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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Pissed off to be all but nicked by the noddyplods even though they were polite.

28 replies

solidgoldbrass · 13/10/2011 15:30

To be fair I suppose they had some justification and they were very civil. What is madame doing with a notebook and a camera? Has madame got any ID? And we will just run a quick check on that ID at the station....

I wasn't wearing my Fuck Tha Police pullover, either...

OP posts:
mustdache · 13/10/2011 15:32

perhaps the long coat and these were uncalled for?

MrsStephenFry · 13/10/2011 15:33

You must have a furtive, shift look about you.

welliesandpyjamas · 13/10/2011 15:34

Noddyplods??
Fuck tha police??

You joking, yes?

Original poster
solidgoldbrass · 13/10/2011 15:39

THough I know I am not a criminal and had legitimate reason to be where I was, doing what I was doing, I am actually a touch ambivalent about whether they should have stopped me or not. And I do wonder what might have happened had I not recognised one of them and started chattering brightly about 'Ooh, you're the COmmunity officer at my son's school aren't you, what are you doing in this part of town?' which probably helped convince them still further that I was not a marauder.

OP posts:
FairhairedandFrustrated · 13/10/2011 15:41

So, what were you doing with a notebook and camera?

Jackstini · 13/10/2011 15:42

Why were you pissed off sgb?
Surely they were just doing their job - where were you at the time?
If anyone was round your house/workplace with a notebook & camera I am sure you'd want it checked out...

Original poster
solidgoldbrass · 13/10/2011 15:42

Property scouting - one of my jobs is working for a property investor, so I was looking for houses/flats that are on the market, vacant, derelict or for rent. And if I found any, photographing them and writing down the addresses.

OP posts:
welliesandpyjamas · 13/10/2011 15:46

Sounds like both you and the police were doing your jobs well then. Except they are not likely to be complaining about you right now.

squeakytoy · 13/10/2011 15:50

Considering it isnt against the law to take a photograph (yet)... I would have been fuming...

Dictat · 13/10/2011 15:50

To be honest, I think that YABVU. They were only doing their job.
Furthermore consider yourself thoroughly chastised for referring to them as noddyplods.
It is that kind of disrespectfulness towards people who have a tough enough job to do as it is, that just compounds the sh*t attitude they face on a daily basis from the general public. Get some manners....

Booooooyhoo · 13/10/2011 15:51

"Except they are not likely to be complaining about you right now."

that's because she didn't interfere with them doing their job, she was part of it, but they weren't part of hers and did interfere with her doing it.

Jackstini · 13/10/2011 15:52

Think thery were fair enough to stop you then - you could have been scouting for somewhere to break into for all they knew. Safer to check.
But you know that really!

ThePumpkinofDoomandTotalCha0s · 13/10/2011 15:55

hmm. I'ld be irritated at the request for ID, but to be fair, it probably did look like you were casing the joint!

HappyJoy · 13/10/2011 15:57

I know I am not a criminal and had legitimate reason to be where I was, doing what I was doing,

they didnt have their crystal balls working at the time

how many go around saying oi, look at me, I am a crim I am

redrobin · 13/10/2011 16:02

hmmm wonder what the 'noddyplods' call property investors? i could suggest a few....

welliesandpyjamas · 13/10/2011 16:12

Booooooyhoo - if you ever find that there is a stranger hanging around looking at your house, photographing it and making notes, maybe you could invite them in for a cuppa to make their job easier. Don't ever try and make the police's job easier though coz they iz scum innit.

Tianc · 13/10/2011 16:22

YANBU.

Taking photos in public has, bizarrely, become The Sign of An Evil-Doer.

No one can really quite explain why.

I've heard "They might be a paedophile". Yeah, taking photos of buildings.
And "They might be a terrorist." And so might you, dear. One might as well say going on the Tube is the sign of a terrorist, or parking a car.

Booooooyhoo · 13/10/2011 16:46

bit of an assumption you're making there wellies. Confused

to clarify, before anyone else assumes to know how i feel about the police Hmm, i DO NOT think (nor have i implied i do) the police are scum. 4 members of my family are police officers. having talked with them all on different occasions, i have a huge amount of respect for them for doing what i consider a very difficult job.

secondly, i was responding to your comment about the police not complaining about SGB. i did not state that i thought the police were wrong to do what they did. i did not comment on what SGB said. i commented on your post.

finally, inviting someone who was taking pictures of the outside of my house in for a cuppa would more than likely hinder them in carrying out their duties rather than, as you have suggested, make their job easier. what a silly thing to say. i dont think google streetview photographers would find theior job made easier by every homeowner inviting them in for a cuppa.

and relax BTW, you seem uptight?

Original poster
solidgoldbrass · 13/10/2011 19:11

I do sort of see their point, which they did explain to me (today was the start of a brand new anti-burglar initiative, apparently) but at the same time an old bat in a mac, bumbling along with a camera and a notebook and making no attempt to be furtive or anything and offering a full and frank explanation when asked what I was doing.... does that really sound like a major crime threat to you? I think what actually did unsettle and annoy me was having to produce ID and wait while they radioed the police station to find out if I had a record.

I suppose I should be glad I don't Look Foreign or they might have just shot me.

OP posts:
worraliberty · 13/10/2011 19:15

Nicked normally means arrested

If you're saying you were simply stopped and checked it's a bit of a Biscuit really.

You should try being a teenage boy. My son used to get stopped and checked all the time but he understood the reasoning behind it.

welliesandpyjamas · 16/10/2011 13:06

booooooyhoo that makes two of us then, sweetie

HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 16/10/2011 13:10

Ture, worra.

Try being a black man driving a Range Rover Grin drug dealer drug dealer drug dealer

My husband was stopped practically DAILY! To the extent that we used to joke about the offence DWB (driving while Black) Grin

Minus273 · 16/10/2011 13:16

hecate if that was me I wouldn't find it funny after a while. Your Dh obviously has a lot more patience than me.

I used to get stopped on the way home from work as I work shifts and they find it strange that someone is driving at that time of night. I used to worry that I sounded sarcastic when answering where I had been while wearing my work ID round my neck. I always still had it on as we need them to open the door to get out.

lenak · 16/10/2011 13:29

You need one of these:

BFP Blue Card

and possibly one of these in case you get stopped under section 44:

Photographer not terrorist

HecateGoddessOfTheNight · 16/10/2011 13:32

You have to laugh. If you didn't, then it could turn you into a bitter person - and where does that get you?

Many years ago, 2 old ladies stopped him in the street and asked him to buy a raffle ticket. They patted him and said "We have to treat everyone the same, you know." He thanked them, bought a ticket, went home and laughed until tears ran down his face.

He sees ignorance and lack of exposure and daftness instead of racism, and he is able to see the funny side.

Like when the pub landlord asked him where he was from, and he said "Kenya" and the landlord said "Oh. I know someone from (I can't remember the country so I'll just insert one at random in the same sort of area) Ghana."

My husband laughed his head off and pointed out that that was like him saying "You're from England? I know someone from Croatia" Grin

Best thing to do is laugh, tbh.