Cameron and the Police
March 3rd, 2012
There seems no end to the lengths this bunch of millionaire muppets will go to sell the family silver, well what’s left, but this really must be a bridge too far. The Guardian article that appeared yesterday has so far attracted over 2000 comments, a rare event even for the frantic bloggers from both sides of the Atlantic who keep an eye on such things. I’ve read most of them, of which the vast majority are bitterly against, and angry. This [edited] one below pretty much sums up how I feel about it all and if you want to look up my two short contributions they’re under Piecesofeight
3 March 2012 7:15PM
I’m outraged and shocked by it all naturally. In fact, I’m starting to suspect that Cameron is on a mission to make sure the Conservatives are never a palatable voting option for an entire generation and he’s doing a brilliant job at it.
But, I’m also a little bit in awe at the sheer naked audacity and wrongness of this as a strategy. One way it could work is that these new rent a cops could get a percentage of criminal fines and assets seized to directly fund their budgets so that there would be an incentive for them to just lock down the country and set up road blocks on the sniff for any criminals. Let the thugs in uniform search around every home with their grubby greasy mitts – just looking – you know for anything incriminating…
[edited]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/02/police-privatisation-security-firms-crime
While it’s true that police constables alone will have the power of arrest the process by which this will be enabled brings into question the whole nature of what it means to be policed by consent as very well pointed out by another commentator.
. . . . .
How exactly can private contractors “detain suspects” whom they have no power to arrest and who have no wish to be detained? By forming a human shield round the suspect so he can’t move? This will be manpower intensive like never before. Or, a better guess, by the use of a taser.
How exactly do you go about disrupting criminal networks without the power of arrest?. . . . .
For public disorder offences in particular, the process will be idiotic. The constable will have no knowledge of what went on before they arrive on the scene, and they will find it very difficult to justify making a lawful arrest. They will have to rely on statements made by the private contractors, who will doubtless have financial incentives to fib. Equally, when giving evidence of the arrest in court, the constable will have to say that they saw nothing of the accused’s conduct themselves, but relied on information supplied by their good friend the private contractor.
. . . . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/14972453
UPDATE: Great article by John Harris today in the Guardian highlighting the dangers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/05/police-privatisation-recast-common-sense