Civilians given power to issue on-the-spot fines

Civilians given power to issue on-the-spot fines

www.telegraph.co.uk

Despite lacking formal police training, hundreds of civilians have been made part of the "extended police family" by the Home Office under little-known legislation.

They have not been asked to wear any special uniforms to identify themselves, but must wear only a badge that can be as small as 73mm x 80mm.

The disclosure that hundreds of civilians have been given enforcement powers drew accusations that the Government is encouraging the spread of unaccountable policing.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Gobsmacked. Absolutely gobsmacked. How the hell have we let this U.K government get ahead with these things?

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Another excerpt from the opening news article:

A total of 1,406 staff from 95 "approved organizations" including local councils and private companies have been given enforcement powers.

Another 255 people have been given powers as Vehicle Operator Services Agency Inspectors, who are issued with the single power to stop vehicles for the purpose of testing.

In 2006, there were only 950 accredited workers for 71 organisations.

Dominic Grieve, the Conservative shadow home secretary, said the scheme was the latest example of the unjustified extension of surveillance powers under Labour.

He said: "The public will be angered that the Home Office is seeking to take serious powers that should be appropriately applied by the police and encouraging them to be given not just to local councils, but also to private firms.

Gobsmacked is exactly what many of these private firms' operatives will be when they try to apply "their" powers.

[edit on 26/8/08 by Rapacity]

reply to post by Rapacity


I'm gobsmacked too. As if parking wardens, noise wardens, litter wardens wasent enough. Now these guys, "Vehicle Operator Services Agency Inspectors" well sorry but I only stop for blue flashing lights.

Why can't we have more police?

I just cannot get my head round some guy with a badge trying to take booze of a group of teenagers or stop a drunken brawl, he's gonna get more than a verbal response.....

This is NOT a knock on the UK,...honest!

But this whole citizens watching citizens and then reporting to police or whomever...smacks of China's "red guard" groups from the cultural revolution as well as the Cambodian "citizen spies" during Pol Pots reign...

scary stuff if you ask me...regular folk are prone to using this type of authority as a way to "payback" for percieved slights etc...

Having regular joes in authority with no special training as reagards the law...bad idea...whats next?...lock each other up?, restrain until police arrive?...what happens when someone does not comply?...citizen beat down?, mob rules?

Dang, when Hollywood makes the movies, Britain makes it into law. Your livin the movie life now huh?

Good luck yall, if things go according to the scripts, you should begin detaining and deporting ALL non-native peoples within the decade. I suppose that is not very far fetched considering.

Alot of brainless, egomaniac, nothing better to do, psychopathic, sheep, robotic clone like people, will like being given this power.
It will make them feel like little gods.
Makes me feel sad for them really.
That one day it will all come back onto them and they don't even realize it.

Originally posted by deadbang
This is NOT a knock on the UK,...honest!

But this whole citizens watching citizens and then reporting to police or whomever...smacks of China's "red guard" groups from the cultural revolution as well as the Cambodian "citizen spies" during Pol Pots reign...

Umm yeah... Isn't this strait out of the communist play book? Wow people had better wake up to whats going on in the UK.

Originally posted by Techsnow

Originally posted by deadbang
This is NOT a knock on the UK,...honest!

But this whole citizens watching citizens and then reporting to police or whomever...smacks of China's "red guard" groups from the cultural revolution as well as the Cambodian "citizen spies" during Pol Pots reign...

Umm yeah... Isn't this strait out of the communist play book? Wow people had better wake up to whats going on in the UK.

Your damn right, people should wake up but I fear they won't. They will moan and grumble about it without actualy doing anything or making a stand or even taking a viewpoint.. Apathy is rife in the UK.

[edit on 26-8-2008 by beefeater]

Another example of this type of thinking is "neighborhood associations" in the U.S....in the gated communities or more posh neighborhhods they have "associations" that govern neighborhhod matters...

I have read and seen examples of these associations trying to enforce local ordinances...what they do is make life hell if you cross them. There won't be police showing up on your doorstep, but they can keep you very busy in civil court and make you spend alot of money on frivolous and petty grievences....ie...fence height, swimming pools, window tint, etc...

most of the time it's payback for not recognizing their authority..

like my dad used to say...who died and left you in charge???

Originally posted by deadbang
But this whole citizens watching citizens and then reporting to police or whomever...smacks of China's "red guard" groups from the cultural revolution as well as the Cambodian "citizen spies" during Pol Pots reign...

An internal system of surveillance is one of the indicators of totalitarianism.

USA:

www.alternet.org...

In Mussolini's Italy, in Nazi Germany, in communist East Germany, in communist China - in every closed society - secret police spy on ordinary people and encourage neighbours to spy on neighbours. The Stasi needed to keep only a minority of East Germans under surveillance to convince a majority that they themselves were being watched.

In 2005 and 2006, when James Risen and Eric Lichtblau wrote in the New York Times about a secret state programme to wiretap citizens' phones, read their emails and follow international financial transactions, it became clear to ordinary Americans that they, too, could be under state scrutiny.

In closed societies, this surveillance is cast as being about "national security"; the true function is to keep citizens docile and inhibit their activism and dissent.

www.guardian.co.uk...

query.nytimes.com...

Thats why I will never live in a homeowners association type community, or a gated communtiy for that matter. I like to just roll in and not have to stop to porve I live there.

Oh what if criminals come in? Then stand up and fight for your community I suppose. I got threatened by some punk about gettign shot last night just because I rolled into my parking spot with my lights off.

I asked him to show me what you are going to do that with, and then bet him mine is bigger and faster. I plan on sassin him next time I see his punk self. He just hangs with the girl that lives in the apartment across from me.

You got to draw the line between keeping your communtiy safe, instead of working free for your municipality to bring in more revenue for their coffers. That is surely what this program is about more than anything else.

VOSA - is the new name for the Ministry of Transport ; these are the people that issue the MOT test certificate each year that says your vehicle is in a road safe condition - and before you all jump up and down beating your chests , they have been pulling vehicles over on inspections for years and years - and 99% of the time , its lorries , to check the tacho of the driver