Police officers were called to an incident in downtown Nuku’alofa last night after a car crashed into a business building.
It is understood more than one car involved in the crash.
Patrol vehicles were seen parked on an intersection, and a road with headlights on near the scene as a safety cordon for officers working on the crash into the Ha’amoko bakery.
A person was rushed to Vaiola hospital with injuries, reports said.
A person who appeared to be a Police officer wearing high-visibility clothing arrived at the scene before telling onlookers to leave the scene and stop taking video.
“’Unu ‘ikai fiema’u ke fai ha vitiō ē”, the person said in Tongan.
A video which appeared to have recorded the person’s warning was shared to Facebook.
Critics hit out at the officer’s warning on the video’s Facebook comment section.
“Come and do your job it is none of your business to stop people taking videos. Videoing is good so the public could know what happened to the crash”, a commenter wrote in Tongan.
“’Oua te ke fiepoto” or stop telling us you know what to do as we don’t want it”, one wrote.
“Can you please do your job first and save life that’s your priority”, another wrote.
“Do not chase people away they wanted to know what is happening”.
However, some commenters took sides with the officer and said people should obey and help the officers speed up their works.
Photographing at public places
In New Zealand, anything can be photographed without restriction or fear of legal repercussions provided the photographer is in a public place and is photographing something that is also in a public place.
In the Tongan case, the roads controlled by the government are public places.
New Zealand police guidelines for taking photos or filming in a public place says:
“It is generally lawful to take photographs of people in public places without their consent.
“However, you must not film or take photos of people if they are in a place where they can expect privacy (such as a public changing area or toilet) and that person:
- is naked, in underclothes, showering, toileting etc
- is unaware of being filmed or photographed
- has not given consent to be filmed or photographed.
You should not take photos of people if:
- they are in a place where they would expect reasonable privacy and publication would be highly offensive to an objective and reasonable person
- it has potential to stop other people’s use and enjoyment of the same place
- you have no legitimate reason for taking the film or photos.
“However, you can take and/or publish photos or film of people where there is no expectation of privacy, such as a beach, shopping mall, park or other public place”.
