Monday 11 November 2019

Police Scotland Cover Up Complaints Against Them

Q. If you were to punch someone in the face what do you think police would do to you?

A. They'd arrest you and charge you with assault.

OK, that was a bit of a no brainer that question.

But what if it was a POLICE SCOTLAND OFFICER who did the punching?

Would he be arrested and charged with assault?

Aha, now that's different. If the person doing the punching is a police officer, he doesn't get arrested and charged.

Instead, he gets off with it being recorded as "excessive force", not assault.

It's a similar scenario when Police Scotland "unlawfully detain" someone.

If you find yourself wrongly arrested and thrown in to a jail cell for a few days, untrustworthy Police Scotland will describe that as a "quality of service" matter.

Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up!

The double-standards that Police Scotland apply is astounding. Bottom line here...when it's "one of their own" who breaks the law, things get handled differently.

In the case of the poor guy who found himself banged up in a cell for several days for absolutely nothing, not only did he have his complaint dismissed by police as just a "quality of service" matter, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) found that the officers involved even tried to keep the complaint "hidden".

The PIRC noted that Police Scotland regularly fail to report allegations of officers committing crimes to prosecutors. Why? Oh that's simple. It's because it allows police to investigate THEMSELVES rather than passing allegations on to the COPFS.

But have no fear folks, The Assistant Chief Constable has jumped to our rescue. ACC Speirs says that Police Scotland "works tirelessly to promote public confidence in policing" and that police are "fully committed" to the Scottish governments reviews of complaint handling.

In other words, business as usual.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-46194199


Tuesday 22 October 2019

Incompetent COPFS Backlog Of 14,000 Cases

The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are in a little bit of trouble.

14,000 little bits of trouble to be exact. Because that's how many unresolved cases they've got in their current backlog.

A recent report in the Sunday Post newspaper revealed that the number of cases still to be 'marked' (i.e. decided on) has rocketed by more than two-thirds in recent years. These figures include 600 allegations of serious assault and attempted murder, 500 rape and other sexual crimes, 1,800 drug offences, over 5,000 cases of theft, and nearly 2,000 allegations of fraud.

That's one helluva backlog.

Brian McConnachie QC blames a lack of staff at the COPFS and says: "The statistics would appear to suggest there is insufficient staff to mark cases" and that "serious matters to be dealt with in the sheriff court, are simply no longer prosecuted."

Donald Findlay QC on the other hand blames the Scottish Government and says the government "just doesn’t care" because there are "no votes in it". He also reckons "the series of incompetents who have been so-called justice minister beggars belief."

But there's another reason why the Crown Office have found themselves in this incredible mess.

I believe that this backlog of cases has mounted up primarily because corrupt Procurator Fiscals up and down the country - in cahoots with their good buddies at untrustworthy Police Scotland - have spent most of their time in recent years going after the "low hanging fruit" instead of the bigger criminals.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Everybody knows that Police Scotland spend a large part of their time targeting otherwise law-abiding members of the public such as motorists because they are easy targets. The average driver who gets stopped and charged by the police usually takes it on the chin without protest. He's an easy target so helps police boost their arrest/charge figures. You could probably charge and convict 1000 drivers in the time it takes to catch and convict one burglar. You get the idea.

Another section of our society police like to target are those living in the poorest areas in the most poverty stricken circumstances. The most vulnerable people in our society are like a magnet to Police Scotland and the COPFS. They are easy to arrest/charge and easy to convict in court because they lack the education, articulation, and money required to properly defend themselves.

Walk in to any court in Scotland on any day of the week and I guarantee you'll see nothing but jeans, teeshirts, tracksuits, and scrunchies in the dock. You could be forgiven for thinking wealthy, middle-class, educated, and articulate people don't commit crimes because you certainly don't see too many of them in the Scottish courts (and if you do see a suit and tie in the dock it'll most likely be be a motorist). Nuff said.

For years this punitive and unfair justice system of preying on the weak, vulnerable, and otherwise law-abiding citizens has a worked a treat for untrustworthy Police Scotland and their masters at the corrupt COPFS.

For years they have strived to get as many arrests and court convictions as possible on the record just so they can falsely claim to the Scottish public that they're doing a wonderful job of keeping us all safe.

In reality all they've done is clog up the entire legal system and let murderers and rapists roam free while they prosecute some wee insignificant guy from the local council estate for being drunk in charge of a fish supper.

But now we see the chickens coming home to roost.

14,000 of them as it happens.

But there's more. Much more. It gets worse.

You see, all those otherwise law-abiding motorists who were charged with minor motoring offences now hate the police and the crown office for making them in to criminals. The next time that motorist sees a police officer in trouble and in need of help, he'll look the other way. One day when the PF needs that motorist to be a rock-solid, fine, upstanding witness for a court case, he'll refuse and tell the PF where to go.

Then there's the thousands of young kids, now all grown up and in their 30's and 40's, respectable pillars of society, happily married with good jobs, nice houses, and lovely families. They will not lift a finger to help the police or the crown office because they vividly remember the days when they were teenagers and police constantly bullied and harassed them using all those dodgy stop and search powers.

Police Scotland and the COPFS don't realise that you reap what you sow in this life. That's why many good, decent, law-abiding members of the Scottish public look the other way when the police and the crown office ask them for help.

So now we have a COPFS backlog of 14,000 cases (and rising). The whole COPFS system is falling apart and they only have themselves to blame.

But don't hold your breath waiting for the COPFS to admit they've brought all this chaos on themselves.

Oh no, they'll never accept the blame for their failings. Never. It's always someone else's fault - the government, a lack of funding, staff shortages, the Scottish weather, midges, Brexit, the Loch Ness monster, early haggis shooting season, big boys did it and ran away - take your pick.

Nope, it'll never be their fault, they'll never, ever blame themselves, I can guarantee that.

Yes folks, welcome to the world of the COPFS, a thoroughly corrupt organisation from top to bottom, run by the biggest bunch of oddballs, misfits, and failed lawyers you'll ever see who would never cut it out there in private practice.

No wonder it's in such dissaray.

https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/prosecutors-face-unresolved-backlog-of-14-000-cases




Wednesday 16 October 2019

My Application For A Job At The SPA

OK, time for a wee bit of fun.

Yesterday I published an article highlighting the way in which the chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) responded to scathing criticism from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS).

In the article I ridiculed the SPA's Susan Deacon for the way she responded to HMICS. In particular, I called her out for her empty talk and blatant use of meaningless language.

Since then though, I've checked up on the kind of salaries that some of the top dogs in the SPA are currently pocketing for speaking a load of old tosh. And wow! £90,000 - £100,000 a year for talking rubbish all day long. Nice!

I reckon I could do that job just as well, and to prove it I've written the following open letter to the SPA asking for a job (using, of course, the type of language I know they understand and love so well).

I reckon I'll be perfect for the position.

Wish me luck!

~o~

Dear Sirs,

I would like to be considered for a post in the Scottish Police Authority's senior leadership team.

If successful, I can offer the SPA authoritatively parallel task error-free services with distinctively incept scalable resources and I would work tirelessly to holistically engage vertical total linkage while proactively driving public directed alignments.

While there is a clear need in the SPA to seamlessly architect stand-alone niches, I would intrinsically cloudify optimal data to synergistically enhance one-to-one imperatives.

Almost immediately upon taking up the position I believe I can competently leverage existing focused convergence while appropriately engaging intermandated metrics.

This will very rapidly lead to an assertive dissemination of customised areas of expertise which will monotonically disseminate internal and organic sourcing and energetically initiate open-source virtualisation.

Yours Faithfully

K Campbell
123 Craptalk Avenue
Bullshitsville


~o~

*NOTE - A special thanks and a big shout-out to the guys at "The Corporate B.S. Generator" (https://www.atrixnet.com/bs-generator.html) for their wonderful online bullshit creation tool!

Tuesday 15 October 2019

The Scottish Police Authority Are Failing

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) is in tatters.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) took a wee look at them recently and, well, the SPA is pretty much sitting in the corner of the classroom with a dunce hat on its head.

In an absolutely damning report, HMICS say the SPA have "no clear vision, strategy or plan in place", little to no understanding of the steps required to achieve its aims, have made "limited progress" on structural issues, and are in a "conflict of interest" situation by being both a service provider to Police Scotland and a scrutiny body of Police Scotland.

This is bad.

Really bad.

But fear not my fellow concerned members of the Scottish public, SPA chairwoman Susan Deacon is on the case. Yes folks, Oor Suzie has stepped up to the plate and she's going to sort it all out for us.

She says:

"The SPA board is actively taking forward a range of work to progress improvements in the leadership and governance of policing" and "We are committed to continuing to work closely with a range of partners including the Scottish Government to accelerate the pace of change and improvement and to ensure that the authority is able to carry out its functions effectively as envisaged in the legislation."

Eh? What? What did she just say?

What a complete load of meaningless drivel! Unbelievably, in answer to the scathing criticism levelled at her and her motley crew of useless SPA cronies, Ms Deacon has effectively responded by saying, well, NOTHING. Her response is typical of the patronising empty-talk we always seem to hear from these types of people when their back's are against the wall. It's designed to sound thoughtful, informed and official, but in reality it's complete twaddle - just nonsensical gibberish from yet another typically overpaid and underworked public official.

It always amazes me how these charlatans continually get away with spouting this incoherent rubbish to the long-suffering Scottish public, somehow safe in the knowledge that we'll just swallow it all and nod politely in acceptance (after which, they hop right back on to their gravy train and continue with business as usual).

I suspect these useless jobsworths at the failed SPA probably know they'll never really be forced to clean up their act or do anything of any real worth. They'll shuffle a few people around of course, just to make it look as if they're doing something (which in reality is akin to re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic). But rest assured, as long as their snouts remain firmly in the trough they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Even on those very rare occasion when one of them does get booted out the door, it's usually accompanied by an enormous golden handshake, more pension benefits than you can shake a stick at, and an already pre-arranged cushy job in another area of the public service business. Jobs for the boys and all that.

And so we, the public, yet again are left to pick up the debris (and the tab) for their mess and their failings.

Mind you, I do know someone who is delighted that the SPA is failing and is in complete chaos.

Police Scotland.

Oh, they absolutely LOVE to see the SPA falling apart at the seams. Because the SPA are the overseeing body who are supposed to hold Police Scotland to account.

So as long as the SPA is in turmoil, Police Scotland can continue to do whatever the hell they like without accountability.

And we all know how much Police Scotland just love it when they get to do whatever the hell they like without accountability.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17931382.scottish-police-authoritys-damning-culture-failure/


Tuesday 8 October 2019

Police Officer Drives While 5 Times Over The Limit

Police Officer Allison Heap drove to work at an Inverness police station while drunk.

When she arrived, her colleagues could smell alcohol on her breath. She was breathalysed and found to be FIVE times over the limit.

At Inverness Sheriff Court she apologised for her "error of judgement" and received a 16 month driving ban and an £800 fine.

On the face of it, it would seem justice was done. Even police officers are not above the law.

Except that there's still a niggling question about this case that I'd really like answered.

She was FIVE times over the limit when she arrived at the station. So surely her fellow police officer colleagues must've smelled the booze off her immediately? After all, police officers are very experienced at sniffing out alcohol on peoples breath.

So my question is why did it take them nearly TWO HOURS before they breathalysed her?

It's a legitimate question, because if the police stop you in your car and suspect you've been drinking, you get breathalysed right there and then, on the spot, IMMEDIATELY.

Could it be that her police officer cronies were trying to buy her a bit of time in the hope that the longer they left it before breathalysing her the more chance she would sober up enough to hopefully then pass the breath test? After all, at this particular point in the time-line they didn’t actually know just how much over the limit she really was.

This case illustrates everything that is wrong with untrustworthy Police Scotland.

The public know that if the police want to 'do' you for something, anything, they'll pull out all the stops and use every dirty trick in the book to find a way to arrest you and charge you.

Similarly, if they DON'T want to 'do' you, they'll pull out all the stops and use every dirty trick in the book to find a way NOT to arrest you and charge you.

In the case of their good buddy, officer Heap, it certainly looks like they got caught between a rock and a hard place. She was so far over the limit that even two hours later there was still more than enough alcohol inside her for her to fail a breath test. So they had no choice left but to 'do' her.

But by all accounts, it looks like officer Heap’s cronies at Police Scotland did their very best to delay that breath-test for as long as they could to give her every chance to pass it.

I seriously doubt you or I or any other member of the public would be given that same opportunity.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49454879


Sunday 25 August 2019

Why The Fatal Accident Inquiry System Is So Slow

Politician Willie Rennie has called for an overhaul of Fatal Accident Inquiries which he has labeled "bureaucratic and slow".

He's right.

Just ask anyone who has lost a loved one in an accident which resulted in a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) and they'll all tell you similar horror stories of poor communication, screw ups and unnecessary delays in the investigations.

Whether it be the M9 crash, the Clutha helicopter crash or the Lockerbie bombing, the wheels of justice don't only move slowly - they hardly move at all.

And this is no co-incidence.

They do it on purpose.

For years this website has constantly accused the corrupt Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service and their buddies at untrustworthy Police Scotland of purposely slow-walking Fatal Accident Enquires. In some cases they even point blank refuse to even hold FAI's at all, even when it's obvious to everyone that an enquiry is urgently required.

The story is usually the same. If the accident in question involves any person who is in a position of authority or works for an organisation in a position of authority (i.e. police, crown office, council, government etc) then the FAI purposely drags it's heels for years, and years, and years, and years.

And the reason they do this is simple.

It's done to prevent any of their cronies who were involved in the accident being held to account. 

The longer they can make the FAI last, the more chance there is that their guilty cronies will have either moved on to another job, moved to another country, retired, or even better, died by the time the enquiry is complete.

You see folks, they purposely drag the whole thing out so that they can claim in their final report that due to the passage of time memories have faded, evidence has been tainted, witnesses are no longer available etc so there is now no reasonable possibility of a successful prosecution against anyone.

They then close the case and everyone toddles off home quite happy. Well, not quite everyone...there's still the the poor relatives of the victims who were strung along for years on false promises, who were never given answers, who never got closure, and who never saw justice served.

Even on those rare occasions where the evidence is so compelling and overwhelming that the corrupt crown office and their lackies in untrustworthy Police Scotland have no choice but to prosecute their cronies (even though they still bend over backwards to find reasons not to), when it comes to the actual court case the perpetrators often catch a severe bout of 'Scicilian Flu'*.

*Note - For those of you who don't know what 'Sicilian Flu' is, it's a very grave illness mafia big-wigs get immediately before a big trial. The sudden illness appears out of the blue on the day they have to appear in court. The defence lawyer can usually be seen pushing the mafia Don in to court in a wheelchair with oxygen tanks strapped to it while waving a doctors report saying he's too ill to stand trial. You get the idea.

So while I'm very happy that Willie Rennie is standing up and calling out the powers-that-be on their slow and bureaucratic system of FAI's, I certainly won't be holding my breath waiting for things to change...unless Don Corleone wants to lend me one of his old oxygen tanks that is.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1158961/liberal-democrats-scotland-willie-rennie-shake-up-fai-system


Monday 19 August 2019

Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland Recommends Extension Of Victim Strategy...Or Do They?

A recent article in the Scottish Legal News website reported on a review by the Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland into the sheriff and jury regime which has been in effect since the middle of 2017.

In the review it was recommended that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) should extend its victim strategy to all complainers of sexual crimes that are prosecuted in the sheriff solemn courts as well as the high courts.

No complaints there. Taking good care of victims sounds good to me. As for the criminals, lock 'em up and throw away the key I say.

Interestingly though, there was NOTHING mentioned in the review about those innocent members of the public who are falsely accused of sexual crimes.

Strange.

Could it be that the corrupt Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal are uninterested in helping people who have been falsely accused of crimes? Perhaps the corrupt Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal are uninterested in prosecuting false accusers? Or perhaps they've just forgotten that they also have an equal duty to help ALL victims of crime, and that includes the victims of false accusers?

So, in the interests of fairness and justice, I've decided to step up to the plate today and help our good friends at the COPFS get a more balanced view of things and hopefully, with my help, they'll be able to increase prosecutions against all those disgusting criminals out there who wreak havoc by making false accusations against innocent members of the public.

To achieve this, I've re-worded the original Legal News article to reflect the importance of how COPFS should be dealing with false accusers and false accusations.

In the italicised text below, you'll see that I have <bracketed> particular words or phrases. This is where I have replaced the original articles words and phrases and changed them to refer to crimes where someone has been falsely accused.

I know how much the COPFS like to keep telling the Scottish public how fair, honest, and reasoned they are when marking up cases. Justice for all and protecting the innocent is paramount to what they do (or so they tell us). We are constantly told how the COPFS go to extraordinary lengths to make sure they prosecute ALL crime, no matter how big or small, and without fear of favour. So I just know they'll be absolutely delighted with my re-working/re-wording of the article below (you can thank me later Lord Advocate):

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) should extend its victim strategy to <those falsely accused> that are prosecuted in the sheriff solemn courts. They should examine the effectiveness of procedures, processes and systems in ensuring <false accusation> cases are progressed expeditiously; the impact of the legislative reforms; and the individual needs of those falsely accused.

For all victims of <false accusation> crimes prosecuted in the High Court, COPFS should implement a victim strategy which is dependent on receiving vulnerability reports from the police.

In addition to commitments to advise all victims of the outcome of the <false accusers> first court appearance and bail conditions, the victim strategy should entail a commitment that victim information and advice (VIA) officers will make contact by telephone within seven to 21 days for custody/bail cases where the <false accuser> has appeared in court.

The call should include introducing the VIA and the case preparer to the <falsely accused person> and explaining the process and likely timescales; ascertaining the <falsely accused> person preferred method of communication and whether they would wish an early face to face meeting with the case preparer; an assessment of vulnerabilities and special measures; discussing the <falsely accused> person's attitude to proceedings and to obtaining sensitive, personal records; signposting the <falsely accused> person to support organisations, if appropriate; updating the <falsely accused> person following any ‘significant event’, such as when an indictment has been served on their <false accuser>; and contacting the <falsely accused> person in accordance with the level and type of communication that has been agreed.

The decision to prosecute in the High Court rather than the Sheriff Court can often be marginal and may be due to a <false accusers> record of previous offending rather than the seriousness of the offence.

“VIA officers expressed a desire to provide a consistent level of service to all victims of <false accusation> crimes regardless of the forum. Senior members of COPFS shared this view. An approach similar to that taken in the High Court is currently being employed in Kirkcaldy and a pilot scheme is underway in Glasgow where victims of <false accusation> crimes prosecuted in the sheriff solemn courts will be supported in the same way as those in the High Court. We welcome both developments and urge COPFS to extend the victim strategy to all victims of <false accusation> crimes prosecuted in the solemn courts,” the inspection report states.

<Mr> M, who successfully sued the <woman> cleared of <falsely accusing him> in criminal proceedings, said "There is an assumption here that the provision of services in the High Court is good, but there are areas of criminal procedure that could be improved, regardless of court. I didn’t have much communication with the procurator fiscal”

Kate Wallace, CEO of Victim Support Scotland, said “Victim Support Scotland supports the call for improvements to the communication and support received by victims of <false accusations> crime at the Sheriff Court. Going to court is often a deeply distressing experience and giving evidence can be severely re-traumatising for victims of <false accusation> crime. Ensuring consistent and improved procedures across both courts will give victims a fairer and more positive experience of the criminal justice system.”

So there you have it. A wonderful gift from me to the COPFS. A little bit of a blueprint you could say, to help the COPFS give innocent victims of false accusers the same level of service they give when the shoe is on the other foot.

So when are you going to implement this important strategy to ensure equal and fair justice for all victims of false accusers Mr Procurator Fiscal?

Hello?

Can you hear me?

Is there anyone there?

Hmmm, yeah, just as I thought.

Original Article:
https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/exclusive-prosecution-watchdog-recommends-extension-of-victim-strategy-to-all-complainers-of-sexual-crimes

Tuesday 13 August 2019

Police Ignore Half Of Crime Calls From The Public

As Scotlands drug problems escalate and the death rate from drug abuse in the country soars, it's nothing short of shocking to discover that Police Scotland ignored half of the publics calls about crime at an illegal Glasgow nightclub.

The illegal club in Glasgow is so awash with drug dealers local residents are rightly concerned.

So concerned in fact that they called police 65 times...

...but police only attended 35 times.

Let's just put this in to perspective for a moment. This story isn't just about Police Scotland's lack of response to drug taking (which is already killing our kids in ever increasing numbers).

Police already knew the night club in question was illegal...they knew it had no licence, no permissions, nothing!

So the burning question is, why did Police Scotland allow this illegal club to continue operating? They clearly knew it was there, they clearly knew it was illegal, and they clearly knew it was a notorious drug den...they were told about it 65 times for goodness sake!

Convener of the Glasgow Licensing Forum, Donald MacLeod said "Given the illegal activity being brazenly carried out within the premises, one wonders why no action was taken by Police Scotland to shut them down and arrest the perpetrators".

Yes, Donald, there's a few folk wondering why Police Scotland appear to have turned a blind eye to the goings-on in this illegal night club.

And, I also suspect, another few folk who can probably guess why.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/police-ignored-half-calls-crime-18825012


Tuesday 6 August 2019

A Lack Of Trust At The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission?

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) play an important role in Scottish society.

They review and investigate cases where a miscarriage of justice may have taken place. Their important work looks in to the convictions and sentences of members of the public who may have been wrongly prosecuted, convicted or sentenced.

My eyebrows were raised though when I heard about one of their recent staff appointments - a solicitor by the name of Carol Gammie.

On the face of it, it seems perfectly reasonable that the SCCRC would appoint a solicitor to their ranks. After all, the SCCRC is all about investigating miscarriages of justice so it makes sense that they would want to appoint a solicitor who, by the very nature of his or her profession, has a legal background and often a working knowledge of the court system etc, doesn't it?

Hmmmm, well, that depends.

You see the problem is that while miscarriages of justice can occur for a variety of reasons, all miscarriage of justice cases will have previously been through a court and have previously involved prosecutorial decisions taken by the crown office.

This means that all the crown office decisions that were made during a trial in which a miscarriage of justice may have occurred will, by its very nature, need to be investigated by the SCCRC.

And if you dig a little deeper in to Ms. Gammie's background you find that she trained with...wait for it...The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service!

So, let's say you are an innocent member of the Scottish public who has been taken to court and prosecuted by the motley crew at the COPFS, and it resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

Would you be happy to have your miscarriage of justice case investigated by someone who used to be an employee of the COPFS who is, in effect, investigating her former fellow colleagues?

Thought so.

https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/two-lawyers-appointed-to-scottish-criminal-cases-review-commission


Monday 13 May 2019

Police Scotland AKA Keystone Cops Make 200 Serious Mistakes In Less Than 18 Months

Damning figures recently released show just how much of a bunch of blundering idiots untrustworthy Police Scotland really are.

The figures reveal that Police Scotland have made 200 serious mistakes in less than 18 months.

Now anyone with a brain in their head knows that Police Scotland officers make 'mistakes' every day (some unintentional, most intentional), but to make two hundred SERIOUS mistakes in a year and a half is utterly disgraceful.

Among the list of blunders racked up by Scotland's very own version of the Keystone Cops were:

1. Failing to respond to a warning about a missing person who was later found dead.

2. Dismissing a member of the public threatening to self-harm as a false call.

3. Failing to attend a domestic abuse call

4. Going to the wrong address where a knife crime was ongoing

5. Ignoring a serious assault where the victim had to have stitches

6. Failing to find the location of an incident despite being given the longitude and latitude (note to untrustworthy Police Scotland...any eight year old with a SatNav could've done this for you - perhaps you should've ASKED some local kids to help you switch on your TomTom instead of hassling them with stop & search).

Although no police officers have been reported as being sacked or even held mildly accountable for any of these serious blunders (surprise, surprise), fear not though. There appears to be some good news.

Seems our wonderful First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has come to the rescue and has pledged that lessons will be learned.

Oh dear. Now where have I heard that one before?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/16/police-scotland-record-almost-200-serious-mistakes-including/


Tuesday 19 February 2019

It's Official - Police Are Not Human

More than a dozen police forces in the UK already use - or are planning to use - computer programs to "predict" where crime will take place and who will commit those crimes.

At first glance, this doesn't appear to be anything the public should be worried about.

But if, like me, you understand how our corrupt police service works then this is a development that should worry us all.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Because these machines rely on data that police already hold on each and every one of us.

And that data is already highly questionable.

You see, the data that police hold on all of us is called "intelligence" (yes, I know, the words "intelligence" and "police" are not normally words that you'd ever use in the same sentence, but lets leave that aside for a moment).

The problem with police "intelligence" data is that there's nothing intelligent about it and the dubious ways it is compiled. Any copper can add any information he or she wants about an innocent member of the public to that persons intelligence file. No corroboration or proof that the information being entered is correct is required.

As a result, millions of these so-called intelligence files exist and they often hold vast amounts of data containing nothing more than biased innuendo and unproven information about members of the public, compiled by any number of vindictive or unscrupulous police officers you've had the misfortune to meet with at any time in your life.

Worse still, even if you have NEVER had any problems or dealings with any police in your life, they can still have an intelligence file on you.

If a police officer calls in at, say, your neighbours house and happens to glance over and see you in your garden rolling up some Old Holborn or Golden Virginia, he can easily jump to a wrong conclusion and have it entered in to "intelligence" that you are a possible drug user/dealer. Voila, it's that simple. You now have an intelligence file with your name on it and you're well on your way to becoming public enemy number one. Now fast forward to a few years later and, let's say, the drug squad think someone in your street is dealing in illegal substances. Guess who's house in your street is gonna get raided first. Yip, yours. Put that in your pipe and smoke it as they say.

It's that easy. That's how the police intelligence system works. Any police officer can add any data to your intelligence file for any reason, no questions asked, no proof required...and no transparency. You'll never know.

If a police officer doesn't like the look of you he simply makes an entry in to the intelligence database that you're "one for the watching" as it were. Police can do it because, well, because they can. Every copper knows that no proof is required, no corroboration is required, there's no transparency and there's no oversight in place to catch any of his vindictive actions against you

Here's a real-world, personal, example of this.

A few years ago, I tried to sue Police Scotland. Shortly afterwards I found myself being unusually stopped by police while driving my car. I was stopped by police on a VERY regular basis. Each time, police stopped me they hassled me for no reason whatsoever. They always gave the same excuse that it was "just routine" (which is an excuse, not a reason by the way). On EVERY occasion I was stopped, police officers checked my tax, insurance, mot, tyre pressure, vehicle condition, asked me to lift the bonnet, open the boot, you name it. And EVERY time, after they realised that everything with me and my vehicle was entirely proper and in order, they sent me on my way with not so much as an apology for the inconvenience.

I got so fed up with it all, I sold that particular vehicle. That was almost two years ago.

I then bought a new, different vehicle with a different registration plate.

So guess how many times I've been stopped in the last two years by police in my new, different vehicle with its different registration plate?

Answer: NEVER.

Not even once, not ever!

Now, anyone with a brain in their head can see that police were targeting me just because in the past I had the audacity to try and sue them and hold them accountable. How dare I. They made sure they gave me so much aggravation that it would discourage me from ever trying to sue them again [edit: it won't].

But how did all these other, normal, everyday, beat-police and traffic cops - who clearly DIDN'T know me personally - know that they should stop me in my car and hassle me?

It's because police have a number plate recognition system which flags up registration numbers of vehicles and the people who may be driving those vehicles as being "persons of interest". Every time police saw me in my car, an alert flagged up that I was "one for the watching".

Biased and vindictive information from biased and vindictive police officers who didn't like the complaints I made against them a few years ago was still being fed through to ordinary beat police and traffic cops and encouraging them to hassle me, even years later. That's how it works.

So you can already see that the problem with police using computer programs to predict who will commit a crime and where that crime will be committed has to rely on already existing police intelligence data that we now know has often been obtained through non-transparent methods and in many cases is biased, vindictive, and inaccurate.

As if that's not bad enough, to add insult to injury, there exists NO clear evidence whatsoever to show that this seriously flawed new technology makes our communities safer. None.

Instead, what it DOES do is increase racial profiling, erosions of privacy of innocent members of the public, and more infringement of our rights without police having to provide any sort of comprehensive oversight, proper regulation, or rights compliance.

When policing is not transparent, policing is dangerous.

And policing is already dangerous due to years of a growing culture from within UK police forces where any sort of transparency is baulked at by officers. Why do you think police officers hate wearing video cameras? Hey, we can't have innocent members of the public who have done absolutely nothing wrong being able to prove they did nothing wrong after police have spent all that time targeting them and trying to charge them to get their arrest figures up can we?

We already live in a country where police have far too much power already. Police constantly abuse that power to target innocent members of the public rather than help, support, and protect the public.

I think we all agree that machines have more intelligence than police (hey, my next door neighbours pet Chihuahua has more intelligence than most of the police officers I've met).

But if the data in the machine is derived from the data in the intelligence files - which were written up by already untrustworthy police officers - the predictions and results the machines output will be every bit as unfair, vindictive, biased, and mired in corruption as the untrustworthy police officers who compiled it in the first place.

Ask any computer operator and they'll tell you, rubbish in, rubbish out.

https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/policy/report-policing-machine