A reporter from the Guardian attempted to shoot footage of the O2 arena – which is to host the Olympic basketball, artistic gymnastics and trampoline events – from public land, but security guards intervened.
Reporting on the episode, Peter Walker wrote in the Guardian:
“Very quickly the reporter was challenged by O2 security guards, who made a series of demands with no basis in law. They ordered that the filming stop – ‘We’ve requested you to not do it because we don’t like it’ – and that they be shown any existing footage. Asked on what basis they could demand this, one replied: ‘It’s under the terrorist law. We are an Olympic venue.’ Another added: ‘You have, for want of a better word, breached our security by videoing it [the O2].'”
Mr Walker went on to say that while there are strict photography rules inside Olympic venues and on many other private spaces, when standing on public land the media and public have a clear right to shoot still or moving images. Guards are entitled to challenge suspicious behaviour and call the police if necessary, but they have no additional powers on public land, he added.
An O2 spokesman told info4security.com that the journalist first started filming – without permission – on property managed by O2 and was first given the opportunity to request such permission. After declining to seek permission, he went onto public land and started to film access areas and back of house areas not normally of interest to the public.
“On the basis that [he was] filming areas of the O2 that are not usually of interest to the public, our security staff’s approach and handling of the situation was entirely appropriate.
“We work with the media and others to accommodate requests to film in and around the O2, which is situated on private property, but when we observe filming of the O2’s infrastructure and access points, it is our policy to approach individuals so we can take the appropriate course of action.”
Recent guidance from the British Security Industry Association following a Home Office review of counter-terrorism powers says that “if an individual is in a public place photographing or filming a private building, security guards have no right to prevent the individual from taking photographs.
It goes on: “If an individual is behaving in a manner which a security guard believes to be suspicious, it is important that the suspicions are resolved either through reporting the incident to the police or through polite questioning of the individual.
“The vast majority of individuals taking photographs are doing so for entirely innocent purposes, and the fact that an individual is taking a photograph does not in itself indicate hostile reconnaissance or other suspicious behaviour.”