Stop Search

[nugz]

On my periods off (when I have two periods off in a row) I sometimes disappear and sit back in Union Square to eat my lunch and watch the world go by... its amazing what you see.

when I have two periods off in a row I get scared that I might be pregnant.

 

[Buzzetta]

Agreed that people like making excuses. I think there used to be this thing called "shame". Inconvenient but it has its uses.

I think that a protest for something that won't happen still serves a purpose.

Agreed that people-watching in Union Square sounds like a good time. That is a center of protest, or is it just that there are so many people that you see those that fall outside the range of normal?

A little of both. A lot of people like to have their lunch there and wind up doing the same.

 

[Coiffeur_En_Flame]

I was about to start a virtually identical thread to this, until I used the good ol' search function. Sorry Kewpie.

I'm very sorry to hear about your stop-and-search experience MunchyBrain, but you might find solace in the fact that you're certainly not alone...

The backstory - I volunteer regularly at a charity based in Finsbury Park (north London). Usually I am there at least two afternoons a week, though this can vary according to how busy I am. I do not want to say what the charity does, for annonymity's sake, but I will state clearly that it is not a political organisation, nor is it interested in protesting or otherwise being "subversive." It is a very highly-regarded charity in its field, and we are often received as guests at various Government ministries and media receptions. However, both the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police seem to have us on their 'watch-list', apparently because of the "sections of society we deal with."

With this in mind, it didn't come as too great a surprise when I was called over while exiting Finsbury Park tube station this afternoon. This was the third time in about 6 months - and that's just at that particular station. I have also been searched once before at Aldgate East.

Anyway, the search was conducted by two officers - one of whom I hadn't seen before, the other had searched me just last month. He seemed to recognise me and attempted to be all jocular and matey with me. Clearly it was his turn to play Good Cop. They briefly explained that they were conducting random stop-and-search excercises - I questioned exactly how random the stopping was. The unfamiliar cop's answer shocked me, though on reflection I don't know why, after all the stories I've heard from friends and collegues. He gave an answer to the effect that they were under a lot of pressure, from both the media and charity organisations, over "so-called" racial profiling. [This is true, and rightfully so, since it is rampant and unjustified. All the black and Muslim guys I know have been stopped at least once, some in circumstances where court action has been taken against the police.] He went on to explain that they were now picking out more "normal" [i.e.: white] people purely to make a point, and I was the next white stooge to come along. 'Good Cop' then chimed in and said, knowingly, "If it wasn't for all these bloody charities and campaigners we'd be able to do our job properly, the way we want to."

I was shocked. I wasn't sure what was worse - the fact that they'd admitted to racial-profiling, or that one of them was clearly trying to intimidate me. Words just failed me. I gave them my details - they'd taken far longer than was neccessary asking me about why I was in Finsbury Park, I gave as little detail as possible without lying - and walked away. Tellingly, my co-workers were not that shocked by the search, slightly more by the content of my interrogation. A few of them really have some Met Police horror stories to tell, which I don't intend to share here, but today's incident went a long way to proving what everyone already knows, and what is silently accepted by the majority of Londoners.

Such a level of power is not only unhealthy and dangerous, it is counter-productive to what they are trying to achieve in the way of "anti-terrorism." If you're an impressionable and impoverished young person, are you more likely to hear the call of extremism before or after being hassled by British authorities on a daily basis?

MunchyBrain, I wish you well in your campaigning. You don't know how much I'd like to join you, but sadly I have higher factors to consider.


Coiff.

 

[Franzanna]

Some of these stop-and-search stories are really unnerving. I can't believe what they said to you, Coiff.

I can see why they might do it, what with all the terrorist attacks and so on. But it is getting out of hand. It's like some of the adverts I've seen inside buses about unattended bags being 'innocent until proven guilty'. Is that all we, the honest citizens, are, baggage to the state?

I do understand that the police do a vital role and that they are very much needed, but I think they need to get their act together. People are becoming more and more disillusioned with the police force as the days go on. I reckon if that keeps going on there's going to be even more trouble.


By the way: knife crime isn't going up much (it's stayed pretty steady since the 80s), it's that both the victims and the perpetrators are getting younger.