Surfers Paradise, Schoolies and police not saying 'Please'.

Dear Queensland Police,

I'm a Sydney photojournalist, and recently spent five days covering the 2013 'Schoolies' celebrations in Surfers Paradise.  With thousands of graduating students flocking to this coastal destination, you certainly had your hands full maintaining order and enforcing the law. That doesn't even take into account the 'toolies' that strangely appear on the scene as well, let alone the usual number of tourists and locals that you have to deal with.

But, as they say, there's the rub.  The thin blue line is there to enforce the law.  I was there to document news.  Good news or bad news, I was there to photograph it.  And unfortunately, its not the responsibility of a police officer to decide for me what is considered news any more than I should be allowed to decide what is legal.

I know I have several restrictions that can and do prevent me from doing my job.  I can't put myself or others in danger.  I can't obstruct police officers from executing their duty - nor would I want to.

Within those five days and nights spent in Surfers Paradise I met some cracker officers from all across Queensland, doing a spectacular job.  It takes a unique breed of person to walk into a 500-strong pack baying 'FTP' with only a few colleagues, and manage to diffuse the situation and disperse the crowd.  But it just didn't happen once - it happened several times a night, night after night.  Then, even after the throng had been on the edge of violence, your officers calmly engage with people out for the night and have photos taken with them - brilliant!  Community policing at its finest.

But it only takes a few to spoil it for the rest, and I'm hoping that it was just ignorance that soured my dealings with the Queensland Police Service.  And while the ignorance manifested itself several times, if I tried to use ignorance as a defence in front of a magistrate, I'd be laughed out of the court.

So I'm hoping it was ignorance that the police officer pictured in the image above didn't know what to do when he saw a young female schoolie fall over and lie in her own vomit, instead of just standing there watching.

I'm also hoping that when I took photos of the scene, the two female Senior Constables that suddenly appeared and ordered me to delete my memory cards, saying that I couldn't take photos were simply uninformed.

And in particular, the plain clothed officer that drove his open hand into my chest several times, tell me to move off or I'd be arrested had also simply been absent the day media rights were taught at the Police Academy.  He may not have used those actual words - from memory they were decidedly stronger.  I know he was just trying to do his job, but if the tables were turned and heaven forbid, I used that force and that language on him, I'd be sharing a small room with someone called Bubba.  Or Tattooed Frank. 

Anyway, I digress.

Like I've mentioned, it wasn't a one-off event.  Later in the week, when police shut down another fight before it could spread, I photographed another group of plain clothed police moving a male they had arrested through the crowd.
Photos of police doing their job and arresting an alleged lawbreaker?  A win/win scenario - I get a photo and the Queensland police is shown doing an effective job under trying circumstances.
What I didn't expect to get was the not only the same language as the other officer used; not only the threat of arrest, but also it appears that the officer moonlights as a very talented gastrointestinal medical imaging professional as he offered me the chance to have a colonoscopic exam using my very own camera!  An offer under the circumstances I had to turn down.

There's an amusing irony in that you were threatening me with arrest for taking photos, while scores of smart phones around us were uploading images to social media sites.  We - professional photojournalists - adhere to a code of ethics.  In our organisation we have checks and balances that prevent images and stories being used for defamatory and slanderous purposes.  We are held accountable for what we write, photograph or video.  

And speaking of smart phones -  when you slapped the iPhone the journalist was using to the ground when he was videoing the crowd - all because you thought it was a knife?  I'm sorry, but I have never seen anyone even attempt to butter bread or bone a fish with a smart phone let alone stab someone with it.  In Queensland you either have some creative criminals or some jumpy, over-reactive police officers.

If you're going to second officers to high profile events like Schoolies, maybe give them a refresher regarding photo and video rights for media and the general public.  Heck, it doesn't need to be just for large events.  Send out a memo letting your officers know that, by and large, anyone can take photos (and video) in any public space.  If you see someone with several SLR cameras (not always a giveaway, but providing a strong hint) and wearing a media tag, try a bit of professional courtesy - try using "Please" - we're generally pretty reasonable.

Maybe that way next year, we can avoid the whole police intimidation thing, and chalk it up to a misunderstanding.