Without Honour by Robb WJ Ellis

In the last week or so I have had the pleasure of communicating with a truly fascinating individual named above. He is also responsible for the new look header on the blog and yes the bent car is a result of one of my pursuits recounted in an earlier post.

I would not normally be political in my posts but after reading this I couldn't help but think about the book that Robb kindly e-mailed me. He tells about the change in power in Rhodesia when it became Zimbabwe. He joined the Zimbabwe Republic Police shortly after and the book tells of his few turbulent years that followed. He succeeded operationally, you can't make these sort of stories up without having been there, also about how his development was suddenly brought to a halt. This was due to him being one of the few remaining white police officers in the new regime.

People fear that the UK is becoming a police state, oh you bloody fools if only you knew how wrong you are. The work of a police officer is stalled at almost every point once the arrest has been made. You have to get the subjects detention authorised when booking them in. Their welfare has to be addressed and heaven forbid one of them says that they feel depressed, result a police officer sitting on a chair outside their cell watching that they don't harm or hurt themselves, one less officer on the streets. There then comes the interview and dependant upon the outcome of that the resultant CPS "advice". This it seems is the major stumbling block, the evidence presented against the individual is questioned to the 'nth degree. During interview the accused states that he was with his mate (who he won't name) and he can provide him with an alibi. CPS then defer charging the individual until all possible attempts to trace the alibi have been made. Check all CCTV around the area, private and commercial, to try and identify the offender's mate. The end result is either NFA because it is the word of the officer and the aggrieved against a possible spanner thrown into the works at court. Remember it costs money to stage a trial. The list of obstacles goes on.

People want a return to years gone by. That will never happen. I can categorically state this without fear of contradiction. In those days people were arrested and charged and put before the court. This will never happen again. In those days the law was a black art and people respected the police. There may have been a few miscarriages of justice and yes a few people may have been executed in error but society was apparently better. I don't know I wasn't there. People yearn to have those days back but they don't really. They complain that the police are never there when they phone up about kids playing football in the street and it annoys them. They have forgotten that they used to play football in the street too They won't go and tell the kids to go away for fear of being verbally or physically abused. They can however rest assured that every ones human rights are protected These same people are always the ones that can't believe the miscarriages of justice that supposedly happen. How many people have jumped on the band wagon after the unfortunate turn of events following G20. Police brutality, murderers etc, etc you have all read the press. May Mr Tomlinson rest in peace, has he been checked out on PNC, was he so innocent as people believe? I don't know so how do the rest of society? At the end of the day, the state of society in Britain is due to it's society and government. People want everything but aren't willing to condone the measures necessary to get it. The laws ARE there to ensure that the country is run peacefully and offenders are brought to justice but the public don't like it. They feel oppressed and insubstantial when the law is enforced as per events in London. Would you walk slowly with your hands in your pockets if there was a dog snapping at your heels? I wouldn't. The people who complain about this will also want the police at their door yesterday when they phone about youths causing annoyance. You can't have both, the softly softly approach and a robust one to what suits you.

Will get the point over in the end...stick with me.

To include the title of this post I would like people to imagine themselves in a situation where they had no human rights. The political masters had authorised measures that would cause even the most blood thirsty individual to pale. Rape, murder, savage beatings and genocide, the bounds of which know no ends. All sanctioned by the state in order to further their own goals. Sanctioned brutality and atrocities are common place even encouraged by government. The duty cops turn up and immediately recognises that the place is a massive crime scene. He has authorities in his territory which officers in the UK could only dream about. He is armed and basically patrols in an armoured vehicle. He too knows what is right and what is wrong and polices accordingly. His powers are granted by politicians and he works according to those powers. He doesn't commit the atrocities but frequently has to pick up the remnants that are left by the armed forces that have. Can you imagine in the UK a crime scene that is being preserved, the crime is one of mass murder but in very high temperatures that hasten the decomposition. The smell is unbelievable. 20 minute stints is all a body can bear. The human body recognises the smell of it's own dead and makes you ill when you smell it. Anyway, the officer is trying to preserve the scene when all of a sudden the military turn up. They have been responsible for the atrocity and have heard that their deeds have been uncovered. They too are a political tool as the police are in the new republic but more powerful by government decree. They proceed to eliminate any crime scene by setting fire to it, job done. Petrol is a great crime scene eliminator. The police are dismissed after arguing that this is wrong but a higher power is involved.

I know I have been rambling and have probably lost the thread but it should mean something. People call for politicians to take a greater part in policing. Police should be more accountable to government and more highly regulated. I don't think this is necessary. It is just one small step to become a politically motivated police service and one that is a minuscule jump towards a real police state. How would the populace relate to that?

The columnist states that the police should become governed by politicians. I for one don't agree, we are bound by PI's, Charters and other nonsense that doesn't equate to the job we do. If we were then to become a political tool then initially even more people would lose even more faith in the "service". As people lost faith, greater civil unrest would surely follow. Would this then pave the way for the government to utilise the police to the true extent of our abilities? Would atrocities then become the norm several years down the line aided and abetted by the military?

As it stands the police are governed by their own sense of what is right, politicians and the humans rights bill. I know what is right and wrong, it is not a grey area. Allow us to become a state controlled entity with a failing government and who knows what will occur? A government that will not fail? The military will be next then martial law. You don't even want to dream about that. I have done military service in countries where in effect martial law was declared. It wasn't great.

Please excuse the disjointed posting I have too many ideas trying to burst out in just one post.