Monday 12 September 2011

Questions For the New Met Commissioner


Bernard Hogan-Who?

Well Bernard Hogan-Howe is the new Met Commissioner. What we know about Bernard is that he is pretty straight talking and doesn't mind ruffling feathers. We also know that he thinks he can run the Met despite the cuts that are coming. He is obviously not going to ruffle the Governments feathers regarding their proposed cuts to the police service. We also know that as the Chief Constable of Merseyside he cut back room functions and focused on the front line and reducing crime. Taking on criminals and gangs is his focus and we should applaud much of what he achieved in Liverpool.

The Guardian has spoken to a number of individuals and asked them what they want the new Commissioner to do. Her are a few of them.

Lee Jasper: ex-equalities adviser to London mayor
He should immediately request the prime minister to announce a royal commission into all suspicious deaths in police custody. I would also hope he would immediately seek to massively reduce the over-representation of young black people in stop-and-search figures. And finally they should abolish the 12th-century office of constable, which gives rise to so much discretionary policing that is not capable of judicial or professional challenge. We need a 21st-century conception of policing not one that relies on feudal law that is completely unsuited to modern times.

Pam Hothi: manager at Chaos Theory, the gang violence prevention charity

I'm a strong believer in building community relations and, given the recent riots, the Met have got a hard task in starting again. Without those relations, you're not going to have positive outcomes in getting people to engage … particularly gangs.
You need to work for and listen to your community that you serve. Zero tolerance policing won't work. Enforcement alone cannot solve the problem. You need a strong balance of enforcement and intensive welfare support. You can't lock everyone up. You'll only end up further marginalising that community.

Jody McIntyre: who was manhandled by police during student demonstrations last year (The Guardians words not mine)

The priorities for a new commissioner should be to end the complete culture of unaccountability that exists within the police and challenge the double standard that is clearly in effect. The police might be there to enforce the law but they are also subject to that law so, if a police officer is suspected of killing someone or mistreating someone in their custody, then they should face the punishment for that crime just like any other member of the public.


Well, Lee Jasper is going to be disappointed. Pam Hothi doesn't seem to understand what the function of the police is. Intensive welfare support is the function of other public services who are failing miserably. Jody McIntyre's comments just confirm what an ignorant bigoted cretin he is. The police have never been more accountable. And as far as I am aware if police officers kill people or mistreat them they are subject of the law. But unlike everyone else, police officers, as enforcers of the law, are subject to far more robust investigations than the public and far more serious sentences on the rare occasions they do break the law.

I have one question for the new Commissioner. At the peak of the riots in London, Jody McIntyre urged people everywhere to rise up and riot in their area. Specifically his post on Twitter said. 'Be inspired by the scenes in #tottenham, and rise up in your own neighbourhood. 100 people in every area = the way we can beat the feds.'

Since then he has tried to say that the tweet was made before the riots and he wasn't inciting people to riot. This is a lie. His tweet was made at 10.02 pm on Saturday 6th August. This was well after rioting started and had been posted all over Twitter and the television. We know that McIntyre will lie to try and substantiate complaints against police and now he is lying to try and escape justice.

I made a complaint to the Met police that McIntyre had committed the offence of incitement to riot. I know others did so too. I have contacted the Met and no one can tell me whether this crime has been recorded or whether any investigation has been carried out or completed. Can anyone in the Met tell me?

My question to the Commissioner is. "If you are going to be tough on criminals. If you are going to be brave and rise above the adverse media that will inevitably arise out of this case, when is McIntyre going to be arrested and charged with this offence?"

15 comments:

  1. "Taking on criminals and gangs is his focus and we should applaud much of what he achieved in Liverpool."

    Just what DID he achieve? I mean, I read the 'Liverpool Echo' and there seems just as much gang-related nastiness there as ever.

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  2. Dear lex,
    Aaahh a new Commissioner (yawn). You traced the other rumour back to Anna Raccoon but is there anything solid as yet, if you please?

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  3. JuliaM - he was liked by the front line officers, which is usually a good sign. I am not suggesting he turned Liverpool into Utopia, there is still much to be done. His policing strategy was Total War on Crime and Total Care for Victims. These cheesy strategic straplines are not something I take much notice of but at least these support what the police should be about rather than all the usual crud about 'community' or 'diversity.'
    He cut large numbers of back room staff and put more officers out on the front line. This shows where his focus is and should be applauded.
    Stats show that he reduced crime by 30% during his five years in Merseyside. Now stats can be manipulated but supporting this Merseyside had the second highest criminal asset recovery seizures. The Met being the highest. This suggests his focus on organised crime. He also set up the Matrix Unit to tackle gun crime in the city.
    I could go on, but I hope he brings his focus of frontline policing, prevention and enforcement and reduces the back room functions which are often a hindrance rather than assistance to the front line.

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  4. In a different context, but I rather like the sentiment:

    `The people with one voice would say: “You have committed every crime under the sun. Where you have been the least resisted there you have been the most brutal. It was you who began the indiscriminate bombing. We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst – and we will do our best.”`
    (Winston, of course)

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  5. Melvyn, did you read the post? The Commissioner was just an excuse to ask what the hell is happening about arresting Jody McIntyre. Stupid kids get arrested for the same offence and get four years. McIntyre being a pathetic, left wing, bigoted, idiot may escape justice as senior police officers are frightened to arrest him. A disabled left wing agitator will cause too much adverse publicity it seems.
    Re funding the funeral, I am pretty sure that the Met did not fund any of it. I suspect drug money did. I have put in an FOI request and we will see what the result is.

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  6. Gadget once claimed of my comments "they are as hard to follow as the ramblings of a madman" - which I hope was at least a soupçon less accurate than the 'infamous' self derision. Nevertheless, I can confirm that this madman observes the courtesy of reading posts prior to commenting and will resist temptations to digress, lex.

    Your post maintained that "...police officers are frightened to arrest him (JM)."
    You will correct me if I am wrong but I assume you refer to Mr McIntyre of wheelchair-bound fame, an individual who is alleged to pose a threat to armed police officers...you know, the one with cerebral palsy who was first beaten by policemen and in a separate incident, dragged from his wheelchair in full view of the World in a Met action calculated to agitate and provoke protestors at the scene.

    FOI request? The best of luck with that one. Do exercise the caution of using a very distant third party and please avoid tango shoes/moves.

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  7. Melvyn - I am pleased to hear that you read the post. I have to agree with Gadget, her analysis is pretty accurate.
    You have taken my comment out of context. I said it is 'senior police officers are frightened to arrest him.' It is senior police officers who will have made the decision not to investigate this offence.
    You appear to have a prejudiced view of McIntyre. I suspect you may need to attend a police diversity course. McIntyre made many allegations and was proven to be a liar. On appeal the IPCC decided that one officer, who removed McIntyre from the risk of injury by charging police horses, may have been guilty of common assault. The officer will not be prosecuted.
    Are you suggesting that as a wheelchair user McIntyre should be treated differently from anyone else? Does equality not mean an offence committed by a wheelchair user is still an offence.
    I prefer jive to tnago. You can observe me tripping the light fantastic at a Ceroc venue somewhere in the South East, most weekends.

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  8. I had a conversation with my Chief Constable today. He claims that the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Home Office wanted Sir Hugh Orde given the job of Commissioner but Teresa May overuled them all and had Bernard appointed.

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  9. "I have to agree with Gadget, her analysis is pretty accurate."

    Bravo. And should Gadget's inevitable outing unmask a civilian worker, you could mitigate the embarrassment by claiming to have remained uninfluenced by any of those 'lazy, stupid police officers' the Times and other tabloids are now describing as the ruination of law enforcement.

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  10. Melvyn, I hope a man of your obvious intellectual calibre is not being unduly influenced by Government spin designed to gain public support for cuts and changes to the police.

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  11. Such unmerited flattery for a man who cherishes those simple heart warming moments, relaxing by an open fire with ALL the day's fiction.

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  12. Have you written an autobiography Melvyn?

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  13. Blogging is an addictive vanity leading to the self indulgence of which you speak, lex.

    IMHO, confessions are better read than written.

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  14. Melvyn, I do believe you are mellowing in your old age. This must be your first ever humble opinion.

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  15. 'This must be your first ever humble opinion.'

    Try it, lex. It's like moving up a gear to catch a fit cyclist, only for the chain to fall off.

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