BBC Vs Jody McIntyre

During the student demonstrations against the UK's tuition fees hike  in London last week news that a disabled participant had been dragged from his wheelchair by the London Metropolitan Police spread across Twitter like wild fire. However, I was initially sceptical that this had actually happened as in such cases rumours, both real and unsubstantiated can be retweeted by many who do not check upon their validity. Even the photograph that was cited as evidence of the attack was less than conclusive as it was open to a number of interpretations. However, in the age of cheap video technology and Youtube it was perhaps inevitable that footage of the incident would come to light.



As it turned the victim of the assault, Jody McIntyre, is an activist and journalist who has previously been interviewed by the Guardian and so there was a face and a history to go with the images of burly police officers wrestling McIntyre who has cerebal palsy to the ground during the protests. As disgraceful as their conduct was it did not the BBC's Ben Brown from accusing McIntyre of possibly provoking it by attacking the officer using his wheelchair? (no, I'm not making this up)

In what was an appalling piece of gutter journalism a disabled person who'd been assualted not once but twice by the police was called upon to defend himself from accusations by a presenter who has obviously confused his role as a journalist with that of London metropolitan Police's defence lawyer. It is a disgraceful piece of biased reporting that was handled skillfully by McIntyre who calmly and rationally argued the obvious that a person in a wheelchair who needs assistance to move around does not constitute a threat to hundreds of  police officers dressed in riot gear.

The BBC  interview is here.



Jody McIntyre's blog is here and you can follow him on Twitter here.

Working together for a safer Oceania

Orwellian dreams, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Don't rely on others. If you supect it report it.

"We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him. We convert him, we capture his inner mind, we reshape him. We burn all evil and all illusion out of him; we bring him over to our side, not in appearance, but genuinely, heart and soul. We make him one of ourselves before we kill him. [...] we make the brain perfect before we blow it out."

1984 - George Orwell

Updating the classics. This week 1984

Updating the classics., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Counter Subversion Command

Oceania faces a terrorist threat which is truly global in nature.

Post-2000 the Ministry of Love's world renowned Anti-Terrorist Branch and the Office of Political Orthodoxy undertook an unprecedented number of counter-terrorist investigations in the Oceania and abroad.

These investigations, combined with the terrorist attacks in Airstrip One in July 2005 - which claimed 52 lives - starkly demonstrated the increasingly complex nature of the work carried out by the two specialist branches.

Even before the tragic events of 2005 the Ministry had started to review how these commands operated and interacted with one another to deliver a counter-terrorist response.

Following this work it was agreed to create a new bespoke, multi-faceted, single counter-terrorism command - not restricted in design or look by existing structures, with a better capability and capacity to meet ongoing and future threats.

As a result the new Counter Subversion Command was created. This has taken over the roles and responsibilities of the Anti-Terrorist Branch and the Office of Political Orthodoxy and was launched on October 2 2006.

The new command brings together intelligence analysis and development with investigations and operational support activity.

It builds on the world-wide renowned expertise and professionalism of the former Anti-Terrorist Branch and the office of Political Orthodoxy which for many years have been at the forefront of the Ministry's counter-terrorism effort.

And as always the overriding priority of the new command is to keep the public safe and do all it can to ensure that Oceania remains a hostile environment for terrorists and dissidents.

The Counter Subversion Command provides a full operational capability with teams of officers immediately available to respond to any type of incident or investigation.

It is also known as "SO15", an internal police service designation reflecting the fact that it is one of a number of Specialist Operations branches within the Ministry of Love.



Counter Subversion Command is responsible for:

* To bring to justice those engaged in terrorist, domestic extremist and related offences

* To provide a proactive and reactive response to terrorist, domestic dissidence and related offences, including the prevention and disruption of anti - Party activity

* Support the National Co-ordinator of Terrorist Investigations outside the Inner Party

* To gather and exploit intelligence on dissidence and protest in Oceania.

* To assess, analyse and develop intelligence to drive operational activity

* To engage in the covert monitoring of Oceania's communities in order to understand their concerns and to provide reassurance and support where needed

* To provide specialist security advice and services internally and externally

* To provide an explosive ordnance disposal and political purification capability in Oceania

* To assist the Party Security Service and Secret Intelligence Service in fulfilling their statutory roles

* Assisting in the protection of Ingsoc interests overseas and the investigation of attacks against those interests

For more details check out the Counter Subversion Command website.

UK policing tactics at G20 summit get international praise

UK policing tactics at G20 summit garner international praise, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Met chief: G20 police deserve praise despite Tomlinson death

Sir Paul Stephenson says death of passerby is disturbing but crowd 'containment' tactics have received international acclaim

The commissioner of the Metropolitan police went on the offensive today, defending his officers for an "astonishing" police operation during the G20 that he said had received international praise.

Sir Paul Stephenson said his comments were made in the context of a man having died during the demonstration, and of footage that was deeply concerning. But he went out of his way to praise what he said were an overwhelming majority of officers who carried out a professional job on the day.

Picking out the territorial support group (TSG) – which is at the centre of two IPCC investigations into Ian Tomlinson's death and an assault on a woman protester – Stephenson said it was a specialist unit the Met relied on.

"These and others are our first line response to some of the most difficult and challenging situations," he said.

The commissioner, who has spoken personally to TSG officers in a bid to raise their morale, said all knew they were individually accountable for their actions.

He said officers who were found to have deliberately hidden their numbers would be severely disciplined. "If someone is trying to deliberately avoid being identified and their reason is so they can behave inappropriately, criminally, then of course they could face the sack," Stephenson said.

He planned to tackle the problem of police identification by examining whether every officer should wear name tags.

The commissioner said there were supervision problems with some groups of officers and he wanted this improved. "The overwhelming majority did [wear their numbers]. There is not sufficient concentration on intrusive supervision.

"That is what I believe in. It is the job of supervisors to go and find out how good your people are so that you can say well done and sometimes to find out where they are going wrong."

The commissioner spoke as a pathologist was carrying out the third postmortem on Ian Tomlinson's body. It was done at the request of lawyers for the TSG officer seen in footage obtained by the Guardian apparently attacking Tomlinson. The Met will be present at the postmortem after receiving advice from its lawyers.

The IPCC is investigating the circumstances of Tomlinson's death; a second incident in which a TSG sergeant is seen hitting a woman protester; and a third case that resulted from another complaint from a protester about police violence.

Stephenson has asked for a review of all footage in the Met's possession. This is being carried out by the Met's department of professional standards. Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's inspector of constabulary, has been asked to examine the tactics used by the Met for public order events, specifically the issue of containing demonstrators for several hours.

Stephenson said the use of containment had begun after a demonstration in June 1999 when protesters caused £13m worth of damage. "The policy of containment has come from our history. As a consequence of this we … developed a policy of graduated control which at some point may involve containment. If there is a better way to do it we are up for learning it, but we don't know of a way."

Stephenson said he had received acknowledgment from police forces internationally for what the Met achieved during the G20.

"Part of the headlines should be … astonishing operation pulled off by the Met who did a first-class job," he said.

"The overwhelming majority of officers, whatever the stress or provocation, carried out their duties in a professional manner and I want to give them credit for what they achieved." He said his comments were in the context that some of the footage he had seen caused him deep concern, and the Met was cooperating with the IPCC to help provide the answers that Tomlinson's family wanted.

Stephenson said the Met had never misled anyone in the aftermath of Tomlinson's death. He said the scene where he collapsed was secured, sealed off and treated as a crime scene and the press statement the Met released in the aftermath of the death was approved by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

From the Guardian

Ian Tomlinson - Tragedy turns into farce

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry with the latest developments in the Ian Tomlinson case. For those who do not know Tomlinson died just minutes after being assaulted by police during the G20 summit meeting in London at the beginning of the month. Since then the London Metrpolitan Police have mounted a cover up campaign that has, thankfully, been carried out with Keystone Cop efficiency. Silence, evasion, misdirection and stonewalling have characterised their approach to the case. In addition the Independent Police Complaints Commission have just added to the farce surrounding the death.

At first the police failed to mention any connection between their officers and the death of the unfortunate 47 year - old newspaper seller. Then, when footage came out on the Guardian website showing the assault they attempted to get the video pulled. If that was not enough the IPCC said that there was no CCTV coverage of the event, only to have that absurd claim (we're talking about the heart of London, home to more surveillance camera than virtually anywhere else on Earth) debunked by photographic evidence taken on the day. In addition just four of the dozen or so officers present during the attack have come forward.

With more than 120 official complaints about police violence during the summit pending the latest revelation of a police officer assaulting a woman during a vigil in honour of Ian Tomlinson is just another nail in the coffin of the police's reputation.



The attack takes place at about 3.20 mins. Notice that the officer has hidden his ID number in clear contravention of police rules. Then again; "you're not cop, you're little people".

Stop! In the name of love before I break your heart.

Stop! In the name of love before I break your heart., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Make fun of the b#stards. Show them for what they are. Contempt is our strongest weapon.

In memory of Ian Tomlinson.