To think this is a complete waste of police time

[StuntNun]

A police officer came round yesterday to speak to my 8yo DS2. It seems one of my neighbours reported him to the police for taking a photo of her house. We looked at his camera and he had taken one photo of two of his friends playing in the street about 30 yards away from our house. The neighbour's house was in the background. He only took the one photo which he then asked DH to print out for him. Apparently he took the printout outside to show to his friend and two older boys took it away from him. He was quite right to give up the photo because one of these boys has hit him in the past so he usually tries to keep away from him.

As far as I can see, DS2 hasn't actually done anything illegal so why on earth are the police investigating it? The poor lad was pretty anxious about the whole experience.

So AIBU to think the police should be out there investigating actual crimes and not scaring little boys who haven't actually done anything wrong?

Is taking photos of a house illegal? Are your neighbours in a safe house/ under witness protection or something like that?

What exactly were they asking about, him taking a picture or the boys taking something off him?

They were asking why he was taking a photo of the neighbour's house. I'm not sure how she got to see the photo because it was taken off DS2 by the bigger boys but it clearly showed two kids playing with go-karts, it wasn't just a picture of her house.

content.met.police.uk/Site/photographyadvice

Guidance around the issue has been made clear to officers and PCSOs through briefings and internal communications. The following advice is available to all officers and provides a summary of the Metropolitan Police Service’s guidance around photography in public places.

^Freedom to photograph and film
Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.^

Officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras carried by a person searched under S43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to discover whether the images constitute evidence that the person is involved in terrorism. Officers also have the power to seize and retain any article found during the search which the officer reasonably suspects may constitute evidence that the person is a terrorist. This includes any mobile telephone or camera containing such evidence.

Officers do not have the power to delete digital images or destroy film at any point during a search. Deletion or destruction may only take place following seizure if there is a lawful power (such as a court order) that permits such deletion or destruction

Was your son in a public place (i.e. in the street) ?

If so, I am confident the officers correctly informed you of the act of parliament under which they were interfering with your - and your sons - lawful business ?

That is ridiculous and certainly going to scare your DS for absolutely no reason at all.

Yes Lurking he was in the street. We're in Northern Ireland so the law may be different here I suppose. It's possible that someone living in the house is a close protection officer or has another reason not to want their house to be photographed but it's a rural area and a child that lives a few doors down the road, not an unknown adult.

I just can't get my head round it to be honest. It pisses me off that my child isn't safe to walk down the street without being hit by the local bully and yet he's the one getting reported to the police when he hasn't even done anything wrong.

I would say the home owner was PSNI or similar. Bit if an over reaction still.
Hope your DS is ok

very likely yanbu.

"Hello Timmy, I'm a policeman. Do you know what that means? That means I will tell you off when you haven't actually done anything wrong in a slightly sinister way, so you probably should avoid me at all costs in case I'm in a bad mood that day and arrest you for nothing. Have a nice day! Remember to always trust a policeman"