Saturday 9 March 2013

Strange Thing, This ‘Proportionality’…

Two intruders got onto the roof of a building on Old Market Street this evening and refused to come down. Avon and Somerset police removed them, using trespass legislation, after the owner discovered locks had been broken and entry had been forced.
Hurrah!

Oh, no. Wait…
But police spokeswoman Claire Stanley said two people had managed to get back in, climb up onto the roof and were still refusing to come down when police left the incident at 6pm.
Wait, so…you left them up there & went back to the station? What, was your tea getting cold, or something?
A force spokesman later explained officers knew who the offenders were but did not arrest them at the time as climbing up on the roof would not have been “proportionate” to the charges of criminal damage they faced.
Gosh, it’s strange what is considered ‘proportional’ by the police, and what isn't. Isn't it?

I mean, turning up at what-time-of-the-day-do-you-call-this in the morning to arrest an ageing 70s TV personality - and turning up mob-handed, at that - is clearly proportional. While apprehending two lawbreakers trespassing on the roof of a civilian's property is clearly beyond the pale.

13 comments:

Ranter said...

I wish I could say it was unbelievable........UK Police Service R.I.P

Tatty said...

Two kids ran through a house in a neighbouring street, got up on the roof and ran up and down for four hours throwing roof tiles into the street below.

After 5 police cars (3 of which got smashed up and a policeman injured), a mariah and a helicopter turned up to "persuade" them down and answer demands for McDonalds, beer and ciggies... oh and the SS too to "ensure the welfare of the children" the street was left trashed with £100 grands worth of damage to private homes and public property.

The council actually fucking tried to bill the residents for the cost of the cleanup. They were slapped down only by the intervention of MPs and only as a one-off. The legislation that allowed to fuck people over in the first place still stands.

Sometimes it's worth asking if we really want the police to intervene.

I'm in favour of a bit of DIY, meself.

DavefromTacoma said...

It has nothing to do with "proportionality", it's called doing your damn job. If you see two punks on a roof they're not supposed to be on, you send up a half-dozen bruisers and you haul their asses down. Period. Beginning to end it'd take a half-hour, tops.

(Maybe I'm just too uninformed about British police procedures and am applying what our local cops here in the USA would do.)

Anonymous said...

"... turning up at what-time-of-the-day-do-you-call-this in the morning to arrest an ageing 70s TV personality - and turning up mob-handed, at that ..."

You forgot "with string of local paparazzi and press photographers and maybe even local TV news crews who all amazingly possess a sixth sense (commonly and coarsely known as "the superior ability of the stuffing of the brown envelopes") that alerted them to what was about to go down and wanted to be there to record it, also in tow ..."

MTG said...

Perhaps we are forgetting that plod did eventually stumble across the correct address (accidents aside) and actually did something (incompetency aside) for which zero marks seem more appropriate than the customary 'minus' score.

John M said...

I reckon they should have locked the door below the rooftop protesters and just locked them up there.

After a couple of days they'll be crying like little babies and begging to come down.

Woman on a Raft said...

Oh dear, how sad. The temperature is going to drop to Very Cold and we won't be sending food and drink up.
Looks like rain, too. Sorry, we have no raincoats. Can I interest you in coming down this nice safe ladder?

I would park a hot dog stand under the building and fry ponyburgers and onions on it, then use a fan to whaft the aroma up to the roof. Several police persons would be on duty at the bottom to stop anyone nicking the hot dog stand, might even make a few bob selling burger-inna-bun.

xplod said...

Time was when we gave them the option - come down the easy way..................................or the hard way. Their choice. The easy way was self-propelled in a manner of their choosing. The hard way was assisted, with a size 9 (+) help down the stairs/ladder. Guess what? The chosen option was ALWAYS option 1 - the easy way !

Xplod

Anonymous said...

Xplod - "assist with a size 9 (+)" - Some of your colleagues not always known for being discriminating as to when people needed an "assist" of that nature, perchance? Some of your colleagues slightly prone to "assist first" and ask questions later when the "suspect" regained consciousness? :-)

Tatty said...

WOAR - "I would park a hot dog stand under the building and fry ponyburgers and onions on it, then use a fan to whaft the aroma up to the roof.

Oh that's evil...I like it !

JuliaM said...

"UK Police Service R.I.P"

It was a long illness....

"The council actually fucking tried to bill the residents for the cost of the cleanup."

Like Ranter above, I wish I could say that was unbelievable! :/

"Maybe I'm just too uninformed about British police procedures..."

Imagine them as a branch of social services, albeit with uniforms & fast cars, and you won't be far wrong.

JuliaM said...

"I would park a hot dog stand under the building and fry ponyburgers and onions on it..."

LIKE!

xplod said...

re Anon 20.23 -

Don't you know that they always "fell down the charge office steps, Your Worship"

;-o)