Commentary
| Published date | 01 October 1979 |
| Date | 01 October 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X7905200401 |
| Subject Matter | Commentary |
KEEPYOUR
PLACE,
POLICEMAN
"Brougham"
in
"THE
JUSTICE
OF
THE
PEACE"
takes chief
officers to task for the falling detection rate
and
for
daring
to suggest
that
they felt they were entitled to the
support
of
the courts. This was
never so a few years ago, he says.
Then
policemen knew theirplace
and
he implies got on with their
job.
What
seems to have escaped this pedantic lawyer is
that
the
courts
have been one
of
the
contributory
factors to the falling detection rate.
Every time a thief is caught
and
returned to follow his evil ways
almost without interruption
of
his pleasures, he becomes
that
little
much
harder
to catch.
There
is now little
orno
reasonfor
the
man,
who iscaught, toelect to
'clear his Slate' by asking for a
number
of
other
offences to be
considered when he is sentenced.
Oh no, Mr. Brougham, policemen
are
not less efficient.
The
courts
and
the politicians have
just
tied so many weights to their arms, it is
becoming
that
much more difficult to catch thieves.
No wonder, they occasionally call
out
"Help!".
When the same gentleman prays in
support
the evidence offered to
the Royal Commissionby the Association
of
Scientific,
Technicaland
Managerial Staffs andjustifies hisaction by the fact
that
oneofthe
five
members
ofthis
Union's working
party
had a law degree, then he really
is desperate for support!
It
seems to be a regrettable new feature of this column to
attackthe
police gratuitously as in
another
recent piece - the
anonymous
story
of the 16 year-old
punk,
which used such emotive phrases as
"the
police
car
skidded to a halt"
and
ended with something
approaching
glee over the magistrate
mother
of the boy getting her own back by
dismissing a case not
apparently
on the facts
but
as some
sort
of
revenge on the police for what her
son
had told her.
"ALL
THE PERFUMES 0 • 0 0
0"
IN
our
last issue, we referred
under
this heading to
the
increasing
practice
of
giving yourselfa
grandiloquent
title so as to disguise
your
real purpose.
We
wonder
how
many
ordinary
peoplelistening to their radios
and
hearing
that
"STATE
SECU
RITY"
had
attacked
the police
of
this
country
for the
formation
of
para-military forces, realized first, how
ridiculous this allegation was
and
secondly
that
those
making
the
allegations were members
of
yet
another
ultra
left wing organization.
130 October /979
To continue reading
Request your trial