A LEADING Met Police officer has sent a message to all Met officers and staff reminding them that people who take pictures in public should not be stopped and searched unless there is a valid reason.

John Yates, assistant commissioner, said there is an “an enormous amount of concern” about police using the Terrorism Act to prevent people taking photographs.

He said: “People have complained that they are being stopped when taking photographs in public places.

“The complaints have included allegations that people have been told that they cannot photograph certain public buildings, that they cannot photograph police officers or PCSOs and that taking photographs is, in itself, suspicious.”

In a letter to all borough commanders, Mr Yates has reminded staff that there is no restriction on people taking photographs in public places, including taking pictures of police officers.

He also said the act of taking a photograph is in itself “not usually sufficient” for officers to carry out a stop and search under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which allows officers to stop and search without reasonable suspicion if an area has been designated a terrorist target.

Mr Yates told officers: “Public confidence in our ability to do so rightly depends upon your common sense.

“We risk losing public support when they are used in circumstances that most reasonable people would consider inappropriate."

In April, a father and his teenage son complained to the police after two officers allegedly forced them to delete pictures of Walthamstow buses.

This sparked a protest at Walthamstow bus station during which dozens of photographers in support of the right to take pictures took snaps of buses.

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