Caught In The Web...

The Internet and the desire to maintain a presence on it seems to be causing the police all kinds of trouble.

Last week, we had The Case of the Unpaid Web Bill:

A Metropolitan Police officer assaulted and falsely arrested a man who asked to be paid for working on his personal website, a court has heard.

Commander Ali Dizaei, 47, bullied web designer Waad Al-Baghdadi when he asked for £600 for work on alidizaei.com, Southwark crown Court heard.

A forensic examiner said injuries to Mr Dizaei's chest after the clash were "likely to be self-inflicted".

Oh, dear...

And then there was the row over the eye-watering costs of Norfolk Police's web design overhaul:

Norfolk Police spent more than £250,000 redesigning its website, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

This compares to Essex police which spent £75,000 and Northamptonshire police's website revamp cost £65,000.

Ouch..! Still, it's only taxpayer's money, after all. Plenty more where that came from...

If the police want to maintain a web presence that casts then in a good light, they should really forget all the flim-flam and digital whizz-bangery sold to them by men in nice suits and shiny offices, or the desire to use new innovations simply because they are there. They already have a useful and engaging web presence in those websites run by their own officers, some of which can be found in my right hand links column.

Perhaps, just perhaps, they might consider not persecuting them for telling it how it is?

Ali Ooops!

Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei was today charged with misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice.

The race card to be played in 3...2...

Oh. That was fast!

Alfred John, chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, said the decision was "outrageous" and the result of "personal vendettas".

"...my head is spinning, like a whirlpool, it never ends..."

It seems it is possible to finally overstep the mark:

The sentence spells the end of the Iranian officer's controversial 25-year career.

It also signals the humiliating demise of Britain's most controversial ethnic minority police officer, who has brazenly challenged any attempt to bring him to book over a series of alleged misdemeanours.

And it seems they aren't inished with him yet. He faces further charges.*

Naturally, the 'Guardian' can't wait to air the expected grievances:

Today's guilty verdict will do little to quell suspicions among black and Asian police officers that Ali Dizaei has been the subject of a racist witch hunt.

Yeah, good luck with that...

Plenty of ordinary cops are cheering this verdict. No idea what their race is. And why should it matter, anyway?

*Although there's always the deeply unsettling thought that he might be back...