Voices

Views from elsewhere

More sinister than a bobby on the beat

Lack of police accountability sees the institution which upholds the law virtually exempt from it.

By Ellie Mae O'Hagan Published 19 April 2012 17:35

Photo: Getty Images

Here’s a fun little anecdote. When the Metropolitan Police was founded in 1829, its first ever officer, whose badge number was 1, was sacked after four hours for being drunk on the job. It was characteristic of how police officers were viewed at the time: a bunch of unruly bullies hired to do the government’s dirty work.

So in a week that has seen the trial of Alfie Meadows, an ever-deepening race row, and the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, you’d be forgiven for thinking that little has changed. It’s hard to read the news without piecing together an image of a police force stubbornly refusing to take responsibility for its actions; not just in isolated incidences but systemically, and over decades. Professionals I’ve spoken to that consistently deal with the police are remarkably candid about the police’s lack of accountability. The solicitor Raj Chada, whose practice Hodge Jones & Allen has represented numerous protesters over the last couple of years, was frank when he told me, "the police are completely unaccountable. None of the methods used to hold them to account work. They’re the last totally unreformed public service."

It would be apposite to bring up the IPCC at this point: a supposedly independent body founded to "increase public confidence in the police complaints system in England and Wales." But half of the IPCC’s board of directors is made up of former police officers; its Chief Executive is a former probation officer. It’s not unreasonable, then, to view the police force as essentially self-regulating, or at least monitored by a body inclined to empathise with officers.

After the failures of the markets and the press to self-regulate, shouldn’t we be asking ourselves why the IPCC has been allowed to continue as it is? British society values its police force highly - we enshrine that value in law - and yet the only official mechanism of accountability we use is unsettlingly reminiscent of a model which has been roundly discredited elsewhere. I have to question the priorities of a society which deems it so heinous to assault a police officer that the offence requires an entire law of its own, yet offers only a flimsy recourse for anyone police officers may have assaulted. In the police, we seem to have created a topsy-turvy idea of public service, where it is the public who are accountable to the servants.

In February I spoke to Nogah Ofer, a solicitor who worked on the biggest police corruption case in British history. Speaking in a personal capacity, she offered a familiar explanation as to why the police seem so unaccountable: "there is a gut feeling that the establishment protects its own. The system applies a different standard to police officers – that’s the pattern we’ve seen."

Ofer’s opinion articulates a suspicion long held by many whose experience of the police is more sinister than a local bobby on the beat. But whatever the reason for an unaccountable police force, the problem remains: in our attempts to create an institution which upholds the law, we have apparently created an institution which is virtually exempt from it.

This is a problem which goes beyond debates about public trust and positive relationships. This is about a malignancy in our society. The laws we have made for public good are rendered meaningless if their enforcers break them at liberty. It’s time our society accepted that the police force cannot hold itself to account, and did something about it. It shouldn’t take another scandal, bogus trial or Hillsborough to make us realise that a police force that acts with total impunity makes us all a little less civilised.

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33 comments

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Mon, 2012-04-23 00:51 — Dr. Wom Bhatt (not verified)

Unfortunately it seems that UK Police are not the only ones who seem to operate with lack of accountability.

Here's a video of Australian police in the former convict colony of NSW dealing with a object of their attention : http://www.news.com.au/national/bloody-ending-to-teen-joyride-in-kings-c...

Two police commissioners of Australian police forces have resigned since 1970. Ray Whitrod-Queensland and Peter Ryan-NSW left because they were unable to get their subordinates' co-operation.

Peter Ryan was formerly "National Director of Police Training" a Police Staff College, Bramshill.

Ray Whitrod outlines in his story of the matter that he used to sleep with a service revolver under his pillow to defend himself because he felt that his life was in danger-from fellow police. He resigned and left the state of Queensland for good that same night.

Something is wrong.

Sat, 2012-04-21 02:16 — Dr. Wom Bhatt (not verified)

@John P Ried
Whatever your views on the integrity of the Guardian the facts stand on the Ian Tomlinson incident. For further reassurance have a look at http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/truth+b...

Let's just concentrate on the evidence. Ad Homiem dismissal lends nothing to the search for truth.

Back to my initial point. The Police will only able to do what they do if they are ALLOWED to do it. When the Police act outside the law and go unpunished it is not the business of the Police or Police related body, it is the business of the citizenry and the people they put into positions of Authority. That's us, all of us.

Wed, 2012-05-16 17:45 — stinky

Totally agree but hard to achieve

Sat, 2012-04-21 08:04 — Bill23 (not verified)

John, I fully suport your argument, and on that basis if the majority feel that the EU is a bankrupt political con; and that pen pushing police, quangoes, and MEP's are destroying this country, then we should act. The fact is that there is only one way to deal with parasites, and that is to cut off their food supply. The only realistic way to do this that I can think of is to stop paying council tax!

Sat, 2012-04-21 02:15 — Dr. Wom Bhatt (not verified)

Let's just concentrate on the evidence. Ad Homiem dismissal lends nothing to the search for truth.

John P reid (spell myname right this time)'s picture

Sat, 2012-04-21 15:00 — John P reid (spell myname right this time) (not verified)

Fiar point come to think of it when Derek Bennett A black man was involved in a drug deal taht went wrong he had a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun at the head of A male passer by,Aremd polcie turned up told him to put the cigarette lighter shaped likeA gun,down, he refused pointed it at them and treid to drag teh hstage backwards through a door with him, it was then he was shot dead, the Jury found he was lawfully killed, yet the BCC said "The police clearly got it wrong that time,"but as he was lawfully killed the polce didn't get it wrong, it was right if them to shoot him, similar when Roger sylvestor was Lawfully killed the BBC said the polce murdered him, I recall teh Police officers sued the BCC for saying they'd murdered him when he was lawfully killed, from stephen lwarence suspects to ian paisley coulluding with loyalist and the RUC the BBC has in the past had to apologise to the police for making libelous comments,like the fact that it was said the polce covered up the Ian tomlinson case when teh IPCC investigation said that 8 different police officers told city polcie that they'd witnessed Harwood push over tomlinson and city polce didn't tell the IPCC, so it was true the met didn't say they had no contact with tomlisnon,something Labour M.P David Winnick falsely accused PAul stephensn of the met for sayign ,sometih
ng that Stephenson informed Winnick that he'd go this facts wrong and that the Met had never said that

Sat, 2012-04-21 15:00 — John P reid (spell myname right this time) (not verified)

Fri, 2012-04-20 15:30 — John P Ried (not verified)

Dr whombatt-Quoting the guardian on the Ian tomlinson case when the guardian was full of lies like, Mark Duggan wasn't armed, ALfie emadows was turned away from the hospital, was kettled,and tryin to leave it was hit on the head with a truncheon's, or the Jody mcintyre wasn't dragged out of his wheelchair for his own protection, but by thugs, seems a bit rich ,the guardian love to make up a good anti police story.

regarding Ex police on the IPCC, Look at ex polce who've done things aobut police after tehy've left, Brian Paddick, Ray nallon, Alek Marnoch, John Stlaker, Ian blair, Tariq Ghaffeur, they've all took jobs criticisng the police, SO the idea that if their are Ex police in th IPCC ,they're not there to scrutinise them is laughable

Actaully alots changed since hte polce weren't thought of in huigh regards when they were created 182 years ago, and whats teh Alfie emadows story to do with Hilsborough or race, All that shows is he was part of a crowd that commitedaffray while claiming to be an angel, yet the jury havne't found (yet)any criminality.

Fri, 2012-04-20 16:37 — Bill23 (not verified)

A coherent statement from the police. Most instructive.
P.S.The chief constable of Dorset may have just bought a million pound house, but he can't buy respect.

Tue, 2012-04-24 09:24 — John P Ried (not verified)

don't understand this, i note there's a call for a second (Stalinsist witch hunt on mcarthyite proportions that the law can be changed not so that someone cleared of murder can be charged a second time, but the law that it's agianst the law to be gary dobson afterall when gary Dobson was found guilty of throwing a chip wrapper at a off duty coppers car he wasn't give a 2 year sentence for doing that ,but given a two year sentence for being cleared of the lawrence murder, similar that's why he was found guilty at the beginning of the year, also When some black men are retried over double jeopardy after being cleared of killing a white man and there are those in the labour aprty who say with the abolotion of double jeopardy the lawrence suspects should be retried ,but black men who kill white men shouldn't, it'll be proof that accourt was found guilty at the beginning of the year of being him, as thre's no reason why some people should be retried under double jeopardy and some shouldn't
lastly if htere is a new mcpherson report it is inportant to metnion that Smiley culture didn't stab himself becuase he couldn't bare the thought of boign to prsion, but hte police killed him.

Fri, 2012-04-20 12:37 — Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells (not verified)

You get the police you deserve as they come from the community at large. Having said that, there are checks made into their backgrounds before they join so they are probably better than we deserve. They are people so there's going to be good and bad, although looking at their history, there's a whole lot more good than bad.

Fri, 2012-04-20 12:40 — Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells (not verified)

Not forgetting of course that solicitors and journalists are pillars of society............

Fri, 2012-04-20 10:36 — Andreas (not verified)

The idea that the IPCC empathises with police officers is utter lunacy to anybody who has every worked with the IPCC and/or the Police. Some of them might be former police, but they all really, really enjoy taking down rotten coppers, and an IPCC investigation is pretty damn terrifying.

The IPCC is by far the best police regulatory body we've ever had, but suffers from the same burden of proof that the rest of our legal system works under.

Oh, and please stop throwing around Alfie Meadows as if he's some sort of exemplar of police brutality. You, just like EVERYBODY ELSE, knows nothing about what happened that day. The only thing we do know is that he turned up in a balaclava and took part in throwing railings at officers, then got hurt.

Fri, 2012-04-20 16:28 — Bill23 (not verified)

The IPCC themselves have stated that they cannot keep up, the number of incidents being in the tens of thousands. Personally I'm waiting for the commissioners to be set up before I dish all the dirt.
P.S. has anybody ever heard of a case when the police apologised without being forced to?

Fri, 2012-04-20 12:47 — EM O'Hagan (not verified)

I spoke to three professionals before writing this, all of whom had been involved in lengthy IPCC investigations. All three said the IPCC was utterly useless. I have also spoken to the family of Sean Rigg who have been dealing with the IPCC since 2008, who say the same.

Most people I know who have worked with the police say they are totally unaccountable.

Fri, 2012-04-20 10:40 — Andreas (not verified)

There are DEFINITELY corrupt police officers that get away with it. Nobody is arguing that's not the case. To you, that sounds like some sort of heinous crime, but to most police officers, who see criminals get away with things on a daily basis, that's hardly surprising.

The concept of "innocent until proven guilty" might suck when it happens to not be on your side of the argument, but it's there for a reason. You ignore it at your peril.

Fri, 2012-04-20 08:00 — Bill23 (not verified)

The reason that the police won't raise the bar on the IQ test is because all chief constables are a bit thick and they like their own kind. Anybody who knows a chief constable will know that I am not being rude.

Fri, 2012-04-20 22:32 — ClaireL (not verified)

@ Bill23

"All police officers are a bit thick..."

I really don't know what part of the country you live in, and although there have been isolated incidents of policemen in over-the-top behaviour, they are dealing with thugs a lot of the time, but I have been privileged to witness the work of officers who have dealt with situations very intelligently indeed. Some are trained especially in Psychology and go on to become great at detection and prevention of escalating incidents.I take my hat off to them.

Sat, 2012-04-21 08:18 — Bill23 (not verified)

Clairel you say "Some are trained especially in Psychology and go on to become great at detection and prevention of escalating incidents."
This is the problem with the police, excessive wages has caused them to get ahead themselves. I have a cousin with a PhD in clinical psychology, and he would be the first to say that it is an inexact science. The police should steer well clear of things they don't understand, otherwise it becomes voodoo. If the police can see it, then they should act, otherwise they should keep their opinions to themselves unless qualified to the highest level.

Sat, 2012-04-21 23:11 — ClaireL (not verified)

@ Bill23

I stand by what I said, because it's totally necessary for the Police to "read" body language and to detect when they are being lied to. You only have to watch the airport documentaries and so many other police programmes to see what they're up against. If you've never had to rely on police knowing when you are telling the truth against a blatant liar, then you live a cosy life.

Fri, 2012-04-20 01:22 — Dr. Wom Bhatt (not verified)

The current financial crisis has underscored the historical role of the police in Britain ( and elsewhere in the colonies ). As I understand it the "Peelers" were established to protect the property of the weallthy. As Britain slides along the road of its "free enterprise path" those who have little are marginalised and "disciplined" by both the Police and the Judiciary. The Police cop more flak because they are the ones who brutalise " the great unwashed". Whilst offending Police officers should be dealt with by the courts ( but they are not ) the accusative finger needs to be pointed at those in GovCo who are in charge of procedures to manage them. And that is were the informed citizenry need to engage in the process of objecting and holding to account. Sadly, on current British form, it is not advisable to do it on the street, or the "biggest gang in town" might turn on you. And even if you are on the street and not objecting you might be the target of some "reckless behaviour" as Ian Tomlinson (R.I.P.) found out to his great loss. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/09/ian-tomlinson-death). Things are not looking good.