First run in with the Photo Police

[Glen]

Went out for an hour tonight to take some photos. First stop Cremorne Point, all went well and gone in 5 minutes. Second stop Beulah Wharf, directly opposite the Opera House and 50 metres from the prime minister's residence. I was there three minutes before an Australian Federal Police officer came with baton, torch, radio and standard kit. I saw him coming from 30 metres away, and as I was the only one around, realised he was coming for me so let out a big "G'day mate". We had a chat for a while, I offered to show him my photos without him asking, he assessed me and my equipment and bottom line was that politeness and common sense ruled the day. He said to enjoy my night taking photos, though stayed to watch for the next ten minutes till I left, all the while having polite chat.

A win/win situation, I took my photos and he was as diligent as could be expected with regard to security and courteous to boot. Thanks for intelligent officers to the AFP

[Onyx]

Glad it went well for ya Glen. Did you happen to look over your shoulder as you're packing up and getting back into your car whether he followed you and recorded your license plate number... you know, Stubbsy's gallery of forum members are reportedly getting alot of views lately - maybe they're out to get us all next.

Through difference in age or skin colour, for some reason my run-ins with the police have not been as pleasant (only got arrested once though, and didn't get bashed in so I count myself lucky)

[Glen]

I think age helps Onyx, plus a friendly demeanour I was so badly dressed he asked did I live around here? No one would dress as badly as me if they were pretending to fit in next to John Howard's residence, I had to be a local.

He didn't get my plate, was still checking the underside of the wharf when I left. Sorry it hasn't gone as well for you in the past, but think how much easier it will be in 20 yrs time. Is there a story you can tell about your police encounters?

[Onyx]

Spent an evening at a local public park sitting at some picnic tables chatting with a friend doing not much more than staring at the stars. He brought along a heart rate monitor he just purchased to show me (uni student - legitimate use). Neighbours got paranoid, called the cops. 2 cars and 4 officers arrived to greet us.

We were both friendly and co-operative, tried to start a conversation with them but all they wanted was for us to put our hands above our heads and started rumaging thru my friend's bag and our pockets. Got us to empty pockets, rubbed us down and took off articles of clothing which I later found not was not legal to do, and took us into custody instead of speaking first to the person who made the complaint to check out whether it was legitimate or frivolous - which was what p&ssed me off most at the time.

So my friend had to prove he owned the heart rate monitor (kinda difficult, bought online - no receipt) and didn't steal it from one of the local houses, so he got his hard of hearing dad to ring up the cop shop and we had our fun replacing the name of the officer with a similar sounding sexually transmitted disease.

[Glen]

Sounds like an interesting evening Sometimes these guys make the wrong decisions and don't use their common sense, which is a pity and does them no favours later when they need the publics help.

I had a similar scenario to you when a few years ago I had started a child care centre. I had driven up to it and got about ten metres into it when I saw 3 police cars had surrounded my car. It was a new Porsche Boxster, there were 6 in Sydney at the time. The cops saw me and said "Do you want the good or bad news?" I said bad, he said "well the good news is we have just got a report 2 minutes ago that two teenagers were driving a new Porsche erratically like it was stolen, you would be happy to be called a teenager?" Cheeky bugger! We had a chat, I explained that we hadn't driven oddly, better yet he believed me, then I pointed out there was some local opposition to my childcare. He radioed the station, then left with a full head of steam to the unit block across the road muttering about people wasting police time. Justice was done.

[dooda]

Good job Glen in minimizing a potentially negative experience.

Great story Onyx.

[tasadam]

Glenn, your experience on the wharf - IMO it's clear the difference between the AFP and the local grunts.
People vs pi.....
I'm lucky I live in a place where there aren't enough police for them to be wasting time hassling people, they're too busy trying to earn money by booking everyone for the slightest... And those bloody cameras of theirs with the radar or the laser...

[MHD]

Good to hear a good story...

Well handled...

[darb]

Glenn, i have a similiar story.

Late at night, tam & I were standing on the grass in bewteen old and new parliament house, canberra ... my AF beam seemed to be getting answered by a quick distant light ... anyway, two federal cops on bikes, ala "team america" glasses, rolled up and were questioning me.

I basically talked their ear off and i think they were glad to ride off ... they had a quick scope of the camera but figured I was legit.

got a few nice shots mind you ;

[Glen]

Nice shots Brad, worth the hassle