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Three police stories caught my attention in the weekend
news.
Keith Hellawell, former Chief Constable of Cleveland,
then West Yorkshire and later "drugs tsar" for the Government,
wrote a piece for the Daily
Mail about the current state of the police forces
and the "warped sense of priorities and, in particular,
a culture of weak-minded politicisation that should
concern us all."
He talks about inconsistencies and says:
"I know of a 14-year-old - the daughter of a serving
police officer, as it happens - who attempted to intervene
in a case of playground bullying."
"One month later, the local Violent Crime Squad
banged on her door and she was arrested - because another
girl had ended up with milkshake on her coat following
the dispute."
"I have rarely come across such a waste of time
and money with so little public interest at stake."
We can read about this type of police bullying every
day of course.
He continues:
"One man told me he found his car being smashed
by vandals, who turned on him when he remonstrated.
Yet he was told by police it would be best not to complain
because the thugs might return to exact vengeance."
We can read about this type of police neglect every
day of course.
Mr Hellawell notes that the Government has stripped
police officers of autonomy and left forces believing
that "judgment and discretion play no part in their
job" and that there is "a national culture
of political correctness that elevates concerns for
equality above those of ordinary policing."
He says that the first signs of danger came when Conservative
Home Secretary, Michael Howard, introduced centrally
directed policing priorities but "on both counts,
the micro management and the politicisation - a poisonous
mixture - New Labour has been the greatest culprit."
"But the real damage came in the years following
2001, when David Blunkett arrived at the Home Office.
He seemed determined to take personal control of almost
all aspects of police operations."
"Chief constables were picked out and humiliated
in public."
"Ministers now seem to prefer politically sympathetic
figureheads to those with any real experience of reducing
crime."
"A new financial regime has ensured that forces
receive no extra cash unless they agree to implement
the Government's pet projects, such as the introduction
of 'Community Support Officers'."
"Terrified to speak their minds, terrified to
act without permission, some in the police force have
forgotten how to think for themselves."
"One result is a lack of even-handedness, which
diminishes the force in the eyes of law-abiding citizens.
Why, they ask, should some people be punished disproportionately
while others are judged too sensitive for scrutiny?"
"If the problems have been caused by politics,
politicians must find the answers. Police forces must
have their power and autonomy returned, however uncomfortable
that may be for central government."
"Until we return to the sort of policing I recognise
and that the public demands, this dangerous state of
affairs will not merely continue, it will get worse."
My second article confirms the growing police state
alluded to above, where thugs are routinely ignored
in order to harass, not only innocent members of the
public, but those who make a stand for decency.
This explains why the schoolgirl mentioned above had
the Violent Crime Squad at her door, while the police
advised the victim of vandalism not to complain in case
of retribution.
Eileen Fairweather writes in the Mail:
"Imagine a country where strangers have the right
to ask intrusive questions and store the answers on
a database."
"Where everyone from police officers to leisure-centre
staff can demand: "Tell me who you feel close to?"
"They will also have been trained to ask questions
about sexual behaviour, family life, religion, secret
fears, weight and "sleeping arrangements" at home."
"Incredibly, thousands of Government and council
apparatchiks in Britain became entitled on April 1 to
ask such questions of anyone under 19."
"This horrifying invasion of privacy has begun,
almost unnoticed, because the Government has cleverly
presented it as being in the interests of 'child protection'."
"The new questionnaire, known as the Common Assessment
Framework (CAF), is part of a £20million programme called
Every Child Matters (ECM), ostensibly set up to ensure
youngsters are safe and leading positive lives."
Of course this is a common tactic of this Government.
The wolves in sheep's clothing constantly give the illusion
that what they do is for the benefit of the young or
the old, the lame or the sick, or for minorities or
the rest of us, then later the real intentions become
clear (if they were not immediately obvious).
Their perverse notions of sex 'education' have been
making children's lives increasingly torrid and sordid.
This is why I wrote an article called: Labour's
agenda of sexualising children.
(Much has happened since then and a 'Part II"
is planned to expose more on the Government's war on
childhood.)
The results of Labour's policies are clear from my
article Labour
finally delivers its Vision of Utopia: Sodom and Gomorrah.
On the CAF questionnaire, the Mail states that "any
child not achieving the Government's five "outcomes"
- being healthy, staying safe, enjoying life, "making
a positive contribution", and achieving " economic well-being"
- is now defined as having "additional needs".
This could give any old 'authority' the excuse to grab
children from the family home. There have been several
recent high-profile cases of injustice in this area
and I can see this CAF being used as another weapon
in the Government's war on families.
I have heard of all sorts of wickedness coming out
of the US where the CPS (Child Protective Services)
routinely grabs children using any feeble excuse, like
this
story of a father who bought his seven-year-old
son alcoholic lemonade at a baseball game, not realising
it was alcoholic.
The boy was taken into care for two days and the father
not allowed back into the family home for a week.
Back in the UK and a police source commented on the
CAF questionnaire, "Just filling in one of these forms,
with a foul-mouthed yob who's laughing at you, will
take half a shift. Meanwhile, the public is unprotected."
Which brings me to my final article about Simon Pither
who was almost beaten to death by burglars.
Doctors told him that he was lucky to be alive, but
the police had to delay DNA analysis due to lack of
funds.
The rest of the article is here thisislondon.co.uk.
The agenda becomes clear: despite there still being
plenty of decent police officers, Government bureaucracy
and the pressure to meet targets actually inhibit real
policing, i.e. catching real criminals and making the
public feel secure.
The people have become the enemy. The police are being
used by the Government to monitor the public, dish out
penalties for ultra-petty or non-existent 'crimes' and
act as untrained and unwilling social workers.
It is a double whammy because people are now afraid
both of the criminals and the police. The police in
turn are frustrated at being prevented from doing their
job properly.
The 'authorities' are the only winners when they can
manipulate the police to control the people.
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