The Ultimate Cut In 1395Adrian Boliston The problem actually is about 2 miles away on the a491. It used to be a two lane dual carriageway running through a tiny village with a 60mph limit...
They are incidents that I have related on Usenet before. In one case my (then) 14 year old was skateboarding with about 4 or 5 of his friends in an area where skateboarding was permitted (a beachside recreational area). The police stopped the whole group, explaining that there was a new initiative to break up "youth gangs". The kids were all searched and their names & addresses taken in a very rude and intimidating manner. Two elderly ladies at one stage approached the police. The police asked the ladies whether they had been bothered by the "gang". One of the ladies stated that they had been enjoying watching the boys playing, and had noticed how polite and considerate their behaviour had been towards other people, but she was now distressed by the way the police were treating them. The policeman then threatened to arrest the lady for obstruction, and carried on with the search & questioning, after which the police told the boys to go home and not remain together as a group. My son arrived home almost in tears, and could not understand it at all.
Terrorism' alert on the motorway 1391I'm not in constant fear of crime committed by anyone, let alone the authorities. But the authorities have much more power over me than a common criminal. In principle, we are presumably...
The Ultimate Cut In 1394Dave The M5 at J4 often has huge tailbacks exiting northbound. Last night there was a half a mile queue of cars on...
In another incident, my (then) 17 year old had gone to the local shops on an errand for my wife. A policeman entered the shop just after he had got there and asked him to step outside, where he was made to face a wall with his hands on the wall while the police searched him in front of everyone who was there. He was not given reason, and he submitted pbuttively. He was then asked his name & address, which he gave. The police then made him get in one of two police cars that had stopped and drove him home to prove that he lived there, followed by the second police car. They explained to my wife (I was not present) that someone had recently been burgled, and the description of the burglar matched my son. The description was along the lines of, "A teenager af average height and build with short brown hair, wearing a dark top, jeans and trainers." So it probably matched at least 50 kids in the immediate area - and the shop turned out to be over 2 miles from the scene of the burglary. The police explained to my wife that they were satisfied that my son was not involved, but offered no aplology for the considerable distress and embarrasement they had caused him. He became quite averse to going out by himself for several weeks after that incident.
The same lad has been stopped and searched *many* times after getting a job that involved a night shift where he walked home in the early hours of the morning. He in fact became so upset by the continuous stops - in which the police were often very rude and arrogant - that he changed his shift pattern as a result.
My kids are by no means perfect, but they are not criminals or hooligans and yes, I am 100% certain that in none of those occasions were my kids doing anything wrong whatsoever. But I note that you buttume that they must have been up to something because *you* are unable to consider that the police can ever do wrong.
My children have been raised to respect authority, and up until a few years ago had always been on the side of the police and regarded policemen as their friends. They now refer to the police as "pigs" and "the filth" - and the change in atbreastude is entirely due to the way the police have treated them and their friends.
-- Cynic
