bil

Interesting. I think that the less you have, or feel you have, the more important pride and respect are to you.

jackytoo

100 black on black stabbings and their communities barely utter a word, except for the victims families. Yet one black person carrying a gun gets killed or injuredand all hell breaks loose. They want inquiries and compensation

bil

The Met has a very bad reputation for assults on Blacks. I saw one caught on film deliberately smashing the guys head into the edge of the van roof as he got in. Wilson Silcott, those who supported him, the list goes on and on.

There have been several cases of healthy black males going into police custody and being taken suddenly dead. There were even claims that black males were somehow 'weak' or predisposed to being beaten to death,, sorry, that should have read predisposed to falling down stairs, banging their heads on doorknobs, you know the sort of thing. Very fragile, black guys, just look at Mike Tyson.

In this case the Met may have been completely justified, but given their history, and their unwillingness to do anything other than cosmetic changes to draw the fire away from them, it's hardly surprising if they reacted this time to nothing.

Domino

the newspaper this morn says police have arrested a 14yo and a 15yo for this. at what point does this start ?

also the kid that got life for the Phillip Lawrence murder has been out for 12 months and is back in court for mugging after only been out for 4 months.

and we wonder why certain areas are becoming no-go zones.
we have no control over the people on the streets, we cannot trust who we see or what they are doing or going to do.

I know farmer Martin "did wrong" shooting the kid, but he had been raided 4 times before, they travelled abt 100 miles to get there, he was targetted and he responded with a shotgun. probably scared out of his underpants and dont blame him.

its not that long ago you could leave the back door unlocked in case a friend or relative came round when you were out and could make themselves a cup of tea.

Domino

an incident happens, black guy reported as perpetrator, so police come down on black guys. Sounds reasonable, but they want equality in stop and search, why so many blacks why not any white guys in bowler and pin striped suit ??

go to countries like India where life can be tenuous at best. People die every day, but if you were to kill one in a motoring accident you would be lucky to get out of there alive.

the words Dual and Standards come to mind.

cricketman

I think people are taking this completely out of context

London has always been relatively unsafe, at every point in its history

You think you would have felt safe in the many slums around South and East London which they demolished in the 60s and built the horrendous tower blocks instead?

I lived in London for 5 years until 2007, in the nice bit we lived in it felt pretty safe, but I wouldnt have left the door unlocked. However, I wouldnt have wanted to live in Tottenham or Wembly, but then I dont want to live in Mil Viviendas in Sevilla either

Poor areas - especially in big cities have big problems. Always have had and probably always will as long as we have such a disparity in incomes. In the city of London you have some people with an income 2,000 times more than their neighbours who live just a few hundred meters from them. Thats what we should be asshamed of, the lack of humanity with which our society is built on

HBG

Apart from being totally wrong, you're way out of date on this. I don't know the numbers and I don't suppose it matters, but black police officers even have their own association, the Association of Black Police Officers. They're represented at every rank, form the bottom right to the top.

I wish Winston Silcott would knock at your door to ask for a cup of tea. You would need brown underpants.

bil

And how am I totally wrong on this? What relevance has the membership of a black police association got to do with the price of fish?

Winston Silcott was framed for PC Blakelock's murder with a forged confession. Then, when he was assulted by three guys, one bigger and armed with a knife, in the struggle, WS stabbed the leader of the gang to death. Anyone else, it would have been self defence, but no, he went down for murder.

His friend who was black and who spoke up for him was targeted by the police who falsely arrested him on a number of times.

How come you say that I'm wrong, when the facts are as I have said? Or are you saying that all such cases are figments of the Guardian's imagination?

I'd rather have Winston Silcot round for tea than the copper who forged his confession, or the Met officer that clubbed that old guy to the ground.

Or are you going to say that never happened.

I bet if it hadn't been captured on film, he would have never ended up in court.

Filthy, bullying coward that he is.

Domino

fear can turn a decent man into a jelly or a bullying coward.

if u r referring to the recent case of the drunk guy (Thompson?) who was set on by police officer, there are a number of "disconcerting" matters relating.
the guy wasnt normally on riot duty
he attended riot duty but "floated" around various locations without instructions
he would appear to have been actively looking for trouble
he removed his ident no's from uniform
he attacked a civvie who wasnt even involved in the riot
he attacked someone who wasnt a threat to anyone (except himself)
when presented with the above evidence his superiors did nothing about it.

was he just being a hard man or was he wetting himself and attacked ??

whatever, it is wrong and until the police ensure they are seen to be squeeky on such matters they will lose the confidence of the public.

bil

I've seen the film clip several times.

Had you or I done what that police officer did, we would have been arrested on the spot and branded as cowards for attacking an old man from behind, who posed no threat to us.

By removing his numbers, if that's true, it demonstrates clearly his intention to commit illegal acts.

Domino

as does the fact that he is now known to have been seen in more than one place, cruising for a bruising session?
feel sure his colleagues stayed where they were, secure in the comradeship of the guys they knew.

have fleeting recollections that he may have had charges against him previous but wouldnt vouch for that.

the navy saying "Loose Cannon" comes to mind

HBG

In the UK, policing is by consent. The police are recruited from within society and accurately reflect it.

If one in twenty of us is gay, there will be something like 1,300 gay policemen in London, they have their own association too. Similarly, we have the Police Catholic Guild. The rest of them are probably Freemasons, they're not allowed to form a separate association.

If people, who in a position to, accept bribes, then that percentage will also be reflected in police numbers. Bullies abound in general life too, and the police force will have them in their ranks.

There are also people who hate the police, priests, politicians etc, such a hatred is unreasonable, it's like hating yourself.

gill556

Absolutely

bil

I hate corrupt police, politicians and all people in positions of trust who then betray that trust. I don't think that is unreasonable.

The corruption in the church over paedophilia among priests is worse. At least when a policeman is shown to be corrupt, they don't just move him to another force, and again and again.

It's an impressive achievement, but yes, I feel the church has the edge when it comes to abusing people.

Or are you going to use the argument that there are murderers in the general population, so we should expect to have a few in the police force.

Sorry, but I really don't think that's the way it works.

Domino

and don't tell anyone why he has been moved and he is able to carry on with a new set of kids - thats like a new candy to a kid, or is it being complicit in procurring.? ?

then there's the problem with celibate priests fathering children on parishioners too frightened to tell anyone about it.