THOUGHTS ON POLICING

Give him an inch and he'll take an ell (mile).  An old adage but one as true as when it was first coined in the 16^th century.  An organisation which exemplifies this message more than most is the police. RIPA was not considered controversial when it was promulgated over a decade ago.  Perhaps the draftsmen in those days of Tony Blair`s a “new day; a new law”  period were unable or uncaring of the fine print.  Be that as it may its use has taken it into corners of our life where it has no business.  “Freedom of the press”  passes off the tongues of many in government as a token response as further restrictions are being placed in the way of free expression when privacy loses the battle with security or the public`s right to know.  To be fair many right thinking people of influence are content to sit on this most uncomfortable of fences but not police who wish to use RIPA`s provisions to silence free reporting.  This from an organisation which has been involved in so many hushed up scandals of varying degrees including murder and where senior officers` and Police and Crime Commissioners` misdemeanours or “errors of judgement”  make the headlines weekly.

Direct entry at Superintendent level was Tom Winsor`s idea to shake up complacency in current police levels of competence. The armed services` policy of officer direct entry subsequent to successful completion of  two years at Sandhurst or the Navy and RAF equivalents was held as an example.  The Police Superintendents` Association is not exactly in the vanguard of this initiative`s proponents.  Since its enthusiasm as reported above on March 3rd West Yorkshire has rejected every application and I understand the Met has also found none of the applicants met its requirements.  If ever a major public organisation needs a thorough overhaul this one fits the bill but I suppose that has been the case for decades and look where we are now. 

NOT TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Regular readers will have noted my opinion on our current drugs laws.  The sorry example reported here is an example, not necessarily typical, but with a history not uncommon among the shoplifters who appear daily in our courts.  One day in the dim distant future when and if we return to two party politics a government will be so secure in its majority that it will have the cajones to present a straightforward argument to end the current situation of criminalising drug users.  I would suggest that the prohibition, for that is effectively what it was, on the discussion of immigration and the attitudes of radical Moslems which has now happily been seen for what it was; political cowardice will sometime be ended on this topic.  The examples of abuse inflicted upon vulnerable children by cohorts of Asian men well in excess of their proportion in the population and gentile members of another cohort; well respected so called middle class members of white society serve us well to remember that no subject however distasteful should be too hot to handle.

EACH ACCORDING TO HIS MEANS OR NOT

Motoring  courts can vary from the sublime to the ridiculous; from the rational to the ludicrous.  Two matters of speeding in the absence of the defendants who had submitted guilty pleas and mitigation were withdrawn by a most reasonable prosecutor owing to admitted inefficiencies in processing the cases.  Two non appearance guilty pleas to speeding at 37MPH in a 30MPH zone were illustrations of all four previously written adjectives.  A lawyer represented the absent Mr A and explained that his client had not filled in the form where income is requested because he was a very wealthy man whose  income varied from absolutely enormous to beyond belief.  He was some top flight fund manager.  He had been driving a 2014 Ferrari at the time.  Being a level 3 offence and having pleaded guilty he was fined £666 plus costs and surcharge and 3 penalty points.  The way the spirits direct such matters the very next non attendee, Mr B, with his guilty by post letter had written that although he was offered a Fixed Penalty Notice he was unable to accept it because being on benefits he had no spare money.  We assumed his income at £110 and fined him £35.00 with costs and surcharge bringing that sum up to £140.00 plus the iniquitous 3 points. He might have been better off borrowing the £100 for the speeding ticket from Wonga.

There are some who consider that such disposals do not reflect each according to his means.  I leave you, the reader, to judge.

A DRACONIAN OUTCOME

All on the bench cannot fail to occasionally have had deep sympathy for finding a parent or guardian guilty of failing to ensure a child`s school attendance or having to sentence for such an offence.  Recent publicity on a few such cases has brought the problem to a wider audience.  The sentencing decision of colleagues at Plymouth  in just such a matter resulted in a pregnant woman being given 60 days immediate custody.  This outcome is highly unusual and no doubt will be picked up by various lobby groups as an example of our draconian laws leading to unnecessarily high rates of incarceration. 

I doubt my colleagues will face a similar situation for a very long time.

HOPE AND HOPELESS

 Before being appointed to this job I was convinced in my own mind unfettered  by superior legal knowledge that the scourge of drug addiction could be successfully challenged only if its victims were deviated from the criminal justice system to a branch of the NHS.  Nothing has changed except that now I am not only convinced of the folly of not decriminalising illicit drug use   I await a government which is prepared to face the financial and social realities of not doing so.  This  latest report provides grounds for hope.

“ Proven reoffending statistics: January 2012 to December 2012” published today by the Ministry of Justice is likely to provide the opponents to the payment by results policy  for the new probation organisations  with considerable ammunition from the pilot schemes at Peterborough and Doncaster.