Bristol, not the Lebanon!!

bristol | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday July 23, 2002 05:08 by Billy captncodpiece at hotmail dot com

Totally unreasonable and inexplicable police involvement with a party at the Cumberland Basin, Saturday 20 July.

People who know how to party don't do it in an aggressive way. On Saturday 20th July a party took place in the Cumberland Basin and the only hostile people present were the police. They came in mob-handed with riot-shields brandishing batons. Do they need to be reminded that this is the Cumberland Basin, not Beirut? Only recently, a friend and I found a briefcase and some I.D. in Castle Park. When we handed it in to Bristol Police Station, we were greeted by agency staff who said "I can't answer any of your questions, I'm not a real policeman". The reception area stank of urine. Does this mean the Constabulary can't even clean up after themselves, let alone employ fully trained personnel?

One of the main concerns that the police and the public have about parties continuing, are health and safety issues. It costs a considerable amount of money, paid by the tax-payer, to have in excess of 100 police in one place, at one time. If health and safety was truly a concern to the police, they would not shove and punch people with their riot-shields and batons. They would be capable of talking to people, and realise that their superintendent is wrong, and being led by fools who have no idea how real people live their lives. Not everybody is moulded and shaped by a fabricated system. We don't need to be told what to dance to, how to dance, what to buy, what not to buy - because we're free, and we live in a free country. And I don't believe that any of the police realise what that means, because they've been brain-washed.

It seems an awful shame that people employed by our local constabulary, have not reached a level of attainment that reflects this reality. It makes me wonder what kind of people are recruiting within the police force. Maybe we need a second opinion? The decisions made on that evening weren't made by eighteen-year olds with acne, they were made by well established police personnel. Slightly worrying, don't you think? What were they doing, practising for World War Three? If their social and personal lives aren't stimulating enough, then they should look for less demanding occupations because being a police officer is an extremely difficult and demanding role to play in society. It's frightening to realise that the security and wellbeing of the public, is in the hands of incompetent and ignorant people, loosely associated with the real world. I hope that something gives, and some semi-intelligent decisions are made about the way parties are policed. Because the way in which the law has acted time and time again does not make sense, and contradicts everything it stands for. Would tax-payer's money not be better spent catching real criminals, because they were at large committing crimes when the party was going on, and they are now. So Avon and Somerset police - get with the program, a party is not an excuse for a tea break.

Yours sincerely - Billy