How much do the UK police charge to attend a location?

StevenUK

StevenUK

Hello,
I am organising locations for my short film. It is set on the Moors of the UK, well away from the general public, apart from ramblers.

The characters will be carrying mock 'weapons', these will not be imitation or even realistic in any way. They will be for want of a better word 'Rayguns' (don't laugh). The actors will also be wearing obvious costumes and will be flanked by crew in high visability vests with 'CREW' written on them.

However, in the current climate I know that I will have to get the local police involved. My question is this:

- Would I have to have a police presence on set or would I simply have to inform them as only an idiot (but there are plenty of them) would mistake the actors for armed terrorists (or whatever)?

- If I had to have a police presence would it cost me and if so how much?

- By the way one of my cast/crew is actually a police officer, would this help? (He couldn't answer this question for me).

Steven
 
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You don't need a police presence, but you do need to inform them that the shoot is happening, when and where. The dates and times need to cover any time that you might be there shooting. If your shoot gets behind schedule you need to inform them of any changes. I also get a number of the area dispatch desk and my 1st AD phones them and lets them know when we're about to start working on location. This is important because the second a gun is out in the open, that's when the dispatch desk will start getting calls.

If you've got anything that is a replica of an actual firearm then you by rights should have an armourer on set managing the weapons. If a weapon is to be discharged then you definately need one.

When we did the Bosnian War sequences of No Place we had informed the Police what we were doing and where we were doing it. We also had a licensed armourer on location. Even with all that in place, a van load of Armed Police officers turned up and scared the living daylights out of one of our runners. To be fair we were recreating a fairly large skirmish with a dozen AK47s, but even so we were miles away from anywhere.

The risk of doing any firearms work, especially in the current climate where armed police officers are nervous about possible terrrorism, is having someone on your shoot killed. It's no longer something in this country where you can take any risks.

One thing I would say is that if you aren't using an armourer because you are using obviously not real weapons (your ray guns) still have your prop person take all the weapons off the cast when they are not on set in front of a camera. Keep them out of view at any time they aren't in use. You can not be too careful around this stuff.
 
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Cheers again Clive,
I should probably just send my questions directly to you.

I don't think I'll need an amourer as the 'Rayguns' don't function in any way what-so-ever and there is no 'gun play' they are just carried.

I will definitely take your advice about 'confiscating' the weapons between takes, that makes very good sense.

Should I give www.indietalk.com and yourself a credit, how about 'Something' Consultant?

Cheers
Steven
 
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call the non-emergency number at the police station and ask...same opening line as any call for these types of things:

My name is _________ and I'm an independant filmmaker...I was wondering what is required for me to use non-functioning weapons for a movie I'm making...location, date and time. Feel free to have someone stop by if they have any questions on the day, we will call and notify you when we start and when we stop.

Ask if they want to be in a movie ;)

Don't ever say "We will be shooting..." That can be taken the wrong way. I always say filming when dealing with the police (even though I shoot on video).

Make sure you call them on the day as well and let them know when you will be starting and stopping.
 
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Should I give www.indietalk.com and yourself a credit, how about 'Something' Consultant?
Click to expand...

Don't worry about it. This is what the forum is for.

I think an indietalk credit would be nice, but I'm fine.

By the way, the best credit I was ever offered and took was "Duck Wrangler"

Don't ever say "We will be shooting..." That can be taken the wrong way. I always say filming when dealing with the police (even though I shoot on video).
Click to expand...

Good call on that, I must remember that for next time.
 
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