I was quite fascinated by a programme on forensics that aired on BBC2 last night and the use of technology to identify and link some robbery suspects. I wasn’t aware of the power of ANPR cameras, not just to track a vehicle but also to link vehicles travelling together. Also using cellphone tower data to link the suspects to the car they had stolen because the car contained a SIM.
Well worth a watch it such things interest you.
It rather depends on who’s controlling the technology, doesn’t it? In China it’s been taken to the Nth degree and the West is looking on with interest. And why do you think it’s okay that you should have to explain your lawful business and have it verified? That’s pretty terrifying!
Oh yes, I was at a security expo at Excel and the tech is shockingly good.
Fortunately, it can’t be. It’s not even admissible.
Police Officers in England and Wales have always been entitled to stop someone and enquire about the reason for their presence in a particular place, where they have come from, where they are going, and what is the purpose of their journey. The individual being questioned is not obliged to answer, although their failure to do so may increase the officer’s level of suspicion that they are up to no good. The innocent member of the public will usually answer the officer’s questions as they have nothing to hide.
In any case, policing in the UK is done with the consent of the majority of the people, and the law abiding citizen will wish to help the officer by answering the questions honestly. Police officers have better things to do than to go around randomly selecting people to question. If a person is stopped and asked questions, then there is a good reason for that. Those that stand on their orange box and proclaim “you have no right to ask me questions” often find themselves sitting in the back of the van on the way to the station.
Here in France there is a similar sort of situation about carrying ID on your person at all times. If you don’t have it with you, you are not committing an offence, but the Officer / Gendarme can, if they so wish, take the person into custody for up to 24hrs for the purpose of verifying their identity if that person has been found within a certain distance of certain premises as listed in the legislation. Part of the establishing identity process will be to request the person’s consent to be fingerprinted, and again, declining to consent is not an offence, but it does mean that the period of detention for the purpose of establishing identity can be extended to three days.
The list of premises to which the above powers relate is so extensive that unless one is standing in a field in the middle of nowhere, the legislation probably applies.
It’s a personal choice, but personally I always endeavour to carry my ID with me at all times.
I hear you, but it’s not the police that worry me.
Me too, it’s far simpler.