Radio Ham

Skipping around the blogosphere, reading about Section 76 of the 2008 Counter-Terrorism Act, I was struck by how the police seem to be one area of society where the right and left can join together in their mutual loathing. Everyone  seems to want to believe the worst of the police, whether from personal experience or from media coverage.

It goes without saying I think that some poice officers are idiots whose actions do themselves and the force a disservice. Some will be over-zealous, some lackadaisical; some should use more discretion, some use too much;  all will at time be guilty of errors of judgement, what with them being human beings and all. If all your experience of the police is from the newspapers then you are unlikely to get a very balanced view; police arrive promptly and deal with situation efficiently does not make the news. If you are unfortunate enough to get dealt with poorly by the police then you may well take against them, although I’m not sure why; after all, getting poor service in a restaurant won’t lead you to rail against all restaurants. No, you take each experience, good or bad, on it’s one merits. To do anything else is really little more than prejudice.

Anyway, while left and right can agree that the police are thugs and bullies and that we are marching towards a police state, opinion is divided on how this manifests itself. On the one hand

1. The police are racists who delight in beating up blacks and persecuting Muslims. On the other
2. The police are craven politically correct animals who let the Muslims get what they want and only target the white indigenous population

There is of course evidence to support both positions, but then by picking your evidence selectively you can prove anything. For example, responding to burglaries is one of my force’s priorities, issuing speeding tickets is not. However, show three examples of poor police practice when dealing with burglaries, and three examples of over-the-top actions by the police when dealing with speeding motorists – all of which will inevitably occur at some point – and hey presto, the police are more interested in catching motorists than burglars. Total bollocks of course, but never let the truth interfere with the selective supporting evidence.

And so then, to the two points above. Can the blogosphere get its collective heads together and decide whether the police are pro- or anti-Muslim? Because there is a stereotype I have to live up to and I want to know which one it is. After all, if we are going to be tarred with the same brush, can we at least also ensure we are brushed with the same tar?