Minister listens to union case on police obstruction

THE NUJ put its case for an end to the harassment of journalists by police directly to government when General Secretary Jeremy Dear met Home Office minister Vernon Coaker in October.

Jeremy Dear raised cases in which photographers had been searched, delayed, obstructed or put under routine surveillance, particularly by police forward intelligence teams. He pointed out that this was in breach of guidelines agreed between news organisations and police authorities.

After the meeting he said there was agreement that there had been inappropriate uses of the police’s power to restrict photography in public places and that more could be done to ensure that police officers were aware of the guidelines.

The government had offered to work with the union to find ways in which those guidelines can be more effectively implemented.

Jeremy Dear said: “This is a first step in trying to tackle the problems our members face. There was clear recognition on the part of the authorities that there have been genuine problems in the past.

“We welcome the government’s commitment to work with the NUJ to find ways in which police officers can be better informed about their responsibilities to the press and how the police-media guidelines can be made to work in practice.”

THE UNION has produced a video showing police officers harassing photographers at public order events. The video, Press Freedom: Collateral Damage, was shown to MPs when Jeremy Dear gave evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights in October. The video covers incidents at which anti-terrorism laws have been used to stop photographers.