The first thing I was told as a trainee reporter was to write in
the inverted pyramid, putting the most important part of the story
on top. This story about today’s British policing, political
correctness and crime-control has several parts, but I am unsure
which is the most (or least) important. They occurred within a
short time of each other and are typical of the bizarre combination
of Draconian punishments for minor offenses against political
correctness and permissive or weak treatment of serious criminality
characteristic of Britain today.
The first was brought to public attention by Ann Widdecombe, a
former Conservative Home Office Minister in charge of Prisons and a
Privy Councillor.
A former North Wales police officer of 22 years standing, John
Atkinson, referred to a senior police officer as a “dyke.” He had
apparently been upset by the officer refusing to commiserate with
him at a funeral over the death of his son. It was, as Miss
Widdecombe said, a vulgar expression, but vulgarity is not normally
a crime.
He might have been told to mind his language and go home.
Instead, he claims, six officers arrested him, handcuffed him, and
bundled him into a van.
According to Mr. Atkinson, he was then locked in a cell,
stripped naked, and left all night with only a blanket. There were
no sanitary arrangements and he was forced to urinate in a corner
of the cell, nor was he given any water, though prisoners are
legally entitled to these things. While he was still naked the
police proposed to interview him. When he protested he was handed
back his clothes soaked in urine, which he was told had leaked
under the cell door.
This was not, it seems a matter of unofficial horseplay among
police getting out of hand, or of police settling some sort of
grudge or quarrel among themselves by rough but informal methods.
He was formally charged with threatening, abusive and insulting
behavior and taken to court, though when the matter was brought
before a magistrate the charges were thrown out.
A few days after this it was reported that a Bedfordshire farmer
and former churchwarden, Frank Cook, fired a shotgun, not to kill,
but to frighten, a dog threatening his lambs. He was standing on
his lawn with his two grandchildren aged 3 and 5 shortly after when
six police cars roared up and dozens of police poured out, five of
them armed.
Mr. Cook, 77 years old and suffering from high blood pressure,
claims he was forced into an armlock in front of his family,
handcuffed, sworn at, and bundled into a police car. He was then
locked in a cell for five hours, finger-printed and photographed
and forced to give a DNA sample. He claims that at one point police
pointed a gun at his son, who photographed him being arm-locked
(the photograph was printed in the British press). He had
previously reported two burglaries with no action being taken.
On the other hand, more than 1,000 major offenders of foreign
nationality, including murderers, rapists, kidnappers, other
violent criminals and people-smugglers, who would have been
eligible for deportation, were released from prison and no record
was kept of their whereabouts. In about 160 of these cases the
sentencing judges had specifically recommended that they be
deported at the end of their sentences. There were previous cases
reported shortly before this came to light of foreign criminals
recommended for deportation who were subsequently freed committing
further crimes including murder and rape.
Sir David Normington, the civil service head of the Home Office,
said the situation had actually deteriorated since the Home Office
was alerted to the problem last August, with about 40 foreign
prisoners being released and “lost” every month since then compared
to about 14 a month before.
While huge efforts are put into enforcing political correctness
(a police task-force was reported investigating a cartoon of
Mohammed put up on a notice-board in a private office, blaming it
on dangerous “extremists,” and undercover police have been sent in
“Operation Napkin” ready to arrest patrons committing such racist
hate-crimes as mimicking the accents of staff or asking for flied
lice), in many ways the state seems astonishingly weak, and not
just because of big increases over the last few years in every type
of violent crime. In 2004, about 20 Chinese illegal immigrants were
drowned picking cockles (small edible shellfish) when caught by the
tide on the mudflats at Morecambe Bay in northwest England. It
appeared an entire illegal industry — not only picking the cockles
but also processing them and distributing them for sale — had been
set up with none of the relevant regulatory authorities
(immigration, police, local council, fisheries, conservation,
coast-guard etc.) noticing or caring. While lethally dangerous
situations like this are allowed to develop, absurd local
regulations ban children’s snowball fights and other kindergarten
games.
