When Tracy Ryan spotted a suspected burglar emerging from the dog sanctuary where she works, she thought she would have little problem pointing him out to police.
After all, he had a large port-wine stain on his face.
But when police set up an identity parade, they refused to take the man's distinctive birthmark into account - in case it infringed his human rights.
An officer from the Nottinghamshire force explained that the mark was too rare to be included in a profile of the burglar when it was entered into a computer database.
It would leave only a small pool of potential suspects in the electronic ID parade, he said, breaking police rules. [emphasis added]
Under laws designed to take into account 'the rights and freedoms of the public', witnesses must be shown a minimum of 12 photographs before they are allowed to identify a suspect. ...
Article here. So apparently, if you can actually narrow down the suspect pool via distinguishing marks, tattoos, etc., that's a bad thing. And this, in the country that gave us the first modern police force.
Think that's bad? Then you obviously haven't read this article:
A mother who was punched to the floor in her own home by yobs was stunned when police advised her not to call officers to her house - because it would 'escalate' the problem.
Nikki Collen, 39, begged officers for help after a thug kicked in her front door and punched her to the floor in her hallway.
After her attacker fled, Nikki rang Warwickshire Police who promised to send an officer to her home in Kenilworth.
But an hour later she received a phone call from a woman police officer who told her it would be better if police did not attend because it might inflame the situation. [emphasis added]
Mother-of-two Nikki, who is studying an Open University degree in nursing, said: 'I couldn't believe it.
'I was attacked and wanted to report it but the officer was persuading me not to press charges.
'She even told me that if the bullies saw a police officer at my home it could escalate the problem further.
'I was so scared I asked what I should do and she told me to try and sort it out on my own. I was really upset and felt really alone. ...
The Brits have allowed their society to devolve into this legalistic and morally repugnant morass. Let's hope we Americans don't tolerate the imposition of such nonsense here.
Of course, the police neither have the legal duty, nor in the vast majority of cases the actual ability to protect any individual private citizen. If British subjects had any misconceptions on these points, hopefully stories like Ms. Collen's will help disabuse them of those misconceptions. You're on your own when it comes to personal protection. Always have been, whether you knew it or not.
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