[aldo_14]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4793117.stm

Police are considering asking ministers for more powers to impose "instant justice" for anti-social activities.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) may push for more powers to penalise people without a court appearance.

It has heard plans from one police chief for powers to ban teenagers from city centres and gangs from meeting up.

Civil rights group Liberty said plans were "a recipe for arbitrary justice, perceived injustice, real injustice".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1844813,00.html

Police are pressing ministers for radical new powers to dispense instant justice, including the immediate exclusion of "yobs" from town centres at night, and bans on street gang members associating with each other, the Guardian has learned.

Senior officers say the powers would be the "modern equivalent of a clip round the ear from the local bobby" and would ensure the introduction of neighbourhood policing across England and Wales has "bite" and meets public expectations.

Sweet ****ing hesus, now I'm emigrating to somewhere free-er, like China or Zimbabwe.

[Kosh]

So you guys would end up with a police department full of people with a "Judge Dredd" mentality? ****......

[Prophet]

powers to ban teenagers from city centres and gangs from meeting up.

"Looks like my leg is broken. Too bad the nearest hospital is too close to my off limits area. Hope I don't die of blood loss on my way to the clinic down at the red lights district"
"I'm sorry I can't come to your birthday party. Constable told me I can't see my friends anymore. But uncle George keeps me company, though his big black whip hurts quite "

It take this as a good opportunity to say what a wonderful country Finland is

[Wobble73]

It take this as a good opportunity to say what a wonderful country Finland is

Monty Python did a song about that! 

@ Aldo

This sucks man! The police in this country already think they own the streets, this will just make things worse!

[kasperl]

Bloody 'ell mate, you're buggered. At least no-one over here as anything like an ASBO yet.

[aldo_14]

Best I can hope for is independence.  Or moving to Canada.

[IPAndrews]

I wonder if this "instant justice" will take the form of an instant fine. ie: Tony Blair's old chestnut of an idea. Police demanding cash from hoodies and marching them to cash machines. Might be another handy source of revenue for The Police Force ltd on top of the speed cameras.

[karajorma]

I see I'm not the only one thinking of Judge Dread on hearing about this. It will never pass. The House of Lords will never pass it even if the government are stupid enough to try after the bloody nose Tony Blair got with the Hoodies + cash machines idea.

[Mefustae]

I see I'm not the only one thinking of Judge Dread on hearing about this.

I'm sure most people made a bad Stallone impression upon reading the title of the thread, I know I did.

[Colonol Dekker]

One step closer to Brit-Cit. I cant wait

[IPAndrews]

The House of Lords will never pass it

I used to be dead against the House of Lords. Funny how time changes your perspective on things.

[Fineus]

How on earth do they plan to enforce it?

[Kosh]

The House of Lords will never pass it

I used to be dead against the House of Lords. Funny how time changes your perspective on things.

Funny how an unelected body of officials is the only thing that seems to be standing in the way of the UK and a police state.

How on earth do they plan to enforce it?

They can't. Imagine this situation:

A police officer stops a guy. Then the police officer demands a bribe or will take the guy to prison for life. If the guy refuses, he gets clubbed to death and the police officer goes along and makes up any story he wants.

[Turnsky]

don't forget the stallone school on how to talk like a law enforcement officer 

[vyper]

And even further into the depths of despair goes our nation, along with any respect the population has for the police.

[IPAndrews]

A police-related quote I like from The Real YUK site ( http://www.derbygripe.co.uk/realuk/ ).

"Motoring offences, even seemingly minor ones, are deemed more serious than murder, mugging and assault and more man-hours are devoted to apprehending motorists than any other section of the community. Victims of crime are seen as "asking for it" and as such, are, by and large, ignored by the legal system in regard to compensation. All laws passed by the government only apply to members of the community who can easily be traced and therefore anyone not on the council register or not a motorist, is fairly sure to be left alone. No matter how much money and man-power is spent in catching criminals, the courts are guaranteed to return them back into society with a caution, no matter how many previous convictions they have. If, on the other hand, you're attacked and while defending yourself you inflict an injury on the other person, you will, without question, feel the full force of the law."

The guy who runs this site is a little right wing by the way and would probably go along iwth the whole Judge Dredd idea .

[Colonol Dekker]

The proposals include:


The power for police to deal with "town centre yobs" by excluding them for an "appropriate period" while they are given an informal warning or made to pay a fixed-penalty fine

Powers for a "neighbourhood constable" - armed with local knowledge - with the right to hand out a three-month ban on gang members causing disorder on estate from associating in public

The ability for police to seize and crush cars driven by those repeatedly driving without registration or insurance, no driving licence or MOT. Instant driving bans could also be imposed ahead of a court appearance

Knife crime could be targeted by giving police the ability to stop and search based on "reasonable suspicion" from previous convictions

To be honest, It doesnt sound that harsh, In schools (bear with me now) If a teacher caught us playing with stuff we shouldnt, IE cigarettes or reading smut, The teacher, qwould nick it quite rightly. If we were found massing round in the teachers carpark (often with intentions of defacing vehicles belonging to the twat who stole our beloved nicotine sticks) Then we'd get barred from the main playground for a week.

So its all a matter of perspective. In schools with a stronger will (less PC, ior softly softly approach) less problems happen.

This wont lead to a Dredd-state. It'll just curb asbo's enthusiasm slightly, Which cant be a bad thing to law-abiders anyway.

[vyper]

Real Life is not a school playground CD.

[aldo_14]

How on earth do they plan to enforce it?

With truncheons, I presume.

I note that all the suggested cases from CD include a) presumption of guilt b) no oversight upon police actions and c) seem to require some form of tracking (i.e. to monitor 'gangs' or 'yobs' and restrict their movements)

[Kosh]

To be honest, It doesnt sound that harsh,

Maybe it isn't at the start, but something like this could very easily turn into something a lot harsher.