By Mike Speakman, ex Deputy Chief Constable, Policing Spokesman

4th June 2020

I frequently write in these blogs that I am ashamed of the state of modern policing. I never thought that I would see worse than rainbow laces, rainbow make up, dancing bobbies and inaction within sight of flagrant breaches of the law.  I was wrong, we have reached a new low and it seems we might not yet have plumbed the depths to which our police force can sink.

Kneeling is a sign of submission and I never thought I would see British Police Officers kneel to a gang of law-breaking thugs as they did yesterday at Downing Street.  It may be that this was the action of individual officers and in my view, they should be subject to disciplinary proceedings. They were not upholding the law; they were not being impartial, and they broke every rule about policing demonstrations.

However, the problem starts from the top. The Police Chiefs Council saw fit to issue the following statement yesterday morning (Wednesday 3rd, June).

“We will tackle bias, racism or discrimination wherever we find it,” the statement signed by the leaders of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the Police Superintendents’ Association “

Why did they say this? Were they not behaving in this way anyway? Why did they feel the need to own a problem generated thousands of miles away?  By making this statement they created a climate where they accepted responsibility for the behaviour of an American Police Officer and thereby implied guilt on behalf of British Police Officers.  Did some of this guilt rub off on the bobby on the street?

There is no British police officer who would defend the way that the American arrest was carried out. Once an individual is in your custody, you are responsible for his care. Sometimes force is needed and sometimes people do not want to submit, but once you have control of them, you have to look after them.

Of course, this problem was not started by the British Police, they have just made it worse.   The death of the individual in America was a trigger to be exploited by all opposed to Trump and his administration. In America the rioters have had support and sympathy from the Democratic Party and the American media.  Their failure to impeach Trump was just one of several attempts to undermine him. The current riots are just the latest.

As an aside it is interesting to see that America’s second amendment right to bear arms was instrumental in the defence of many properties. Rioters avoided properties under armed guard, and in case anyone thought the protest was really about “Black Lives” the media and protesters ignored the murder of a retired black police officer, David Dorn, who was helping a friend defend his property from looters. His black life did not matter because it did not fit the political objectives of mob, the Democratic party and the politicised media. The protests are not about black lives, they are about opposing the current administration.

It’s the same over here, the media (in particular BBC and Sky) are going out of their way to express sympathy and understanding for the mobs on the streets of London. The Labour party are also jumping on the bandwagon. They want to do everything to obstruct and discredit the government, their campaign in cooperation with the media over Cummings was their previous attempt. They are now trying to whip up opposition over this issue. I emphasise that it is not our problem and we should not own it.

There is a consistent history of foreign problems being imported into this country. One of the often-ignored by-products of uncontrolled immigration is that immigrants often bring their conflicts with them. This includes inter-tribal wars from Africa, divisions within the Islamic communities and dare I say it, Russian dissidents?  These are examples of why strictly controlled immigration is essential for a stable society.

I will say one thing in defence of the British Police.  They are in a very difficult position. Above all they will not want to give the mob a trigger incident like that in America. This may explain the very softy approach they have taken so far.  They have to balance the need to keep public support with that of not giving excuses for more violence.  The difficulty is that apparent weakness will encourage more violence from the mobs.

There is no doubt that British policing has lost its way, it is seen actively taking sides with different political groups. Something that was unimaginable twenty years ago. The police are no longer impartial. For Britain saw this when a parliamentary hustings was prevented from happening by a mob comprising of various Labour and far left activists.

For Britain would institute a root and branch reform of the police. The current leadership would be removed. We would make police accountable to the public they serve and require strict neutrality. Their job is to enforce the law, not to decide who to support.