Great Britain's Police: Government is 'criminalising middle England'

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | May 14, 2007 | John Steele

[Stoat]

Government is 'criminalising middle England'

By John Steele, Crime Correspondent
 

Last Updated: 5:21pm BST 14/05/2007

 

 

 

Rank and file police leaders have criticised the Government for imposing a target-driven culture on officers which has led to "ludicrous" decisions, such as arresting a child for throwing cream buns at a bus.

The Police Federation of England and Wales said judging officers on the number of arrests, cautions and fines they achieved was causing them to "criminalise middle England", by taking action on minor behaviour which would have been dealt with by discretion and common sense a decade ago.

On the eve of its annual conference in Blackpool, the chairman of the Federation, Jan Berry, released a dossier of absurd cases.

These include:

• A Cheshire man who was cautioned by police for being "found in possession of an egg with intent to throw"
• A child in Kent who removed a slice of cucumber from a tuna mayonnaise sandwich and threw it at another youngster was arrested because the other child’s parents claimed it was an assault
• A woman in the West Midlands arrested on her wedding day for criminal damage to a car park barrier when her foot slipped on her accelerator pedal
• The child in Kent who was arrested for throwing buns at a bus
• A 70-year-old Cheshire pensioner - who had never been in trouble with the law - who was arrested for criminal damage after cutting back a neighbour’s conifers too vigorously
• Two Manchester children who were arrested under firearms laws for being in possession of a plastic toy pistol

  A major theme of the conference will be whether judging officers on arrests, cautions or on-the-spot fines is undermining the criminal justice system and taking the focus off more serious, less easily-solved crime.

  A spokesman for the Federation, which represents 130,000 rank-and-file officers, said the power to use discretion should be returned to the officer on the beat.

  "We have got into the situation where everyone is so busy chasing targets and securing ticks in boxes we are on the verge of distancing ourselves from middle England."

  Ms Berry added: "We have police officers who are considering leaving the service over this because it is not the job they signed up to do. These examples we have compiled are ludicrous but when people are being pushed to show results they will use anything they can to demonstrate they are doing a good job."

  "Just talking to people and giving them a few words of advice cannot be counted as easily as a ticket can be. But sometimes it is just as effective as taking someone to court."

  She will raise the issue with the outgoing Home Secretary, John Reid, when he attends the conference on Wednesday.

  The conference will also hear a withering attack on the senior management of the police service from a newly-elected woman leader of the Federation’s 108,000-strong constables section.

  Julie Nesbit, an officer in South Yorkshire, will say: "The police service lacks proper leadership and direction from the Association of Chief Officers (Acpo), to such an extent that the service is facing a slow and painful melt down. It is astonishing that our police chiefs are in such disarray and the general public will be the victim."

  She predicts "more undetected crime, fewer calls answered and communities who will increasingly point the finger of blame at my members. The public see fewer constables on the streets today even though the Government claims that numbers are up."

  Miss Nesbit will ask whether the public realises "that, in the detection of crime, it is planned that detective constables will be asked to manage a much bigger caseload by instructing civilian staff to carry out the spadework both in the office and on the ground?  

  "This plan is a charter for criminals across the nation to run rings round inexperienced 'Hercule Poirots’ without having to face the prospect of meeting a genuine police detective."

  There are also fears among rank and file officers that there is a significant loss of experience in the modern police service.

  A study by the magazine Police Review, published at the weekend, shows that more than 40,000 officers in the 43 forces in England and Wales– almost one third - have less than five years’ service.

[Hoof Hearted]

"Sadly I would have to say it is the zero-tolerance conservative whitey-tighty crowd that is pushing this. The “we need to get tough on crime” crowd is a card carrying member of the RNC. Remember it’s the liberals that want to let everyone out of prison or so I’ve heard."

You need to pay more attention. "Zero Tolerance" is a phrase coined and constantly promoted by the left. Conservatives may have 'zero-tolerance' for cowardly traitors like Harry Reid and John Murtha, but the liberals - at least the far left ones - want to empty the prisons of violent minority criminals (it's racist doncha know?) in order to make room for all those who disagree with their liberal idiocy - conservatives, neocons, libertarians, people who voted for Bush etc. or anyone else who values freedom and liberty.

Personally, I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance laws.

[RonF]

How did England get to this point? Probably the way that we ended up with zero tolerance policies in our schools, etc., so that a kid who brings a water pistol to school is expelled for bringing a weapon on school grounds.

It starts with one or both of two different things. In one case, someone makes a judgement, perhaps letting kids bring their guns to school locked up in their cars during deer hunting season. In the other, someone abuses their judgement or authority, and thus abuses someone under their authority. In both cases, a situation ensues where someone gets injured or killed.

At that point, there is a push to say “This is awful, this should never happen again, we will take steps to make sure it never happens again”. The presumption is that bad things can always be prevented. Another presumption is that you can cure bad things without causing other bad things to happen. Then there’s the presumption that you can create a process that is run by human agency that is foolproof, that higher authority can anticipate every possible outcome, and that success can be obtained by reserving judgement to the highest authority and that a successful process can be designed by taking away judgement and initiative from on-site management.

Couple that with an electorate that will make snap judgements on sound bites regarding isolated incidents and you end up with this kind of thing.

[Mariebl]

Sadly I would have to say it is the zero-tolerance conservative whitey-tighty crowd that is pushing this. The “we need to get tough on crime” crowd is a card carrying member of the RNC. Remember it’s the liberals that want to let everyone out of prison or so I’ve heard.

Nah, that's only half right. The liberals want to let the murderers out of prison, but they're all in favor of locking people up for the heinous crimes of saying rude words to someone, or reciting a Bible quotation that offends someone.

[dsc]

“Sadly I would have to say it is the zero-tolerance conservative whitey-tighty crowd that is pushing this.”

Road apples.

Conservatives want real crime punished—things like drug pushing, rape, murder, and being a leftist—while at the same time returning authority to parents and teachers to discipline juvenile acting out appropriately.

[dsc]

“Sadly I would have to say it is the zero-tolerance conservative whitey-tighty crowd that is pushing this.”

Road apples.

Conservatives want real crime punished—things like drug pushing, rape, murder, and being a leftist—while at the same time returning authority to parents and teachers to discipline juvenile acting out appropriately.

[Stoat]

Socialists manage populations knowing the law abiding compliant citizen will put up with this crap

Excellent, essential point and I stand corrected.

Another couple of articles / threads which may be of interest:

Great Britain Ministers beg judges - don't jail any more criminals! (prisons are full)

Great Britain White men may wait three years to get into the Metropolitan Police

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

And they arrest innocent citizens who defend their life and property.
This is what you get when liberals take over. It’s also crazy. See my user name...

[Stoat]

things like drug pushing, rape, murder, and being a leftist

LMAO!  :-)

[ichabod1]

mmmmm... cream buns. That sounds good.

[rednesss]

“The undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria” - Frank Herbert

"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." ~Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

[rednesss]

Is there an echo in here???? The liberals are only using the “get tough on crime” conservative movement started in the 70’s to promote their own agenda. But make no mistake, it’s the conservative “get tough on crime” crowd that has built and championed the justice system that we currently have. Build more prisons and you have to fill them up with people. The only thing you are wrangling about is what constitutes a “crime”. Conservative built the system, liberals are just hijacking it.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

To think when I read “Atlas Shrugged” so many times — so many years ago — I thought it was a way of describing her life in the good ol’ U.S.S.R., or a great mind telling a story. Never, ever did I think I would have to live it, but I (and my son and his father) have lived it to the nth degree.

My first reaction upon reading this post is, “So why should the U.K. be any different? Why should they catch a break?” It’s slowly becoming a way of life around the world. When you marginalize law-abiding citizens with garbage arrests and zero judicial process, you get a nation of criminals. Pretty soon, you’ll be weird if you DON’T have a record.”

[ARE SOLE]

England is ruled by socialists solely because of the votes of the Scots ..

What?!. Scotlands population is just over 5 million, how did these 5 million Scots outvote 50 million Englishmen?

Regards

[Stoat]

mmmmm... cream buns. That sounds good.

• Good to eat (an essential Food Pyramid category)
• Not good to throw at buses
• If thrown at buses, the thrower shouldn't be arrested by police.

 

[dsc]

“But make no mistake, it’s the conservative “get tough on crime” crowd that has built and championed the justice system that we currently have. Build more prisons and you have to fill them up with people.”

Ah, I see the problem. You believe things that are simply not true.

The justice system we have is a hodge-podge of good measures by conservatives, mixed with liberal lunacy. It is nonsense to blame conservatives for the idiocy of the left.

Further, it is nonsensical to think that conservatives would want to fill prisons up just because they exist. Beyond that, US prisons have been overcrowded since at least the sixties. There has never in my lifetime been a surplus of unused prison space.

Start with actual facts—you know, the truth—and you’ll have a better chance to end up at a correct conclusion.

[jmc813]

Oh no it isnt you dummy.

Are you nicer to people in real life than you are on FR?

[rednesss]

The number of people in American prisons and jails passed 6 million last year. That figure reflects the results of the "get tough," ultra-conservative crime polices that began in the early 1970s.

The effect of these policies is that the crime rate today is about the same as it was in the early '70s. Yet during this same period the incarceration rate has increased by more than 400 percent, while annual expenditures on the criminal justice system went up by 1,500 percent (approaching $200 billion).

The incarceration rate is now more than 700 per 100,000 population, higher than any other country in the world.

The rising incarceration rate has done considerable damage to the black population, as blacks are about eight times more likely than whites to be locked up. The incarceration rate for women (with minorities leading the way) has increased the most, going up by more than 700 percent over the past 25 years.

While many researchers have blamed the drug war for this sorry state of affairs, there is another reason for the growth in imprisonment rates, which is less obvious. I am referring to what has been called the crime control industry. In recent years controlling crime has become a big business, an "industry" like other industries such as manufacturing and retail trade. Literally thousands of companies are seeking profits in this booming industry. The criminal justice system alone provides a steady supply of career possibilities for police officers, prison guards, probation officers and many more. Most of these jobs offer not only good starting pay, but excellent benefits and a promise of future wage increases and job security. The police, the courts and the prison system have become huge, self-serving and self-perpetuating bureaucracies with a vested interest in keeping crime at a certain level. They need victims, they need criminals, they need customers, even if they have to invent them.

Prison construction is a booming business too. An ad by an investment group states: "While arrests and convictions are steadily on the rise, profits are to be made -- profits from crime. Get in on the ground floor of this booming industry now!"

In a sense, private industry and the criminal justice system cannot afford to put a large dent in the crime problem, because it would have such a negative impact on the industry. Two words sum it up: Politics and economics. Politics, in the sense that elected officials want to be re-elected, and sounding "tough on crime" gets votes; economics in the sense of not only the money to be made by businesses but the number of jobs created.

[subterfuge]

Sadly I would have to say it is the zero-tolerance conservative whitey-tighty crowd that is pushing this. The “we need to get tough on crime” crowd is a card carrying member of the RNC.

Really? I didn't know that the United Kingdom had a "conservative whitey-tighty crowd" and I'm sure they don't have one "card carrying member of the RNC". Are you sure you aren't French?

[rednesss]

Seems to be a growing, lucrative business (383% growth rate). These are total numbers of people under correctional supervision.

1980 1,842,100

1981 2,008,300

1982 2,194,400

1983 2,476,800

1984 2,690,700

1985 3,013,100

1986 3,241,100

1987 3,461,400

1988 3,715,800

1989 4,057,800

1990 4,350,300

1991 4,537,900

1992 4,765,400

1993 4,948,300

1994 5,148,000

1995 5,342,900

1996 5,490,700

1997 5,734,900

1998 6,134,200

1999 6,340,800

2000 6,445,100

2001 6,581,700

2002 6,758,800

2003 6,924,500

2004 6,995,200

2005 7,056,000

[Stoat]

And they arrest innocent citizens who defend their life and property.

Well, that of course is Government's job.  We can't very well be having decent, law-abiding people standing up for themselves, can we?  That would set a terrible precedent of self-sufficiency and self-determination which The Government cannot allow. Soon, people will be thinking that they can think for themselves and take care of themselves, and don't need such a large, intrusive Government....we can't be having that now, can we?

(Hopefully I don't need to add a 'sarcasm' tag)