Comments on: Police Harassment

By: Rob Fisher

Rob Fisher — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:14:14 +0000

“everyone would be jumping about demanding to know why the Police hadnâ€™t stopped them before”

And the answer would be, “because we had no reason to stop them as they had committed no crime.”

“If this guy had been upfront with them from the beginning, then none of this would have happened.”

As it happened, he didn’t hide anything. He told the police his name and they didn’t believe him because the database was wrong.

“if you have nothing to hide then you shouldnâ€™t have a problem giving people the information they want”

What is your annual income?

By: Jayne Wingrove

Jayne Wingrove — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 19:24:58 +0000

I cannot understand why you are all being so anti-Police. Look at it from the other angle. If they had not stopped this car and it went on to be involved in a fatal accident, everyone would be jumping about demanding to know why the Police hadn’t stopped them before. If this guy had been upfront with them from the beginning, then none of this would have happened. The old saying is true: if you have nothing to hide then you shouldn’t have a problem giving people the information they want. The police aren’t strangers, they are The Police.

By: Rob Fisher

Rob Fisher — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 05:26:39 +0000

Funny you should say that, TPO: a very good friend of mine is about to quit the Met due to being so disgusted at how it is run. A story for another day…

By: ThePresentOccupier

ThePresentOccupier — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:29:37 +0000

Whilst I am fully aware that the job is difficult, that doesn’t excuse the complete lack of professionalism shown by – in my experience – the vast majority of police in the UK now. Living beside a police training college, the behaviour & language exhibited by the uniformed individuals wandering around the area can only be described as utterly disgusting. Oh, and let’s not forget arrestable if mere members of the public were to behave like that.

As is usual, you want to turn it around in the usual fashion – if you’re “against” the police you must therefore be smeared as being a criminal in some way; this then justifies your attitude in dismissing any complaints against you. A fairly classic technique for trying to undermine individuals, frequently used by bullies. I am, of course, assuming from your attitude/persecution complex that you are in, and probably under around 35ish.

Let’s face it – the only good police officer now is the one who has quit in disgust at what the service has become. Those who are closer to their retirement (again, IME) are merely hanging on until they can get their pension.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 09:51:04 +0000

Yes thank you for showing us what ignorant, unintelligent sods anti-police sods are. I wonder if you would like to repeat your comments to an actual police officer. Somehow I doubt it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:25:15 +0000

Lets face it police are dump fucking wankers, who often don’t know the law themselves. Once you turn the other foot on to them and you start asking questions they usally become quite “DUMB” stuck.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 20:44:13 +0000

sorry but I am getting sick of this and your insistence that the police pick on people for no reason. They do not ergo if your mates were stopped it was with good cause i.e. the officers had good reason to be suspicious. Once again I must ask whether you have yourself been caught doing something naughty and that is where your anti-police attitudes stem from? It seems highly, highly likely to me.

By: Albion

Albion — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:11:49 +0000

They had no good reason to pull them over in the first place so spare us the “Oh they are just doing their job, God bless the Boys in Blue” crap. A pure quota filling fishing expedition.

By: tash

tash — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:17:51 +0000

What is that supposed to mean? You’re just waffling making anti-police complaints…I hope you never find yourself in a position where you have to ring for boys in blue to come to your aid, and if you do, that those officers you ask to risk their lives for your sake haven’t actually read the anti-police comments you made here. Did something like this once happen to you and that’s why you’re so against the police?

By: ThePresentOccupier

ThePresentOccupier — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:45:49 +0000

I’d be very careful about the assumptions you make.

By: tash

tash — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:23:57 +0000

blah blah yawn typical anti-police rubbish

if you lot had put any thought into what a copper deals with day in day out I would have some time for you but as it is you seem to just want to complain…you really have no idea what you’re talking about do you?

By: ThePresentOccupier

ThePresentOccupier — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:33:30 +0000

Of course, with being linked to from Samizdata things could get quite busy here for a while…

Give nothing to the paramilitary wing of the Labour party without it being qualified. And nothing that they are not entitled to. AFAIR it is an offence not to identify yourself if you are the driver of a vehicle; the passengers are not required to.

Remember folks – professional only means you get paid to do it.

By: Andrew Milner

Andrew Milner — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 05:50:40 +0000

Assuming UK Police still need “due cause” to stop a vehicle and question the occupants, the officers here were bang out of order. Car windows steamed up falls into the category of “half an excuse is better than none”. I would have demanded they disclose their “due cause” and not let them move on to identity until they produced a legitimate reason for the “stop and search”. Never a good lawyer when you really need one.

By: dave

dave — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 18:36:51 +0000

Except that these officers never once stated what offence they suspected had been committed which occasioned them to stop the vehicle. And they simply persistently aggravated the occupants in order to get them heated up so that they could be threatened with a trumped-up public order charge. If this is what “Stu” thinks is “professional” then these are professional bullies.

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 15:53:19 +0000

It appears to me from reading that transcript that the police officers were doing their job perfectly professionally – trying to keep things as good humoured as possible. If they suspect a driver has given false details, they are entirely within their rights to arrest that driver for the purpose of confirming identity. This is just basic police work and the example you have given could have happened anywhere in the world – except that, in most countries, the police would have been far less patient.