Jaffa makes an interesting point.
Apart from the silly comment I made I have not commented yet (I was in a daft mood yesterday). I am unsure about this.
I hate to say it (oh really I do), but I in part agree with Emarald. I feel as though there is more to this than meets the eye myself. The arrested guy is oddly prepared for the conversation in the sense of knowledge and linguistic prowess. It feels staged.
Now regardless of that point, there is still an issue with the correct line between civil rights and security.
Nara and Hoppy make an interesting argument about how civil liberties are being breached by police misusing the terror act and anti-social behaviour legislation.
Really, how much is it an infringement of liberty to give your details to a police officer? I have personally gave mine a few times, and have been dealt with in a reasonable and personable way.
This incident seems to have been sparked by a loose interpretation of recent anti-terrorism law, and the wish to save face by the officers in question, and the intractable nature of the person being questioned. On a couple of occasions the incident could have been diffused by both sides quite easily.
Was it daft? Yes. Should the police act more intelligently to try detect terrorist activity? yes. Did they shoe-horn section 2 into the incident to make an arrest to save face? Yes.
But is it a breach of human rights to ask for someones details? No. Would it be reasonable to offer your details and continue with your law abiding day? Yes.
I feel that comparatively, we live in one of the most progressive countries in the world, and have freedoms some people can not imagine. But there is and always will be an unresolvable paradox to guarantee that freedom. To preserve freedom we must create laws that stop people doing things. It is a practicality of public life that we have to compromise personal liberty to preserve a free society.
The key is to get that balance right. Here, the arrested man was not beaten up, tortured, locked up without trial for weeks on end, had his house ransacked, or his family intimidated. He was asked for his name and address.
He did not have his camera taken off him, his video camera smashed or forcibly turned off, he was asked for his details by an officer not wishing to make an arrest. The very same style of community policing most of us long for.
However, I am in complete agreement with Nara's point about hysteria regarding the videoing/picture taking of children, but that is a different issue.
Terrorists use a free society to plan atrocities. We can do nothing, or we can do something to try and stop them.
I for one will give my name when asked.
