Why Do West Midlands Police Not Watch Birmingham’s Muslim Community On CCTV But Gawp At Everyone Else?
CHRIS Sims, the West Midland Police Chief Constable, is “deeply sorry” for sticking up 200 CCTV cameras in the “Muslim” area of Birmingham’s Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath districts as part of Project Champion.
Says he:
“I am sorry that we got such an important issue so wrong and deeply sorry that it has had such a negative impact on our communities.”
Communities? What is a community and can you be a member of more than one at the same time if you’ve not been to the meetings, which seem to be largely held in secret?
“My real regret is that Project Champion has undermined the strong relationships that exist between West Midlands Police and our communities that have been built up over many years.”
Our communities? Police communities?
“When I became Chief Constable in 2009 I put strengthening the trust and confidence of communities at the heart of the changes we would make to policing.”
He can’t get off the communities thing, can he. The man’s obsessed.
“At the heart of the controversy surrounding Project Champion sits a dilemma faced by police on behalf of wider society, how to find a balance between on the one hand the duty to offer protection from serious harm and on the other the risk of excessive intrusion and the danger of stigmatising a whole community.”
What fucking community? Are the police a community or a force? When does a force become a community – is it when they’re in the canteen or turning a blind eye to brutality and the truth?
“There were serious shortcomings shown by the West Midlands Police management of this project. This allowed the specification to move beyond the point where it was proportionate to the community safety risks and counter terrorism threats that it aimed to address.”
Blah. Blah, Blah. What he did was sanction the use of cameras to spy on Muslims. Islam is a religion – it is not a community. Muslim suicide bombers might be community, as might the people who live in the same road or block of flats. All Muslims cannot be a community. For starters there is not a big enough hall to meet in.
With that sorted and the cameras removed from the “Muslim areas”, can the rest of the UK’s communities not be spied on by the 4 million plus CCTV cameras that allow voyeurs in uniform and in pyjamas to watch us even when we’re taking a wazz or thinking – while we are banned from taking photos in certain areas? Or do we have to live in the aforesaid “Muslim areas” to be free..?
Posted: 3rd, October 2010 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
