the cops

Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
owengriffiths said:
If anything photos are worse as they will be out of focus. secondly, would a terrorist really attract attention to themselves for such a shit form of intelligence gathering?
Click to expand...

I dunno, most of the attempted terror attacks in Britain over the past couple of years have been so hilariously lame I don't think I'd put anything past our current crop of special-needs would-be jihadis.
 
Tentative Andy

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
josef k. said:
More police brutality + video.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/21/kingsnorth-protester-arrests-video-complaint
Click to expand...

Whoa. I have no idea of the legal status of what the women were doing, but that level of physical response just seemed totally unnecessary.
As for the Nottingham thing, the argument would be that they needed to taser him because he was resisting arrest, which to be fair you can sort of see in the video. But again, to use the taser twice and then start punching him while they have at least four officers on hand is way over the top. I think the key thing is that there's no reasonable way they can claim that punching him on the ground why he's totally immobilised is helping them to make the arrest, they're just lashing out.


Edit: the power station protest, if it gets publicised much, is obviously going to look really bad in the context of the recent concern about police officers without badge numbers in London. Complain about an officer not having a badge and you get lifted? Even if that's not the full story, it looks really bad.
 
Last edited:
M

massrock

Well-known member
Andy, of course it's not possible to get the whole story from that video but the Po-lice never 'needed' to taser anyone before! I don't think it's good that this is becoming routine to the point that you can see it eventually going uncommented on.

Also it looks like the guy is resisting being tased, which seems fair enough! And they're asking him to put his arms out (why?) when obviously he's just been electrocuted and seems to be holding his chest. He looks drunk / messed up but like you say he doesn't seem to be that much of a threat to four of them.

The punching looks like some kind of 'special' punching they've been trained to do. Which raises further questions about what exactly is going on with Police training right now.

Honestly there may well be more to that story but we need to be really careful about the creeping normalisation of that kind of thing. It's not like drunken twats have suddenly got a lot more dangerous is it?
 
M

massrock

Well-known member
They can't just decide to arrest someone without giving a reason and then decide the reason is 'resisting arrest' or 'obstruction'.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
They can't just decide to arrest someone without giving a reason and then decide the reason is 'resisting arrest' or 'obstruction'.
Click to expand...
They can't but they do.
Pretty shocking story this today though - clear evidence that they are vindictively targeting people who are simply trying to document their abuses. You would like to think that a better approach would be to stop breaking the law rather than to stop people reporting it. It feels that the balance between the police and the public has swung too far in terms of what the police are able to do. Also, this thing of arresting people and then releasing them without charge once the situation is over is obviously a deliberate tactic.
Anyone see that thing about "stop and search" in the news the other day? To make the figures look less skewed towards ethnic minorities they've been randomly and baselessly searching loads of white people. It seems that they've missed the point somewhat.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
crackerjack said:
It would be genius if they could though. Take them before the Court of Circular Logic.
Click to expand...

Could these be the first arrests to be made under Kafka's Law?

I think this latest affair, plus the G20 disaster and the bus-loads of 'potentially trouble-making' footy fans getting turned away before the match had even started, is just indicative of the general tendency of the police to get away with the absolute maximum they possibly can. If the courts, the law lords and ultimately the Home Office/Secretary are going to be so pusillanimous as to let abuses like this go unpunished, then they're just going to continue (and probably escalate). I mean, I'm sure there are some good coppers out there who wouldn't remove their numbers or arrest someone for basically nothing, but that doesn't undo the fact that there are clearly plenty of officers who have no qualms about doing exactly that. Of course the reason they're doing it is to get results for their superiors, who have politically motivated reasons for silencing peaceful protesters.
 
Last edited:
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
IdleRich said:
Anyone see that thing about "stop and search" in the news the other day? To make the figures look less skewed towards ethnic minorities they've been randomly and baselessly searching loads of white people.
Click to expand...

More genius. We get more like The Wire every day.
 
S

scottdisco

rip this joint please
tasers have only really started to come into UK policing in the last few years, yes? and organisations like Amnesty that deplored the move came up with some solid stats, i think, about dangers from tasers looking at studies of forces in countries that have been using them, e.g., Canada and the States.

surely a taser would incapacitate to the extent your body would barely be under your control and you'd be flipping around like jelly anyway?

the punching of the lad in Notts looked pretty hardcore, 'special' punches you say, seems like a certain sort of way of getting at between his neck and lower face or so, judging from the vid?
maybe toward his shoulder.
he was nicked on suspicion of GBH, that article said.

i bet plod had an angry crowd on their hands shortly afterward.

anyone know anyone who's been stopped and searched under anti-terror legislation? a couple of good mates of mine have.

p.s.
i know a guy who's been pepper-sprayed (police officer, as part of his training), and i know that is a pretty effective submission technique, to say the least.
 
M

massrock

Well-known member
IdleRich said:
They can't but they do.
Click to expand...
Yes exactly.

Where taking picture or filming becomes 'obstruction', or where asking what you are being charged with and under what law, or who they are, or just convulsing violently, becomes resisting arrest.
 
M

massrock

Well-known member
IdleRich said:
It feels that the balance between the police and the public has swung too far in terms of what the police are able to do. Also, this thing of arresting people and then releasing them without charge once the situation is over is obviously a deliberate tactic.
Click to expand...
This as well.

I don't think it's just getting away with what they can, if they are professional and understand their role this shouldn't be so much of an issue. It's more to do with what's going on with some training and the way the police relationship to the public is being draw. I think the cops must also be highly affected by the ambient fear tactics of political propaganda and press sensationalism. If they start to buy into it then the message is they are up against terrorists at every turn.

Sure most regular police are probably alright when it comes down to it but as an organisation they are being used as a political / corporate tool again which is dangerous. And then there are these units which are not much like regular cops at all, they're on a whole other set of rules.

Just need to keep an eye on it is all.
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
massrock said:
I think the cops must also be highly affected by the ambient fear tactics of political propaganda and press sensationalism. If they start to buy into it then the message is they are up against terrorists at every turn.
Click to expand...

I don't really buy this. Sure, they might have thought anti-globalists would run riot in the city left unchecked, but schoolkids at some green trespass a few weeks later (all arrested in their homes prior to the demo)?

I think it's dead simple - the police will use whatever powers they're given.

Let them confiscate cameras, arrest people for asking for numbers, kettle etc etc and they'll do it.
 
M

massrock

Well-known member
Nah that's rubbish. It's about roles and identity and relationships and how those are understood. Same as any societal structure.

Agree that they probably shouldn't have some of those 'powers' in the first place though.
 
M

massrock

Well-known member
It's not just the cops though. You see this weird attitude creeping in to lots of sorts in 'uniform' or just 'authority' everywhere.

Like something twisted becomes internalised about the relationship of 'the public' to 'authority'. It doesn't seem to have much to do with the law (although of course the law itself can be used in all sorts of exciting ambiguous ways) more don't offend me cos I've got a hat on and I say so and you should know your place. But it's about all of us and our freedoms, including those who've been given hats.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top