement, two officers detained him under anti-terror laws. “The police didn’t want to back down and neither did I. I just wanted to stand my ground,” Mitchell said.

He was detained under section 43 of the Terrorism Act, which gives officers the power to stop and search anyone “he reasonably suspects to be a terrorist”. Sussex police confirmed that Mitchell was approached while taking the pictures and searched under the Terrorism Act because he refused to “provide information or identification”.

A statement read: “As a result of the search, which included the camera equipment he was using, it was established that his activity was not suspicious and he was allowed to leave.”

The chief superintendent of Sussex police, Lisa Bell, defended her officers, saying their actions were “completely appropriate when the threat level is at severe”. She added: “If the man had identified himself, then the matter could have been resolved in minutes.” Mitchell claimed his identity was established quickly from his BBC pass and a credit card.

Sussex police were unable to answer questions on what, specifically, about Mitchell’s actions had provoked a reasonable suspicion that he was a terrorist and under what powers a member of its civilian staff had demanded an explanation and a statement from him.

National Police Chiefs Council guidance states: “Police should not prevent anyone from taking photographs in public. This applies equally to members of the media and public seeking to record images, who do not need a permit to photograph or film in public places.”

Mitchell, who says he usually has a good relationship with Sussex police, has not yet decided whether or not to make a complaint. In 2014, he was arrested by another force while operating a drone professionally.

The trained drone pilot, who had approval from the Civil Aviation Authority to commercially operate drones, was released, and no further action was taken against him.

via Photographer held after taking pictures of Hove town hall | UK news | The Guardian

via Photographs of Dakota Pipeline’s Last Holdout of Demonstrators – VICE

All of my instagram piccys, displayed at 2 sec intervals …… for some background eye candy 120mins.

Simply just checking. Onwards. Tash

Just finished a two day WordPress course:

The first W.E.B for S.M.E 2-Day workshop completed with 100% turnout! Thanks to all who attended and I hope you took plenty away and enjoyed the masterclass as much as I enjoyed delivering it! If you missed out this time, don’t worry, next week we will be releasing more dates across nottinghamshire and Derbyshire plus announcing masterclass workshops focussed on Joomla and Magento as well as WordPress! #enablinginnovation #ntu 

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Thus, I’m reminded that I have a blog and could well start to add more stuff here again!

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