A freelance photographer had images deleted from her camera and was threatened with arrest by police while at the scene of a shooting in part of London.

Carmen Valino was on assignment from weekly newspaper the Hackney Gazette on Saturday when the incident happened as she photographed the area from outside a police cordon.

The National Union of Journalists, which has backed her, says Carmen identified herself as a journalist and showed her press card to police at the scene in Hackney.

But she was approached by a police sergeant who said she was disrupting an investigation and asked her to hand over her camera.

Carmen protested she was in a public place and said the sergeant had no right to take her camera but he grabbed her wrist and pulled out his handcuffs.

She handed him the camera and he then left for five minutes before asking her to show him the images and deleting them – telling her she could come back in a few hours to take photos of the scene.

The NUJ has criticised police following the incident, with general secretary Jeremy Dear saying officers should not abuse the law.

He said: “The abuse of the law must stop. There is a gulf between photographers’ legal rights and the current practices of individual police officers.

“The police should uphold the law, not abuse it – photographers acting in the public interest deserve better.”

The union says the incident highlights how police are not following the agreed media guidelines from the Association of Chief Police Officers, which state once images are recorded, officers have no power to delete or confiscate them without a court order.

A Metropolitan Police Service spokesman said Hackney Police were aware of the incident and were looking into the circumstances.

He said: “It is clearly not the intention of the MPS to prevent people from taking photographs.

“Our officers do receive guidance around the issue of photography through briefings and internal communication and we continue to drive this work forward. It is therefore disappointing when this guidance is not followed correctly.

“Any allegations or complaints about police treatment of photographers is taken very seriously and will be dealt with appropriately.”

Comments

Neil Barker (05/08/2010 15:01:25)
Yet again does this happen. When will the Met especially, learn that they do not have the right to go grabbing photographers’ cameras and deleting images. It needs to be well and truly drummed into them that photography in a public place IS NOT ILLEGAL. *Sigh*

Paul Brennan (02/09/2010 12:31:50)
I have huge respect for my photographer colleagues (I’m a reporter), but it strikes me that instead of handing over the camera, or agreeing to delete pics (under duress), the photographers should call the bluff of the coppers and say ‘Arrest me then, go on.’ Because the furore that would follow, and the climbdown the cops would have to make, would certainly focus police minds a lot more than a stern word from dear Mr Dear.