Police Misuse of Powers Again

[lilelvis2000]

Sums it up really. Govt passes some shiny new legislation without thinking it through. It's pushed down to the plod who get a 30 minute "briefing" on it and are left to work it out for themselves. They are always going to err on the side of caution and nick someone first and ask questions later.

Similar problems were seen during the anti-capitalist protests where large numbers of provincial plod were bussed in to help police the events while having no real experience with the legislation around authorised protests and section 44 areas. Mark Steel did a very good radio piece on it at the time.

I remember seeing a video about some elderly women who were in Parliament Square protesting. Of course that is illegal now. A bunch of cops came out and started arresting people. when they enquired what the specific charge was the officers couldn't answer. The cops retreated but came back a while later...which cards in hand and read the charge off the cards. lol

Its a scary world out there when you can't trust people paid to protect you.

[HairyArsedBloke]

Its a scary world out there when you can't trust people paid to protect you.

I think you need to reconsider your expectations.

[NotAllThere]

Matthew Paris puts it rather well. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle6941531.ece

...I’m scared, ... not because Big Brother is watching, but because Big Brother’s a noodle. Given the quality of our response, the untold story of our age is surely the incompetence of al-Qaeda.

[PM-Junkie]

Personally, I can't wait for 2012. If the police are twitchy with the few people pointing cameras around now - they are going to be positively apoplectic when the Olympics start.

You can see it now....arresting the guy who starts the 100 meters for possession of a firearm - arresting contestants in the pool for being inappropriately dressed - arresting people watching the marathon for standing around looking suspicious - and anyone who has the audacity to possess a camera is going to be in deep trouble.

Our "friendly" bobbies could have a field day....

[Platypus]

This must be the most depressing post of the day.

We're living in a police state

[swamp]

This must be the most depressing post of the day.

We're living in a police state

Yes and some of us are getting rich on this!

[thunderlizard]

Old Soviet Joke

Why do KGB men come in pairs?

One to write the reports: the other to keep an eye on the intellectual.

[Gonzo]

I seem to recall a story in the summer where German(?) couple were stopped for photographing a London bus and the police officer forced them to delete all images on their digital camera. what the heck is going on?

What is it with these foreigners and buses?

A few years back I was standing outside the office by one of the busier roads in the City, smoking a fag.

A french bloke walked up to me and held out his camera, pointed to a bus that was stopped in traffic and asked

zees will sound very french but could you take my photo with the bus in the background?

I took the picture for him as requested. It looks like I was lucky not to get arrested.


To this day I still haven't found out what is so french about having your picture taken with a bus

[Sysman]

To this day I still haven't found out what is so french about having your picture taken with a bus

Was it a double decker? My experience of foreigners visiting the UK is that they always want to ride on the top deck.

[NotAllThere]

Why do KGB men come in pairs?

One to write the reports: the other to keep an eye on the intellectual.

It's threes, in fact. One who can read, one who can write and one to keep an eye on the two intellectuals.