A band who had just performed in a Staffordshire pub spent the night at a police station over allegations a firearm had been seen in their van.You’d think that wouldn’t take a night to clear up, would you? How big was this van?
Band manager Kingsley Slater said they were eventually released but had been "totally shocked" by it all.Only ‘shocked’? I’d be furious…
The men were later released and their cars were driven over to the police station so they could drive back and pick up their equipment.Hmm, was it?
"I feel a bit let down," Mr Kingsley said.
"It was a blunder."
Or was it an attempt to harvest a bit more DNA for that database?
Staffordshire police said they had had a call from CCTV operators who saw two vehicles and people acting suspiciously in a car park in High Street, Chasetown.Note the ‘believed’. If they’d believed they’d seen a nuclear bomb, would the Army have been called out?
They also believed they had seen a firearm in one of the vehicles.
Did no one think to check the recordings first, or at least immediately afterward?
"Armed officers were deployed and six men were arrested outside the Oak pub in Burntwood," a spokesman said.Because no firearm was there, you dolt!
"After further investigation and viewing of the CCTV footage, the six men were released without charge.
"No firearm was found."
Insp Dave Challinor said the six men faced no further action but that police had responded "appropriately and proportionately."‘No further action’..? Well, how bloody magnanimous of you!
You can’t take any ‘further action’ because they didn’t do anything wrong.
You could, however, take ‘further action’ against the minimum-pay drones monitoring the CCTV, to prevent six other innocent men having the living daylights frightened out of them and their DNA stored on the database the next time you decide you really haven’t the faintest clue what the words ‘appropriately and proportionally’ actually mean…
7 comments:
"Staffordshire police said they had had a call from CCTV operators who saw six black people in a car park in High Street, Chasetown."
Apparently young black men are hugely overrepresented on the DNA database, as many as 75% are on it.
"Apparently young black men are hugely overrepresented on the DNA database, as many as 75% are on it".
Jeez, you've only got to read the papers to know why!
I wonder if we're stealing it at birth like they've started to in the USA
Appropriately and proportionately my arse.
I'm afraid that far too much power has been given to our police - and they love using, or abusing, those powers.
It's increasingly evident that the long-standing (but now, unfortunately, dying) reputation of our police as "wonderful" was almost wholly due to the legal limitations on their powers. Had the police of the 50s, say, been given the same powers as those granted by the present administration (and, believe me, to be continued by the Conservatives if they form the next one) they would have abused them also. There are no "wonderful" police: there are only police constrained by the law.
Strange how they can "see a gun", yet 90%+ of the time, the CCTV footage is "not good enough to be used in evidence as a relieble identification".
Von Spreuth.
"Jeez, you've only got to read the papers to know why!"
Not rocket science, is it?
"I'm afraid that far too much power has been given to our police - and they love using, or abusing, those powers."
I think this is sadly true. They have more power, and much less freedom to exercise their own initiative.
"It's increasingly evident that the long-standing (but now, unfortunately, dying) reputation of our police as "wonderful" was almost wholly due to the legal limitations on their powers."
Did they not have more 'power' when they were seen as less of the arm of the State and more of a community effort? I wonder?
"Strange how they can "see a gun", yet 90%+ of the time, the CCTV footage is "not good enough to be used in evidence as a relieble identification"."
Good point!
"Until about 18 months ago I regularly made deliveries to the council CCTV monitoring centre in Hereford. It was operated by Remploy..."
Ah.. That explains quite a bit.
A pity Large Brother's View seems to have gone dark. Would have liked to see his take on this.
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