Police Harassment

[Board Game Geek]

Judging from the antics on the PDF which I have read, I'd be inclined to say that their past behaviour seems irrational enough to warrant concern.

Put it another way, if I was a Commander in the Police and one of my underlings came up to me and said :

"Sir, we've got a group of citzens with previous, who have scaled buildings, used loudhalers, scared the general public, blah blah blah"

then my next thought would be "What next ? At what point does one of these unhinged protesters "snap" and the general public are at risk of real harm ?"

And now CUK has an indirect association with you, since you are an identifiable poster here, and the cops took away the computer.

I bet CUK would be well chuffed for the advertising :


From an imaginary Sun newspaper article: "F4J Rebel Terrorists Take to The Net ! Investigations have revealed that the lunatic F4J Cell are using a Computer Contractor Forum to discuss their grievances, and no doubt plan futher attacks...blah blah blah"

Seem far fetched ? I don't think so...

[SueEllen]

Unfortunately they are not. The Attorney General is a member of the government but also oversees criminal cases.

The separation of powers is one thing that the Americans got right.

Well we have the European Court of Human Rights.

So as this is a human rights case he can take them all the way there or the police may do, if he sues them and they lose.

[AtW]

Seem far fetched ? I don't think
so...

Yep, I think exactly the same.

F4J previously humiliated the police with their shenanigans, so right now any police commander is not going to take chances with them. I can't blame the police commander - this is hardly harassment.

[AtW]

Unfortunately they are not. The Attorney General is a member of the government but also oversees criminal cases.

I think the courts in this country are sufficiently independent from both the police and also from the Govt itself.

It's not perfect, but there is absolutely no evidence right now to suggest that his court case would be somehow biased, he should have tried existing channels for these grievances rather than bother police.

[SueEllen]

Yep, I think exactly the same.

F4J previously humiliated the police with their shenanigans, so right now any police commander is not going to take chances with them. I can't blame the police commander - this is hardly harassment.

I actually do think the police have overreacted - but then I know other people who have been harassed by the police just for being young and male, and in most cases non-white. (Strangely the guys who should have been dealt with by the police always seem to escape, which says a lot about policing.)

To be honest if you want to protest against something and get the press involved you either:
1. only give them one days notice and do it via the press association.
2. take your own photos and then send it to the local press with your story
That way they don't have time to contact the authorities.

[AtW]

I don't think police actions qualify as harassment - by definition (at least in my mind) harassment is something happening over a period of time, here we got arrest and he was released quickly, computer returned too. If this was happening every month and police was waiting for him to get out of his house to arrest him again and again, then I'd agree - this would look like harassment.

I might have high tolerate for local police though as I am inevitably comparing them with the Soviet police who are complete scumbags as an institution, so looking at what local police does in this "harassment" case it seems to be the person who is overreacting is the that guy.

[Gonzo]

I think the courts in this country are sufficiently independent from both the police and also from the Govt itself.

It's not perfect, but there is absolutely no evidence right now to suggest that his court case would be somehow biased, he should have tried existing channels for these grievances rather than bother police.

From today's news.

It doesn't relate to the Attorney General, but does demonstrate the lack of independence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7305460.stm

[lexington_spurs]

agreed - and thanks for the commnts.

BTW Ray once trained to be a priest - how he ever met a girl like his ex is beyond me

Well, he nearly didn't. Questions need to be asked at the seminary in question.

[AtW]

It doesn't relate to the Attorney General, but does demonstrate the lack of independence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7305460.stm

That's rubbish assertion. First of all it did not happen yet, secondly it is stupid to pick up a few cases and then draw a conclusion about the whole system, no - you need to look at the system as a whole, and the key sign of independence for courts is to see if they make serious decisions that go against Govt. In the UK they do lots of those - compare that with Russia where there are practically no decisions that go against Govt, _THAT_ is the sign of lack of independence.

I don't like the way lawyers created a monopoly on their services and it is very expensive to fight in courts - that is very wrong, however as a whole the UK justice system is very good - I compare it with other countries rather than with some magical perfection that does not exist on this planet.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Police are supposed to have some evidence to arrest you.

Otherwise anyone could be arrested because plod thought they "might be up to no good". Of course they'd love to be able to arrest anyone at any time on the most spurious grounds and through a combination of apathy, jackbooted politicians and "if you've got nothing to hide" morons, we're half way there.