Photographing Police

There is no UK Police force. There are many police forces covering areas of the country (Metropolitan, Strathclyde etc) as well as smaller specialised forces (like the British Transport Police).

Obviously they interact, but the forces act independently and will have separate press offices, as well as being subject to different laws – English law isn’t the same as Scottish law.

You’ll have legal issues photographing officers interacting with any suspects (e.g. stop and search). Unless you can confirm the suspects were convicted or not, you might end up getting sued by them after the fact for defamation, especially as if the images appear in a gallery, it could be argued they’re not ‘editorial use’.

So as far as model releases are concerned, you’ll need to get releases from suspects at the time, and would need releases from parents or guardians if the suspects were under 16.

At this stage in your career I think your chances of working with the police are slim. Seems to me you need a lot more experience under your belt first.

I would suggest, if you’re serious about this, to learn as much as you can about policing in the UK. The fact that you said, “the UK police force” suggests that you need to gather in some understanding about police jurisdictions first of all.

I would suggest that you get some local agency experience for a while first. That way you can get a NAPPA press card and so gain some legitimacy with the police. NAPPA, so far as I can remember is National Association of Press Photography Agencies. If you can get yourself a gig with a local press agency you will learn a whole lot about community policing very very quickly and that could be your way in.

Overall, I found the British police to be highly professional and well briefed when dealing with the media. During my agency days in the UK I worked on stories involving Merseyside, West Mercer, West Midlands, and the Met. Police forces.

Later I went on to work with the Brooklyn North Homicide Squad here in New York and with the NYPD hostage Negotiators. These experiences completely blew my mind.

It’s not easy nor will it be easy any time soon. If you want to do documentary work on the cops, you need to take it slow and pay close attention. It may take some time.

And whatever you do, don’t show them your profile picture.

I don’t mean to take the wind out of your sails buddy but this is serious business. It’s takes time. It takes hard work. It requires a level of awareness that only comes with experience. You also need to earn the trust of the police and that takes serious commitment.

Thanks to both your replies guys. Yeah I certainly have little experience in this kind of field. What I had planned to do involved ‘documentary portraiture’. I didn’t expect to be allowed to follow them around the street, and it wouldn’t need to leave the office anyway. They would also be photographs of a number of policemen and women I already have as close friends and their associates, I expect this would be the easiest way to go about finding as many trusting subjects as possible. I’ll be researching as much as I can when I get some free time in the future, assuming I’ll find all the limitations I could face in that period?

I was told (when I was last arrested) that they are no longer allowed to call themselves “Force” as it makes people scared of them. They prefer the softer term of “Service”

With the current sense of paranoia in the UK, I doubt they would want someone following them around and documenting possible screw-ups. Have you contacted any of them? I heard Ian Blair is a lovely chap ;)

I just edited the original post to avoid all this confusion over what my actual intentions were, I hadn’t planned to follow any of the police ‘service’ around. But, making environmental portraits of them in familiar places. Yes Daniel, Ian’s lovely.

I had to double check you weren’t from Brazil and liked puffy jackets, as Ian kinda loves that look.

Have you approached the Met’s film unit?

http://www.filmlondon.org.uk/press_details.asp?NewsID=635

They might be able to help

Matt, give the press office in Wymondham a call on 01953 423666 and speak to Jonathan Ford. You may get somewhere, but be prepared for the standard rebuff of ‘No Comment’ and ‘Murder, what murder?’

Mind you the previous press officer in Norwich not too many years ago hated the media with a vengeance, denying everything that went on and with the attitude of tell ‘em nothing!

At least things are a little better these days.

Best
Jason

You will need permission

http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/photo/2007/08aug/070810lodge.shtml

Following on from Gary’s post above and from my own experience of the police in ‘Shottingham’, Matt would be best not taking his portraits there. Personally I would rather pour molten lead into my ears than willingly undertake a project to photograph the UK police. Best of luck with that one Matt !!

thanks guys. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out then John!

After your arrest, please post a photo of what it looks like inside the police station from your point of view, with all your stuff on the desk, so we can see how much things have changed since I was in your shoes, a couple of decades ago:

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Good luck and don’t be put off. You may get some some superb images but have problems selling them.
Why not try something that hasn’t been tried before like photo’s of Jade Goody’s latest hairdo or try getting a shot of Victoria Beckham wearing sun glasses. There’s a market for the rare original images which make serious social statements.
Seriously though good luck. I for one would be interested in the results of such a project.

If you want to do portraits and you have friends in the service, they should be able to direct you to the persons in charge of granting permissions for this. Seems do-able to me if you can submit a clear proposal that shows the nature of your project and if doesn’t threaten security, slander, etc. It’s got to to be possible. They are just portraits..
If it can’t be arranged on a formal level, see if anything permits them from being photographed in/out of uniform while off duty.