Dredd without the Judge

Sir Ian Blair is a dangerous man and should be sacked:

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said "modernisation" of the force should be carried forward by introducing "an escalator of powers" for the dispensing of instant justice.

If someone with a firearms or shotgun certificate spouted such nonsense they would probably have their certificate withdrawn and their firearms taken away. "I believe that certain people in society have the right to dispense instant justice without any of this inconvenient involvement of law courts, judges and magistrates and the like.". Why? Because they would be displaying a serious lack of judgement and a propensity to be a danger to the public. Make no mistake, instant justice handed out by a state police force is a danger to the public.

Consider the whole debate on what a householder can and cannot do when confronted by a home intruder. The police expect the householder to only respond to direct bodily threat and then only up to the point where the householder acts to protect themselves from injury.

If the householder were to, say, hit the burglar he or she would have a great deal of explaining to do and if it turned out that the punch was thrown to deter the burglar from carrying the TV out through the window the householder would find themselves on the wrong side of a courtroom debate.

The same would happen if the householder happened to lock up the burglar in a secure room in the house. The police would prefer that you would use the room to lock yourself up and would be more than happy to charge you at the behest of the intruder with whatever they can find.

It's not for the householder to dispense justice in his or her own home.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the 'important' people in the police force think that their men and women are significantly different from the rest of us and should be seen as different in law. Super citizens.

Posted by John at September 22, 2005 08:28 AM | TrackBack