Thursday, February 05, 2009

Criminal policing and authoritarianism

Criminal policing, Guardian article.
"In official interviews the officers who conducted the stop and search described me as "pleasant and conversational throughout the incident" and thus were "surprised and disappointed that Mr Thomas has made this complaint". Please note that it is me that has disappointed them in this complaint, we had a bond in those moments you see, a brief passing moment of pleasant intimacy, then I let them down. I don't return their calls, ignore them in the street and am later seen being searched by other police officers. In their logic my decent behaviour exonerates their bad behaviour."
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Here's a related tOP article. It has some interesting info about the original meanings of "liberal" and related words.
"We can only oppose authoritarianism so long as it stays small and its power remains limited: once it gets free rein and power, it will usurp our protections, abrogate our rights, and, most likely, make life miserable for the greater mass of us."

1 comment:

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Admit it: you've been to Lebanon before! :-/