Would you class skateboarding as anti social behaviour.

Guest101

Suggest he video tapes the next encounter then complain to the council that this is
A: harassment
B: a waste of tax payers money

tealady

Hi
How about your son and his mates making an appointment to meet with their local Councillor on the site to point out that they are causing no harm. This could be a great photo opportunity to show the public that the lads are just doing their own thing and mean no harm to any one.
Personally if I saw a group of teenagers happy, busy and causing no problems I would just walk on by.

candjsmum

Guest101 wrote: »

Suggest he video tapes the next encounter then complain to the council that this is
A: harassment
B: a waste of tax payers money

Just after Xmas, one of my son's friends were videoing them all practising their tricks. When the street wardens came along he pointed his go pro at them to record the conversation and was told it was against the law to video them or the police and that he was liable to get it confiscated.

I did say to my son I thought this was incorrect, but of course at the time his friend was worried about this so stopped recording.

browneyedbazzi

candjsmum wrote: »

Just after Xmas, one of my son's friends were videoing them all practising their tricks. When the street wardens came along he pointed his go pro at them to record the conversation and was told it was against the law to video them or the police and that he was liable to get it confiscated.

I did say to my son I thought this was incorrect, but of course at the time his friend was worried about this so stopped recording.

Do the wardens think they work in Stalinist Russia or China?

There are a few select areas in the country (mostly in London I believe) where there are restrictions on photography and video recordings (because of concerns that terrorists would use videos/photos to 'case' targets) but aside from that I'm not aware of any restrictions on making recordings in a public place so long as it is overt (ie not using a hidden camera).

I really think you should contact the council and ask for details of any complaints about the skateboarding or any justification for the wardens' actions. While you are at it you could ask them for the details of the legislation which prohibits filming a warden - my guess is that they won't be able to come up with anything.

LondonDiva

tealady wrote: »

Hi
How about your son and his mates making an appointment to meet with their local Councillor on the site to point out that they are causing no harm. This could be a great photo opportunity to show the public that the lads are just doing their own thing and mean no harm to any one.
Personally if I saw a group of teenagers happy, busy and causing no problems I would just walk on by.

What about the OP's son making an appointment with the councillors to ask they do something about the state of the skateboarding Park instead?

Then the tax payers get what they've paid for, the council properly monitors the park and the kids are not potentially causing a problem. (I am aware that we don't know what is behind the aggro from the PSOs).

Wim win

clairec79

I'd probably play dumb and say 'but the policeman told us it was ok if we stayed this side of the fence'

rpc

candjsmum wrote: »

When the street wardens came along he pointed his go pro at them to record the conversation and was told it was against the law to video them or the police and that he was liable to get it confiscated.(

While they did the right thing in stopping filming at the time, if this happens again I'd encourage your son to politely challenge them.

Ask what power they would be using and precisely which law they are breaking. A proper copper will, usually, be able to cite their authority and/or refer you to PACE. There is no power of "confiscation" even for police and seizure is quite severely limited (the item must be covered by a warrant, evidence of a crime or other narrow scenarios).

Unlawful seizure would get a policeman in a lot of trouble. It would probably be theft if a street warden tried it. I suspect that a street warden has the same powers as you and I.

And get your councillors and MPs involved. You are paying for these clowns, they should be doing something constructive.

Guest101

candjsmum wrote: »

Just after Xmas, one of my son's friends were videoing them all practising their tricks. When the street wardens came along he pointed his go pro at them to record the conversation and was told it was against the law to video them or the police and that he was liable to get it confiscated.

I did say to my son I thought this was incorrect, but of course at the time his friend was worried about this so stopped recording.

Absolute nonsense.

The line: which law am I breaking? Should be used.

If they say 'data protection' - laugh.

Anyone can video anyone else in public. As usual these people are idiots - who probably had personal CCTV anyway! D'oh!

The law only prevents filming when present on private land. Ie as long as you are on public ( or ur own ) land, u can film whatever u like.

Guest101

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

Do the wardens think they work in Stalinist Russia or China?

There are a few select areas in the country (mostly in London I believe) where there are restrictions on photography and video recordings (because of concerns that terrorists would use videos/photos to 'case' targets) but aside from that I'm not aware of any restrictions on making recordings in a public place so long as it is overt (ie not using a hidden camera).

I really think you should contact the council and ask for details of any complaints about the skateboarding or any justification for the wardens' actions. While you are at it you could ask them for the details of the legislation which prohibits filming a warden - my guess is that they won't be able to come up with anything.

Filming can be covert, absolutely nothing wrong with that. I'd encourage it to get real evidence.

As for certain areas - there's a small list of mostly as you said 'high value' areas. But these are usually of a military or intelligence nature. And in doing so are usually surrounded by privately owned land ( MOD ) so the restrictions are easier to impose

Guest101

rpc wrote: »

While they did the right thing in stopping filming at the time, if this happens again I'd encourage your son to politely challenge them.

Ask what power they would be using and precisely which law they are breaking. A proper copper will, usually, be able to cite their authority and/or refer you to PACE. There is no power of "confiscation" even for police and seizure is quite severely limited (the item must be covered by a warrant, evidence of a crime or other narrow scenarios).

Unlawful seizure would get a policeman in a lot of trouble. It would probably be theft if a street warden tried it. I suspect that a street warden has the same powers as you and I.

And get your councillors and MPs involved. You are paying for these clowns, they should be doing something constructive.

Street wardens can usually issue PCNs, but that's it really. Certainly no police powers.

I'd suggest next time, video taping and cautioning them under PACE as you believe this is harassment.

The video can then be submitted to court ( the judge may still decide inadmissible)