Armed Police check tax discs ...
Even in Brown's Britain, even with the atrocious Jacqui Smith as Home Secretary, could you believe that we would see armed police checking car tax discs?
That's what was happening on the A595 in West Cumbria last week.
In a letter in today's Whitehaven News a Gosforth resident writes about how he was directed by police officers carrying guns to stop in a lay-by with other passing vehicles. One of the officers glanced at his tax disc and sent him on his way.
A spokesman for Cumbria Constabulary told the Whitehaven News "The vehicle was stopped as part of a joint six-week operation between Cumbria Constabulary and Civil Nuclear constabulary. It is called Operation Lace and finishes at the end of next week. The aim is to monitor traffic moving southbound on the A595 with an emphasis on driver education, enforcement of moving traffic offences and intelligence development."
CNC is the nuclear industry's dedicated police force. For obvious reasons they are often armed when patrolling at Sellafield and other nuclear facilites. Their involvement with this traffic check was justified on the basis that
"The focus of the CNC is the development of local intelligence in support of their national counter terrorism remit."
The police spokesman went on to say:
"With Friday being October 31st officers from CNC and Cumbria Constabulary stopped all vehicles with an expiring tax disc that day to remind the driver of this. Driving a vehicle with an expired tax disc is not an arrestable offence however should an offence have been necessary for some other reason it would have been completed by an officer from Cumbria Constabulary."
So there we have it. The latest example of "mission creep" from the government which passed laws on the basis that they were needed to stop terrorists, which were subsequently used to check up on parents suspected of playing the system to get their children into the best school, and families suspected of putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.
Now we use armed police officers used to stop traffic on the basis of counter-terrorism intelligence gathering, and we end up using officers carrying guns to remind drivers to renew their car tax discs.
I'm not sure whether the most healthy reaction to this is to roll around on the floor screaming with laughter, or to get cross. But I suspect we should probably do both.
That's what was happening on the A595 in West Cumbria last week.
In a letter in today's Whitehaven News a Gosforth resident writes about how he was directed by police officers carrying guns to stop in a lay-by with other passing vehicles. One of the officers glanced at his tax disc and sent him on his way.
A spokesman for Cumbria Constabulary told the Whitehaven News "The vehicle was stopped as part of a joint six-week operation between Cumbria Constabulary and Civil Nuclear constabulary. It is called Operation Lace and finishes at the end of next week. The aim is to monitor traffic moving southbound on the A595 with an emphasis on driver education, enforcement of moving traffic offences and intelligence development."
CNC is the nuclear industry's dedicated police force. For obvious reasons they are often armed when patrolling at Sellafield and other nuclear facilites. Their involvement with this traffic check was justified on the basis that
"The focus of the CNC is the development of local intelligence in support of their national counter terrorism remit."
The police spokesman went on to say:
"With Friday being October 31st officers from CNC and Cumbria Constabulary stopped all vehicles with an expiring tax disc that day to remind the driver of this. Driving a vehicle with an expired tax disc is not an arrestable offence however should an offence have been necessary for some other reason it would have been completed by an officer from Cumbria Constabulary."
So there we have it. The latest example of "mission creep" from the government which passed laws on the basis that they were needed to stop terrorists, which were subsequently used to check up on parents suspected of playing the system to get their children into the best school, and families suspected of putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.
Now we use armed police officers used to stop traffic on the basis of counter-terrorism intelligence gathering, and we end up using officers carrying guns to remind drivers to renew their car tax discs.
I'm not sure whether the most healthy reaction to this is to roll around on the floor screaming with laughter, or to get cross. But I suspect we should probably do both.
Comments
Terrorist attacks have been prevented in the likes of London by operations just like this, "gathering intelligence".
In London it is accepted that police need to do this, I wouldnt imagine you would get public and reporters complaining about it after attacks that have already happened.
Would you rather the cnc waited inside its perimiter untill a terrorist attack happened here and then write about why it was allowed to happen.
(if there was anyone left to do so)
If operations like this are prevented by complaining members of the public and reporters who are blind to the consequences of what a terrorist attack on a nuclear site could mean then there may no longer be any police force or population in this counry for tax discs to be checked.
Think about where NEWS PAPERS have reported terrorist training camps to be.
Maybe you are not looking at the bigger picture.
But what appears to have happened in this instance is that, in the perception of at least one driver who was stopped, a subordinate aim of checking tax discs was given undue prominence.
Since deploying armed police to check tax discs was always likely to strike most motorists as like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, it was not a good idea to give the impression that this was anything other than the most incidental part of the operation.
I do not blame the CNC or Cumbria Constabulary officers who were doubtless just carrying out their instructions. But whoever told them to issue a car tax reminder to drivers displaying valid tax discs which were about to expire was not, in my opinion, wise to give that order.
Unarmed cumbria officers were doing the checking of tax discs.
The statement from Cumbria police included the comment that “With Friday being October 31st, officers from CNC and Cumbria Constabulary stopped all vehicles with an expiring tax disc that day to remind the driver of this."
Deploying armed officers in security checks is perfectly reasonable, but having them present when more than the most incidental check of tax discs is taking place - and that quote from the police spokesman suggests this was happening - was always likely to cause a negative reaction.
Which is a pity, because CNC and Cumbria Constabulary have an important job to do and generally do it very well.
All I can tell you is that I have done that duty myself.
I could not be less interested in motoring offences or other minor offences which take place in home office policing. That is why I am in this job and not the home office. 98% of my colleagues feel the same.
I can not say 100% that armed officers were not checking discs any more than you can say 100% they were but I would be surprised if this were the case as we are constantly told to where possible stick to our core role. (Protection of nuclear sites deny unauthorised access to material contained within, transportation of materials and if necessary recovery of those materials.)
As police officers sometimes we have to become involved in offences outside our core role but with Cumbria present I can’t see a reason why we would.
As for the motorist I can imagine he is unhappy about being stopped, unaware of the reasons behind the armed presence and dramatising the situation.
I don't want to get into the business of criticising the CNC or Cumbria constabulary officers who have an important and difficult job to do, and as I said above, generally do it very well.
As you rightly say, neither of us can 100% prove what was going on.
Where there are examples of "mission creep" in policing it is usually not down to the ordinary copper but the responsibility of much more senior levels of management, often the political level.
It wasn't just the Gosforth driver, but also the official police statement, which gave me the impression that this had happened. If that was not correct, then I am glad to hear it.
From a Cnc officer