Parody of the London Metropolitan Police 2008 Counter-Terrorism advertising campaign. The original and information on the campaign can be found at this link, along with PDFs for two other magazine ads which request the viewer to report anything they find as being suspicious. This includes taking photographs or notes such as for school, storing chemicals like fuel for a camping stove, or maintaining several cell phones which could be used for a job that pays the bills. All this paints me as being odd, suspicious and very much a potential terrorist in the eyes of the London Metropolitan Police who want you, the reader, to report me.
As it turns out anyone who’s part of any law enforcement body could also be a potential terrorist. Police officers are really good at documenting things that are currently happening now and the past using cameras and written notes. Anyone that’s dealt with violent crowd control is no stranger to mace and possibly tear gas, there’s also the handling and storage of fuel to run their transportation. And why is it that more and more officers of the law use cell phones to communicate while on the job then the everyday radio these days?
Even though many of us question the actions of our local law enforcement agencies every day (as we should and are allowed to) should we be suspicious and paranoid about everything they do? I’m sure someone in the London Metropolitan Police force owns and operates a Casio F91W wrist watch, should I cry to mommy about it then go hide in the corner due to fear of being hourly signaled to death? We bring terrorism close into our homes by terrorizing ourselves/family/friends/community/state/country through paranoia and suspicion.
The parody image utilizes some photos which are filed under Creative Commons, attribution is listed on the Flickr page the image links to. The rest of this image was generated by me and does not contain any visual content from the London Metropolitan Police website. Thanks to Mitch for allowing me to photograph his camera, and those at the Noise Bridge meeting who got a good laugh out of my new text. The "In suspicion we trust!" quote is taken from Crimethinc Ex-Workers’ Collective, they have some awesome stickers for sale and in PDF format for print. This image is listed under the Attribution – Non Commercial – Share Alike Creative Commons license. Please remix if you like.
