‘allo, ‘allo, ‘allo
I’ve just listened to a cracking radio debate on the perception of our police force. I personally respect the authority of the police and do believe they do a difficult, essential and tough job. A pal of mine who did his ‘thirty years’ on the beat in Sheffield once explained to me an average week and I did not envy his lot one little bit – the under-life and the characters he came into constant contact with did not bear thinking about. Having said that I don’t buy the ‘public service’ or the vocational element that some of them bang on about – it’s a job pure and simple, a well-paid one at that, with a great pension at the end of it. Also, many of the police secretly regard themselves as being above the law, and that can only end in tears. Regulation of the police, by the police, is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.
So it was interesting to then read an article concerning the police force in Mexico and my oh my what a comparison that makes for. In one particular southern state, police opened fire on a small group of unarmed demonstrating students, killing six and rounding up the remaining 43, before then handing them over to a violent drug cartel. Needless to say none have been seen since. Federal troops then arrested the police involved and it became known they had been ordered to do so by the region’s mayor. Further investigations found he had, amongst other atrocities, personally shot dead his rivals. It’s one thing to put up with corrupt and selfish politicians but quite another thing to be ruled by sociopathic gangsters.
