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  1. Politics
15 July 2015updated 26 Jul 2021 6:37am

Police helicopter deletes tweeted surveillance picture of Michael McIntyre

The Met has deleted a tweet that broadcasted a surveillance photo of the comedian to the world.

By Anoosh Chakelian

At 11:34am, the official Twitter account for the Metropolitan Police’s helicopter service, @NPASLondon, tweeted a picture of the comedian Michael McIntyre from above.

The jocular tone of the tweet didn’t distract from its unsettling nature:

Even if it’s of an “energetic” well-known comedian, it’s still not a great message from the capital’s police force to imply that they can spy on you, take a picture, and broadcast your whereabouts to the world.

The NPAS (National Police Air Service) has since deleted the tweet. But a Met spokesperson tells me this is due to the “negative response on Twitter, and negative coverage”, and that the tweet “doesn’t break data protection legislation at all”. Because of people’s outrage online, they decided it would be “appropriate to delete it”.

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Here are some of those negative responses:

I’ve contacted McIntyre for his response but have yet to hear back.

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