A special constable with the British Transport Police – who is also MP for Monmouth – has slammed the politically correct culture which has stopped effective policing in recent years and recently saw police losing control of the streets in major city riots.
MP David Davies (not to be confused with ex-cabinet minister David Davis), said:
“We are where we are because as a society we lack the will to allow the police to match the levels of violence being used by the mob.
“The burnt-out houses and shops are the price we, as a nation, pay for placing so much importance on the human rights of violent mobs.”
London Underground suspended services in riot areas and Croydon Tramlink closed when fires in Croydon became so intense they melted tracks and electrical equipment.
Mr Davies went on, “The police are under strict instructions that at all times they must consider the human rights of law breakers to be their absolute priority. This is something which is constantly hammered home in training and in briefing sessions.
“Officers are even being advised in some areas that they should simply put up with people swearing at them, which completely undermines the authority the police once had.
“Carrying out an arrest is a long process which will often remove two officers for much of their shift because of the need to complete paperwork quickly, making it even harder to deal with mass outbreaks of disorder.”
Mr Davies voiced fears widespread among police that they will be prosecuted by rioters and human rights activists for any overt display of force.
“Any officer using any level of force to defend themselves from attack knows they can expect to be investigated and possibly face disciplinary action.
“When instead of confronting rioters the police moved to a policy of containment, referred to in the press as ‘kettling’, they were again accused by MPs of breaching the human rights of rioters.
“Virtually any action the police take is likely to be jumped on by politicians and human rights campaigners….
“Trying to police a riot therefore means a thin line of police officers confronted by a violent mob have to try and identify individuals breaking specific laws, then arrest them without causing injury to the lawbreaker or anyone else supporting them. It’s an impossible task.”
What a crock of crap, the police should have the right to kick their asses and restore the peace and protect the rights of the innocent. If you break the law you have no rights and the governments need to back their police in restoring peace and order.
Like David Davis MP, I am also a Special Constable with BTP and completley disagree with what he is saying. The lack of response wasn’t due to officers being afraid of the Human Rights lobby, but more the difficulty of deploying a finite number of riot trained officers into many disparate areas of the capital.
The quote “The police are under strict instructions that at all times they must
consider the human rights of law breakers to be their absolute priority” is absolute inflammatory rubbish. It is not true at all. The only real input in briefings on human rights we get is a reminder to make sure our actions are ‘necessary and proportionate’, which in other words is to make sure our actions are not unnecessary and disproportionate – not something you can really disagree with.