Posted on 08/13/2017 10:15:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A police chief warned vigilante groups such as Dark Justice could endanger child abuse probes but the duo has hit back
Paedophile hunters Dark justice have issued a defiant message to a police chief who told them to leave it to the professionals.
On Friday senior officers warned the vigilante group could be putting child abuse investigations at risk .
The claim came as home secretary Amber Rudd announced £20 million funding to extend an initiative where undercover detectives operated in internet chat rooms and forums used by suspected offenders - a tactic perfected by Tyneside-based Dark Justice.
Detective Superintendent Steven Woollett, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, then warned vigilante groups could make paedophiles more evasive and said they should leave the job to the police.
But one member of Dark Justice has hit back and said the group are here to stay.
He said: Were not going anywhere. They can sit their in their ivory towers all they want and tell us not to do it, call us amateurs, but while there are still predators out there in their hundreds, preying on children, we will exist.
We went out last night and caught someone, that was our response to the comments. They can warn us all they want.
We have won a High Court ruling to say we can continue and we will continue until they put us in prison or until we die.
They say, leave it to us, but we left it to you with Jimmy Savile, with Rotherham, with Rolf Harris.
The so-called experts had their chance. Its time for them to admit we have shown them something that works and they want to jump on the bandwagon.
Dark Justice claim on their website to have helped snare 104 sex crime suspects, leading to 50 convictions.
Earlier this year they were handed the green light to continue their work following a landmark legal ruling.
Defence lawyers acting on behalf of alleged paedophiles caught by the group argued that evidence collected by such organisations should not be used in court due to the way it is gathered.
But the judge said there was no legal requirement for the activities of the group to be subjected to controls.
And one half of Dark Justice labelled the police comments ridiculous and questioned if the newly announced funding would be enough.
He said: 99.9% of the public have nothing but love for what we do and were grateful for the support. They are not fooled by these words. £20 million might sound like a lot but spread out around the country and across all the different police forces its not that much.
The £20 million funding, through the Police Transformation Fund, will see police forces jointly monitor forums and share intelligence in collaboration with the National Crime Agency Child Exploitation and Online Protection command.
Ping
Vigilantism happens in the absence of the government enforcing existing laws, or favoring one group over another in that enforcement. The authorities ought to be grateful that this group has concentrated their efforts on a single issue. There are many potential others. For example, what happens when a single demographic is responsible for rapes and assaults and the government turns, or is perceived to be turning, a blind eye to it? Those authorities had better be thinking about that, because they already have one vigilante group and the next one might not be so well-behaved.
“Detective Superintendent Steven Woollett, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, then warned vigilante groups could make paedophiles more evasive and said they should leave the job to the police.”
There’s simply no way to see this statement in a good light. At best it’s official snobbery, showing more concern for protocol than anything else. More likely, it’s an attempt at official protection for highly-placed monsters, which seems quite common in the UK.
its an attempt at official protection for highly-placed monsters, which seems quite common in the UK.
appears to be quite common across the pond in the US also
“Detective Superintendent Steven Woollett, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, then warned vigilante groups could make paedophiles more evasive and said they should leave the job to the police.”
I’d say that if whatever the “professionals” are doing isn’t making paedophiles more evasive then it can’t be very effective.
I think what they mean is that Dark Justice will make these people think twice about contacting a child online, which sound like a good thing?
DS Woollett makes a valid point, vigilantes might sometimes be working at cross purposes with covert police ops. But the fact is the police and other agencies have failed and continue to fail. Not surprising when you realise that this corruption goes right to the top of the Civil Service.
Or, they could just expel a few million muzzies.
To often covert police actions are just a nice way of saying the cops want in on the action.
Pedophile sympathizers in government telling others to back off.
“I think what they mean is that Dark Justice will make these people think twice about contacting a child online, which sound like a good thing?”
Isn’t that a good thing, to make the predators reluctant to come out and hunt? Seems like it makes children safer.
Besides, if the “professionals” were catching these predators, wouldn’t that have the same effect? What is Scotland Yard doing that both catches these scumbags and does not alarm the others?
I think it’s time for an organization like this in the US.
Listen to this podcast about the cops not only protecting the pedophiles, but joining in:
https://tunein.com/radio/Best-Case-Worst-Case-p1004219/
I once worked alongside some folks from the met’s “vice” squad and I always harboured a nagging doubt why someone would choose that line of work.
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