Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Serious questions that must be answered
This is the footage of the incident that led directly to the death of Ian Tomlinson at a G20 protest in London last Wednesday. It raises serious questions about police tactics and conduct that must be answered through a full independent inquiry.
Mr. Tomlinson's family deserve answers as to how he died. The public deserve answers as to what exactly went on that day, who was responsible and what is going to be done about it.
I know that this has been said on so many occasions with similar incidents but we really do need to ensure that lessons are learned and the possibility of a repeat is minimised.
Clearly nothing less than full disciplinary measures against the officers involved ie dismissal will in any way suffice on this occassion.
Anyone with any experience of the miners strike or the anti-poll tax campaigns to name but two would know that the British police have been doing things like this for years and getting away with it!
Leigh,
swansea
A rap on the knuckles will not do anything to change the attitude of the police.
They must be subject to the law they are employed to enforce.
Your readers may be surprised to learn that it's now illegal to photograph a police officer! Similary the government is looking to introduce legislation which would block press reporting on inquests into deaths, if the case in question is sensitive (or will be imbarrising to the government) Not even the "next of kin" will be allowed into such inquests or know the results of such inquests.
There should be no love but the love of Big Brother!
You should however also read this post by Henry Porter which sets out clearly the restrictions on this power. I will try and blog on this later so as to draw wider attention to it.
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