Another ‘Well-loved Family Man’ Bites The Dust?

Youth leaders have blamed a police dog handler for sparking off violent disorder in inner-city Chapeltown, Leeds.

Didn’t he poop-scoop?

Come to think of it, in Chapeltown, who’d notice a bit more crap on the street.

Must have been something else, then?

Youths were said to be angered after a police dog bit a 14-year-old boy who was among a crowd which gathered at the scene of a shooting of a man near to a park off Chapeltown Road.

The 34-year-old shooting victim was last night critically ill in hospital after he was hit in the face by a shotgun blast.

There you are, watching the local entertainment with your chums, maybe discussing Wittgenstein or the latest news from the stock market, and suddenly there’s a police dog running loose, savaging you for no good reason at all. Apparently.

Yes, it can happen. But remember where this is.

Claude Hendrickson, director of the Chapeltown Young People’s Club, said: “One of the police dogs got loose and bit a number of people, including a boy who was an innocent bystander.

“Young people witnessed the police dog attacking the boy and were disgusted by it.

The kids were not happy with what happened and decided to face-off the police.”

You’ll note in the other example no-one’s initial response was to ‘face off’ the police. Civilised people settle this sort of grievance with lawyers and appearances in APILN.

You'll also note Claude's rather interesting phrasing:

"...and bit a number of people, including a boy who was an innocent bystander."

That sounds to me as though the other bitees weren't quite so innocent...

He claimed a fellow youth worker had thrown a bicycle at the police dog in order to get it off the teenager.

Mr Hendrickson added: “Seeing a fellow young person being attacked by a police dog has incited and incensed young people.

“We have ongoing problems with the police; we feel sometimes we are unfairly policed.

This was very much between the police and young people. It has been building up for a time because of the way the police handle young people.”

And there’s the reason why this country (or rather, parts of it) is so utterly broken I believe it’s beyond fixing.

These are youth workers. What’s their first reaction? To excuse their charges of any need to behave like civilised human beings and to join them in condemning the police for having the temerity to challenge their ‘right’ to rob, steal, intimidate and rubberneck at crime scenes.

Oh, yes. That crime scene:

Locals said the victim was a well-known boxer and family man and they were puzzled why he would be shot.

Mr Hendrickson said: “He’s a real family man. Everybody is mystified.

Yes. That’s what they said about Duggan too.

Det Chief Insp Lisa Griffin, who is leading the investigation, described it as a “senseless crime”.

She said: “I want people in the community to come forward and help me solve this crime and I am particularly keen to speak to anyone who saw vehicles leaving the scene at or around 6.40pm.”

That ‘community’? You’ll be lucky, love…