The City of London Police has repeated its call for photographers to carry identification in spite of insistence by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that photographers do not need to identify themselves.
Last week City of London Police told us: ‘Photographers should carry identification where possible and be prepared to answer questions about why they are taking photographs, if they are asked.’
However, a few days later ACPO, which co-ordinates police policy in England and Wales, told the BBC that photographers can refuse to give their name and address.
ACPO spokesman Andy Trotter told the BBC’s Jeremy Vine radio show on Monday: ‘The photographer is not required to give their details.’
He confirmed that this is the case even if police decide to conduct a Section 44 anti-terrorism Stop and Search.
Trotter then added that officers cannot arrest a photographer who refuses to supply this information.
But Grant Smith, an architectural photographer who has been stopped several times under Section 44, told the programme: ‘When I’ve been stopped it?s been made very clear that I have to give my name and address.’
He added: ‘It’s not clear when security guards demand that you give ID and they always threaten to call the police. The police always listen to the security guards and take your details.
‘It seems to me that I’m not being given any option to provide the details they require.’
City of London Police last night stood by its policy that photographers in the Square Mile carry ID ‘where possible’, in a statement released to Amateur Photographer.
A spokeswoman for ACPO repeated that photographers are not required to identify themselves when quizzed by a police officer or security guard.
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