Smith plugs into wired police plans Jacqui Smith, the blunder-prone Home Secretary, told Parliament yesterday that she broadly supports the findings of the Flanagan report and will introduce a green paper later in the spring. This will include using radios rather than paper forms to record stop and searches - this is already running in three pilot areas. The …
"the police needed a central procurement process"
I think that's code for "they need to do what the NHS did and go to a single private sector supplier with their pants round their ankles, locking in their entire technology provision to an overpriced contract for the next aeon"
PH becuase I think she might do a better job of running government IT procurement.
you just ban "random" police stop searches and only search people commiting a crime?
As someone who managed to get stop searched 5 times in 5 weeks in my own village when hanging around with mates. I can confirm that all cops are c----.
This one time we'd turned the corner - pigs drive by - I says "those ----s are gonna come round and stop search us"
My mates waves and goes into his house - cop comes back in his little piggy car, and guess what? filthy ---t- stops searches us.
"Wheres the other guy" accusatory hostile tone
"He's gone home - we live here mate." laid back get f-----d tone
"Really" more accusation. "Turn out your pockets" pompus s---t head tone.
Same summer holiday got stop searched by the dumb sacks of s---
"Have you got any car parts on you?" accusatory tone
I had to do a double take - I mean yeah I've got an exhaust pipe up my arse.
"Errr no"
"Turn out your pockets"
Man, there were five such instances o another one
"So what were you two just doing" accusatory tone me and my mate had been watching the stars in a field.
"Watching the stars."
"O really - turn out your pockets"
Funnily all these events occured on either a Friday or Saturday night when town was full of drunken crazies...
...pigs..filthy ...---t-....f-----d etc.
I assume you know by now to bottle that stuff up, bury that anger deep deep down, where it can never do any harm! Smile sweetly at the officer and answer any and all questions in the politest of tones.
Remember all men are equal, but if you randomly selected someone without cause to stop and search them, you would be arrested for it. So it follows that you MUST BE A BAD PERSON, in order to be a lesser person who warrants stopping.
So perhaps some sort of apology to the officer for wasting his time is in order? Promise to carry some stolen car parts so his time isn't wasted on paperwork next time?
Paradoxical as it may sound, the solution is to make the forms even longer and more complicated. Maybe then the police will start reserving stop and search for when it's supposed to be used - when they have a "reasonable suspicion".
And for any bobbies who might be reading, living in an area of high crime is not reasonable suspicion of being a criminal. Neither is being out after dark without a middle-class escort. Unfortunately being better educated than a police officer and being prepared to stand up for your rights is grounds for being singled out and harassed - I know this first hand. Without proper recording of stop and search it will be impossible to prove that harassment.
If they want to make it less time consuming, reduce the form to what's actually needed to accomplish accountability. Name/number of officer, time/date/location and reason for search and hand that to the guy getting stopped. When someone walks into the police station with a phonebook's worth of reciepts from the same officer giving dubious reasons, you can weed out the bad officers.
... for the various government bullshitters of the day. Smith, Blunkett et-al could be represented by a simple turd or slime; or perhaps an image of his Holy Tonyness would do the trick.
Another one for the Abuse of Police power... not sure if the Black Panthers hold a copyright on the "Pig" images, but that might be appropriate for some of these stuck-up, power-tripping gits.
"If they want to make it less time consuming, reduce the form to what's actually needed to accomplish accountability. Name/number of officer, time/date/location and reason for search and hand that to the guy getting stopped."
You ever seen a stop and search form? It does have all that information. And more. Someone as well educated yet harassed as you should know that.
"Unfortunately being better educated than a police officer and being prepared to stand up for your rights is grounds for being singled out and harassed"
And the police can tell that from a distance HOW exactly? Or is it you're obnoxious and condescending to the police - making a 3 minute inconvenience to you in the interest of trying to reduce crime some sort of protracted "how dare you" stand?
"Maybe then the police will start reserving stop and search for when it's supposed to be used - when they have a "reasonable suspicion"."
For terrorism the police don't need reasonable suspicion. Don't like it? Write to your MP.
"This will include using radios rather than paper forms to record stop and searches - this is already running in three pilot areas."
That sounds like a good idea (surprisingly). It could mean MORE information is recorded in less time. Actually explaining the reasons for the search fully rather than "fits description" or whatever few words fit on the form.
cops with cameras sounds good too. About time judges actually see what happens on the street after closing time.
"And the police can tell that from a distance HOW exactly? Or is it you're obnoxious and condescending to the police - making a 3 minute inconvenience to you in the interest of trying to reduce crime some sort of protracted "how dare you" stand?"
*They* get paid for the time spent filling in paperwork.
*I* on the other hand get a risk of arrest, if the officer (who obviously didn't like the look of me and now wants to find something to arrest me for to justify the stop and search), can find something to lock me up for. Even if he can't there's so many ways he can make my life difficult.
Why is anyone supposed to tolerate this crap when it's a basic human right to privacy. It's not right, I don't care what his f***ing motive is, he's starting with me and trying to find something to arrest (attack) me with.
Actually at the time I was something of a goth - and an A grade student. One of my friends was a casual of sorts and the other guy - well he was just him.
Now I'm a succesful adult, probably still a whole lot smarter and successful then you. your anonymous friend, the other steve, and notable other cohorts could ever hope to be.
The smartness aspect is more or less proved by your lack of imagination and instant leaps to sterotypes and prejudices. Go you.
See just because we were young and easy targets for harrasment they decided to get some jollys throwing their weight around. I'd refer you to the Prison guard experiment and the pathology of power.
Adios kids - grow up whilst I'm gone okay.
Superhero
"cops with cameras sounds good too. About time judges actually see what happens on the street after closing time."
Funny that, not long back they got a chance to do that round here.
CCTV caught an interchange between some police and a guy at the door of a bar.
Next thing the judge launches into a scathing attack on the behaviour of the police.
The deny doing anything wrong (naturally).
Funnily enough though I've had some good experiences with the police, but some of them can be nasty vindictive bastards and the entire force and unions will back them up all the way and naturally you're screwed.
</slightly offtopic>
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