Stop-and-search powers ruled illegal by European court

[the sniper]

Yes I think you are right it is the MET I was reffering to. I apologise for omitting that information. I have a close friend in the BTP. It is a good force to work for. Have you applied yet?

Yep, a little while back. I've passed the paper shift and have got my assessment coming up soon.

 

[Polls]

Yep, a little while back. I've passed the paper shift and have got my assessment coming up soon.

Well done! I actually think the paper sift is the hardest bit. I did the MET specials and believe the assesments are the same so let me know if you want any advice

 

[the sniper]

Well done! I actually think the paper sift is the hardest bit. I did the MET specials and believe the assesments are the same so let me know if you want any advice

Thanks, I will most probably take you up on that offer.

 

[Old Timer]

I agree with much of what you say on this topic, but I think it's not a good argument to use the race card in this. By that logic, in the 1980s and 1990s they should have stopped mostly Irish people as it was the IRA bombing us then. Manchester, Warrington, London, to name just three places out of several that were bombed and where innocent people killed by the IRA. Also remember the station closures as a result of IRA bomb scares?

The Special Branch were permanently based at the three Sea Ports and Irish people were stopped and questioned.

However because most Irish people did not support the IRA there was much more "intelligence based" information. There was never any rejoicing in the streets or parties when there was a bombing, neither were there people willing to stand up and applaud the deaths of Soldiers, as is the case today.

In the current scenario there is a sizeable chunk who do sympathise with the likes of Choudary and who are unwilling to become involved in giving evidence against a "fellow brother".

The 70s and the early 80s were definitely NOT a time to speak with an Irish accent and many innocent people were sent down on the basis of fabricated evidence. Any Muslims who protest about being singled out ought to read up a bit of history from then or talk to some of the older Irish people.

 

[jon0844]

The 70s and the early 80s were definitely NOT a time to speak with an Irish accent and many innocent people were sent down on the basis of fabricated evidence. Any Muslims who protest about being singled out ought to read up a bit of history from then or talk to some of the older Irish people.

I remember the check points in the Square Mile (City of London) and they were clearly looking for Irish people then. When the threat from the IRA and splinter groups went, so did the checkpoints.

Well, they are still there but empty. I am really tempted one day to bring a stool and sit in one with my laptop and see how long I can work there without being approached!! Cheap office space in the City is hard to find you know!

@thesniper; good luck with everything. At least you'll be adding to the list of 'good' cops, thus reducing the percentage of bad ones!

 

[HaxbyFur]

Now our own courts have revealed misuse of "reasonable suspicion" stop & search (a different kind to s44).

"The stop and search of 11-year-old twins at the Kingsnorth Climate Camp was unlawful, Kent police have admitted at London's High Court."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8454959.stm

I had some degree of sympathy at first.. then I thought, what right minded parent takes their 11 year old twins to a protest rally?!

 

[the sniper]

@thesniper; good luck with everything. At least you'll be adding to the list of 'good' cops, thus reducing the percentage of bad ones!

Thanks, I hope so.

 

[jon0844]

...And please keep your eyes open if you're out and about in a police car!

Today, a funny thing happened on the way home from picking up my wife.

On the A1(M) towards the Hatfield tunnel, which is being renovated and with lane restrictions and a 40mph limit, I was pulling off the road but still in a 40mph restriction until the end of the sliproad; a van comes up behind me at speed and wants to try and nudge me to go faster. I don't, simply because the car in front is a fully marked police car!!

What happens next? Well, the van undertakes, using part of the hard shoulder and then tries to overtake the police car, which he does when it opens up near the roundabout!

What the hell is going on when a van can try and force a cop car over!

He then has to stop at red lights on the roundabout and the police car drive merely looks over at him and proceeds to turn off to the left, letting the crazy van driver continue pushing vehicles out of his way on the roundabout and into Hatfield.

If the cop took the registration and referred it to other units, I'd be shocked as he didn't seem to be doing anything at all - except looking rather shocked at what he'd just seen! The wife suggested he was probably returning to Police HQ in WGC to finish his shift, so turned a blind eye.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Maybe, maybe not. It may be that the policemen inside were response officers, so may not be equipped with the correct knowledge and paperwork for traffic law. Also, IIRC a policeman can only pull a car over if he is pursuit trained, and in an appropriate car (volvo t5 etc). Response officers are not pursuit trained, and won't be in an appropriate car (more likely a Vauxhall Astra!). So there's not much they can do apart from take down the number plate and circulate it to the traffic officers.

 

[royaloak]

Wrong Ralph, any copper can pull a vehicle over, I have even seen a beat bobby pull a car because the driver was on a mobile phone. ordinary officers cannot get into a pursuit though they can follow a vehicle discretely until traffic cops can make it to the area.

 

[GB]

Wrong Ralph, any copper can pull a vehicle over

Quite correct and this also extends to police officers such as port police and BTP.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I stand corrected then, my understanding was that response policemen couldn't. Just to be on the safe side, I have asked at a police forum I am a member of.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I just checked, and most officers can pull cars over, but some do not hold the correct driving permits to do so, so jonmorris0844 may have seen one of them.

 

[jon0844]

He was on his own and wasn't on a radio and his lips weren't moving, so he wasn't talking to anyone on a hands free.

I suspect he just wanted to return to base. If he remembers the plate and does a subsequent check later, I hope for his sake it doesn't flag up as being stolen or something and he has to pretend he didn't see it!

 

[David]

I'll just repost something I said in a similar topic not so long back ....

Control is nothing without fear. Where none exists, you create it.

That is a line in a book called State of Fear written by Michael Chrichton. It will explain how governments and organisations go about creating a state of fear about something, even if the plot is a bit far fetched. All Section 44 is designed to do, is to create a state of fear (reinforced by the media) among us so the government can "justify" extra control over everyone through the likes of ID cards, CCTV, etc ....

 

[jon0844]

It works well. If done effectively, the public will back it and support it. In fact, they'll even defend it; 'If you've nothing to hide', 'I'd rather be stripped naked than end up blown up' etc.

If anyone thinks this is an exaggeration or a conspiracy theory, I'll just say that when I went to New York in 2003 - just before the approval to 'go in' to Iraq - they had the Army out at Heathrow. They had soldiers standing in high-profile locations in and around the airport, even the approaching roads. It was like we were under siege.

They were there for a few days max, but it helped convince us that something had to be done. The troops were already in Iraq, the decision was made (now proved by Tony Blair's admission on GMTV!) and we supported it because we didn't want to die!

I used to be in the 'if you've nothing to hide' camp. I guess most people were. History has woken me up to think a bit more intelligently.

 

[ChampsRacing]

To be honest ive only ever been stopped and searched one by btp and asked what my activities where by a station manager at ealing broadway and both ended up with me continuing filming/photographing trains, im not sure if being a railway employee helps me in some cases or if ive just been lucky.