Who polices the police?Evidently, the answer is that the police (still) police themselves-a status quo that is a strong a symbol of institutional corruption as there ever was.
The news that none of the officers responsible for the welfare of David Emanuel aka Smiley Culture who died while in police custody in March, will face ‘official’ questioning, charges, or suspension will cause anger among many but will not come as a surprise.
The list of individuals who have died in police custody over the last ten years is vast in comparison to the list of officers who have been convicted of any crime. The latter list contains zero names.
Many will remember the effect of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry many years ago, and the subsequent Macpherson report which concluded that the Metropolitan Police force was institutionally racist.
That was in 1997.
While of course the charges leveled at the Met then were different, the case became symbolic because it united many together with the purpose of holding the police to account for their actions- and that is the point-we are still demanding justice and accountability today.
And we need justice and reform now. This year we’ve already seen rioting looting in many areas-the scapegoats for which have been the ‘Broken Britian’ and ‘Pure Thuggery’ soundbite tags.
The myth that there is no relationship between the actions of our government both at home and abroad, and the actions of the police force with the unrest, anger, and discontent we are seeing is ludicrous.
The underlying cause which was drowned out by government apologists is poverty.
To accept the government explanation as to the cause social ills is foolish. Calling the riots are pure thuggery is akin to describing violence as violent.
The phone hacking scandal saga has revealed the level of corruption present within the police force, and to put it politely the bad judgment of Prime Minister Cameron in appointing Andy Coulson.
Its not society that is broken. It is our political system and the institutions that should serve the people that are broken.
With an unelected government and an unelected House of Lords, public service cuts kicking in, don’t be fooled into looking the other way as to the real cause of the problems we are seeing.
The real problems are not contrary to poplar belief caused by hoodies raiding JJB or by mythical bogeymen in foreign countries with no passport.
They are caused by individuals in suits and ties that raid the poor to serve the ruling elite.
We all in this together we are told. Some apparently are more in it than others.
More than ever we need to challenge institutions such as the police, and challenge policy makers in every way possible.
By RICHARD SUDAN
