Posts Tagged ‘police’
Moat’s Last Moments. Are All Our Policemen Wonderful?
Almost Over
On Friday night they had Raoul Moat cornered at last. It was the culmination of something more akin to a military invasion than a reasonable response to just one deranged nutter. Northumbria Police had already made fools of themselves but we were all biting our lips, not yet protesting, hoping against hope that there would be no further casualties.
The first photographs from the stand-off were released and they clearly showed police pointing tasers. On BBC News the ex-police firearms expert was interviewed and asked why a taser couldn’t be used to disable Moat. He answered quite unequivocally that using a taser when a man has a gun pointed at his head was more than likely to result in him firing the weapon involuntarily.
First thing on Saturday morning and it was no surprise to learn that Moat was dead. What was utterly shocking was to learn that two tasers had been fired and the recording broadcast by the BBC revealed the shouting before the sound of the shotgun blast. The unavoidable conclusion is that exactly what the firearms expert had predicted was what happened.
I don’t have any sympathy for Moat. As far as I’m concerned a good case could have been made for him being shot on sight but I am very, very unhappy with the way the police handled the affair.
All Over Now
It may be that the denouement itself was handled properly. We will never know what really happened however many inquiries we have. What I am certain of is that overall the police should have done much better. Those far, far better qualified to judge than me have already said as much. I speak only as a concerned citizen.
I really worry about our police service. While I believe there are many brave, honourable coppers, some of whom are highly skilled, there are too many worrying indications that our police service is not up to the job.
There’s thuggery and the rank-closing covering-up and justification of it. There’s the appalling canteen culture which is at the root of all the institutionalised racism, thuggery and freemasonry. There’s the amateurish approach of senior officers who seem barely competent at times. There is inevitably some corruption but also a long-running deception that the decision to prosecute is at arms length. The police decide who to investigate in the first place. The CPS and the police eat in the same canteen
Look at the brutality of the police, the TSG in particular, at the Gaza and G20 protests and how they’ve got away with it. Look at the Inspector Gadget police website for an insight into the disgusting attitude of many officers. Look at the management of situations like the Cumbrian shootings and the Raoul Moat affair and the use of ludicrous, self-evidently bad ideas like the “kettling” at the Gaza and G20 protests. Look at the income generation from speed cameras promoted by some chief constables. Look at the absurd, intrusive, wildly excessive use of CCTV. Look at the ridiculous administration routines that many chief constables have imposed. Look at the insistence on retaining the DNA of innocent people.
The police are now very well paid. A starting police officer gets about twice as much as a starting soldier. They have wonderful pension arrangements. They’re also excused, let off and get away with behaviour that should never be allowed. Look at the thug, Sergeant Delroy Smellie , who repeatedly beat Nicola Fisher at the G20 protest and got away with it, or the officer who assaulted Ian Tomlinson, who later died, and who has still not been charged over a year later.
All the brave, honourable coppers are let down by those bad apples which myopic “support” of the police allows to rot and infect the rest.
The British police service needs a shake up. It is complacent and inefficient. Excellent work is done in anti-terrorism and organised crime but the truth is not all our policemen are wonderful. We need to face up to that truth and make some changes. Perhaps locally elected police chiefs are a way forward.
A Real Insight Into The Police
The conduct of the police has been in the news again this week for all the wrong reasons. First there was the disgracegful, outrageous and deeply corrupt acquittal of the thug policeman, Sgt Delroy Smellie, who beat up Nicola Fisher at the G20 protest. See the story here. There’s also the CPS’ deplorable failure to bring to trial the police officer who was responsible for the death of Ian Tomlinson, also at the G20 protest. See here.
Evenin' All
In the course of writing about these events and reading other blogs I came across Inspector Gadget. This is a blog by a policeman for policemen (and women). I’m not quite clear whether the author is a serving police inspector or not. If he’s still in the job I’m not sure that it’s entirely proper for him to be writing as he is but I’m still considering my verdict on that.
Inspector Gadget does offer an extraordinary insight into the attitudes of serving police officers. There are hundreds of comments demonstrating intelligence, passion, anger, professionalism and, in a few cases, crass stupidity and irresponsibility. I’m reassured that there are many police officers who see that the acquittal of Smellie and the delay in prosecuting the murder of Ian Tomlinson causes enormous damage to the police. I am very deeply disturbed though by the attitudes that far too many of Inspector Gadget’s contributors demonstrate.
Put Up With It. It's Your Job.
It is quite clear that many officers are psychologically unsuited to the job and are not “fit and proper” people to be given the authority and responsibility of a police constable. Judging by some of the contributors who claim to be trained in “split second decision making” and the control of violent disorder, I’d say that some of them are bordering on psychopathic. They shouldn’t be allowed on the streets at all, let alone in a police uniform.
I think Inspector Gadget should be much more widely read, certainly within the Home Office and by those (I wish I knew who they are) who have control over the strategic direction of policing and police recruitment. There are attitudes demonstrated that suggest to me we should be opening a whole new wing at Brixton or, more probably, Broadmoor, for psychopathic, violent ex-police officers.
Obviously this won’t make me popular with some people and, as I don’t hide my identity, maybe I should be expecting a knock on the door in the middle of the night, but I cannot stand by and let attitudes such as these prevail.
You’re not entitled to complain about being shouted at, abused, sworn at, threatened (within limits) or protestors not obeying your “orders”. This is all part of the job.
Your standard of behaviour must be far, far higher than the protestors. If you cannot control your temper, even in the face of extreme provocation, you shouldn’t be in the job.
I am a strong supporter of the police. The necessary concomitant of that is that any officer who steps out of line or goes over the top must be punished severely, more severely than if they were a member of the general public.
Anyone who cannot see the wrong perpetrated by Smellie against Fisher and by Officer X against Tomlinson is not fit to be a police officer.
Who Will Stand Up For Justice?
The CPS are dithering over the police murder at the G20 protest. Just like the assault on Nicola Fisher, we all saw on television the attack on Ian Tomlinson which led directly to his death. The delay in bringing charges in this matter is outrageous and already amounts to a miscarriage of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions says he is working as quickly as he can on a careful investigation in “this difficult and complex case”. See the full story here.
This is rubbish. It is a pathetic excuse and I simply don’t believe him when he says he is having difficulty getting medical evidence. Proceed without it! The evidence is clear enough. If the accused was anyone other than a police officer he would already be behind bars.
With the Smellie acquittal, this perversion of justice at the DPP’s own hands and the Newsnight story yesterday that people arrested at the Gaza protest are being treated as terrorists, we have reached a new low point in our history.
Those politicians, civil servants, police and legal officers who have allowed these events to unfold are guilty of treason. They are destroying our country and our civilisation just as much as they could with bombs and bullets.
Thug Plod On The Loose
How many weeks on and we still have no progress on the police murder at the G20 protest? What is the IPCC up to?
Brutal Assault
Now, again, we have crystal clear proof of outrageous, unjustified police assault. It is a huge failure of leadership that the Chief Constable Of Nottingham has not already had the officers concerned in this scandal suspended and charged. More than that, I believe that his failure to do so is a criminal offence in itself. He is not just dithering, he is failing in his most fundamental duty – to protect the public.
Our tolerance level for this sort of police conduct is already terrifyingly high. If he does not act then the Home Secretary should step in immediately. This is not time for enquiries. This is time for police thugs to be treated like any other lowlife pig and put in irons.
Where Are The Police – Again?
Mob Rule
In one of the most tightly policed locations in the country a mob is allowed to shout down, assault and drive off Nick Griffin, the new BNP MEP without any police intervention? See the full story here.
I am very, very frightened by this. Much more so than by the election of a couple of idiots to a stage where they will be able to make even bigger fools of themselves.
Sir Paul Stephenson! Are you a man or a mouse, a police officer or a political servant?
Man Or Mouse?
You seem to act under ruling party political direction when it is unnecessary – Damian Green. You fail to act when it is crucial – banker robbers, MPs expenses, police violence and today’s blatant blind eye.
MPs Evading Justice
So are we supposed to be surprised that Gordon Brown is still clinging by his fingernails to the architrave at the door of number 10? They couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, an orgy in an whorehouse or a coup in the Labour Party. Why? Because they all have nothing but their own interests at heart. Their last year in office, their pensions, their resettlement grants. These are not men. They are manipulative, morally microscopic mice.
Phwooaar! Gerrumorrf darlin'!
Plod PR, the go-getting communications agency, wholly owned by the police with exclusively the police as clients summoned all its collective intelligence and wisdom to determine that last Friday, the day after the European and local elections would be a busy news day, a perfect occasion to bury their cowardly, disgraceful announcement that MPs will not be prosecuted.
In fact, the expenses scandal has now morphed into an excuse for poor performance in the elections. This is a triumph of misinformation over truth. Over the weekend, we were asked to sympathise over the “assault on MPs about their expenses”. If what has happened has constitued assault then my feeling is that it’s time for some GBH with intent.
Everything has now been re-geared to enable them all to get away with it. Perhaps even more worrying is that this marks a new development in the politicisation of the police. Increasingly the police are being used to support and enforce the whim of government, irrespective of the law or justice.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance is still chasing down MPs (see here) but what has happened to the Telegraph? Have they had a visit in the middle of the night from the police or have big, fat, brown envelopes been distributed around Telegraph Towers – or both?
Jim Knight – The Scumbag Thief Of Dorset
So I learned today that my own MP, Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, has his snout in the trough too.
He is one of several MPs who have claimed and been paid for tax advice from Dennis Bates, ex-Inland Revenue employee and wife of Labour MP, Meg Munn. Mr Bates’ bill to Jim Knight explicitly stated “professional services in connection with your personal tax affairs”.
Scumbag Thief
No reasonable person can believe that claiming such an expense is legitimate. I have therefore written today to the Chief Constable of Dorset, Martin Baker, making a complaint of dishonesty. I take no pleasure in this. I regard it as my duty.
Jim Knight states on his own website on the subject of MPs expenses: “…more serious abuses must be referred to the police and action taken that matches any other employment and any other citizen…”
Let us see what happens.
Alistair Darling And The Rest – Liars, Cheats And Thieves
What exactly is it that entitles cabinet ministers to have their accountants’ fees paid for by the taxpayer?
All nine ministers must be sacked and the police brought in to investigate. There is not the slightest excuse for this blatant thievery.
Scumbag Thief
This is perhaps the most disgraceful episode of all. While you can argue (well you can try) that duck houses and food bills have something to do with a second home which is necessitated by Parliamentary duties, claiming your accountants fees on expenses is nothing short of cheating the taxpayer.
Alistair Darling, Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears, David Miliband, James Purnell, Douglas Alexander, Geoff Hoon and Hilary Benn – you are liars, cheats and thieves. You should all be behind bars.
Wholly, Exclusively And Necessarily
If your expenses do not pass that test then you have broken the rules. It’s black and white. Forget the background, the explanation, that you deserve a bigger salary, how busy you were at the time, saying you were only obeying the rules (“orders” in the Nuremberg defence). All these miscreant MPs must be brought to account and if the police are not going to have the courage to take the necessary steps then some other method must be devised by which to bring these cheats before the courts.
Peter Reynolds 