Police by consent? Vs mob rule
Discussion
Morning,
I can't see a BBC article on this story, so have included both the Guardian and Daily Mail version for balance
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/11/pr...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10907001/...
When glancing at this yesterday, I hadn't appreciated the immigration service had to release the detained chap then and there, as the police were unable to lift/break the protest around the van.
Without getting bogged down in immigration, what strikes me is the discussion point on the police only being able to do their job via the concent of the public.
The London riots reminded me how vastly outnumbered the police are, and they just rely on outnumbering criminals/suspects on a tiny micro scale at any point in time.
Any sort of widespread non compliance like this leaves the UK police model utterly unable to proceed, unless its say a football match or large event, where tonnes of planning will have taken place.
I suppose another aspect to consider is there are few events that will trigger the "community" to block the authorities like this.
Immigration officers doing their job (imo) is one such event I guess, but is not likely to be repeated if, say, the police arrest a person who is a bit stabby, or perhaps if it was raining?
So we're not exactly witnessing the start of The Purge.
Still worthy of reflection/discussion I think, though as I said to me it's more about how the police uphold laws when numbers of the public don't agree with them, Vs a let's rant about immigrants thread (as we have those already)
Ian
I can't see a BBC article on this story, so have included both the Guardian and Daily Mail version for balance
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/11/pr...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10907001/...
When glancing at this yesterday, I hadn't appreciated the immigration service had to release the detained chap then and there, as the police were unable to lift/break the protest around the van.
Without getting bogged down in immigration, what strikes me is the discussion point on the police only being able to do their job via the concent of the public.
The London riots reminded me how vastly outnumbered the police are, and they just rely on outnumbering criminals/suspects on a tiny micro scale at any point in time.
Any sort of widespread non compliance like this leaves the UK police model utterly unable to proceed, unless its say a football match or large event, where tonnes of planning will have taken place.
I suppose another aspect to consider is there are few events that will trigger the "community" to block the authorities like this.
Immigration officers doing their job (imo) is one such event I guess, but is not likely to be repeated if, say, the police arrest a person who is a bit stabby, or perhaps if it was raining?
So we're not exactly witnessing the start of The Purge.
Still worthy of reflection/discussion I think, though as I said to me it's more about how the police uphold laws when numbers of the public don't agree with them, Vs a let's rant about immigrants thread (as we have those already)
Ian
grumbledoak said:
We might not like the outcome in this case, but giving the police the numbers and equipment to allow the government to rule by force is quickly going to be much worse.
Yep, I've had my cup of coffee now this morning, and can see how a situation where this Was Never Allowed To Happen"would be a pretty miserable place.Pretty much like every future scinfi film in fact.
Mob rule typically only occurs when the law is considered to be wrong or unjust, so is often a signifier that the law needs to be amended.
It doesn’t help that public belief in the police and also the political system has also been challenged, people faced with police and politicians who ignore or subvert the law are less likely to obey it themselves.
It doesn’t help that public belief in the police and also the political system has also been challenged, people faced with police and politicians who ignore or subvert the law are less likely to obey it themselves.
Lots of good ones, certainly.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff