For Kade-Liam Read, his summer holiday was meant to be filled with happy memories of the five cousins he rarely sees. Instead the nine-year-old was left ‘terrified’ after a PCSO gave him a stern warning for climbing a tree, leaving him standing in the park with paperwork to fill out. The boy, who lives in Germany, was visiting his cousins in Churchdown, Gloucester, and his parents now fear he will be too scared to return to England.
His father Bryan Read, 45, said: “They were just playing on the park and climbing the tree when the community police came and gave them a blue slip for anti-social behaviour. They said they were abusive but my son can’t even speak English so how could he be abusive?”
[…]
A force spokeswoman said today: ‘While we would not discourage any child from playing and having fun in a park we must also respond to official complaints made from the public.
[…]
‘A PCSO was sent to talk to the children who explained to them that their behaviour had upset one of the neighbours, and that it would be better if they played further away from the houses to avoid any further upset. It was explained that no criminal offence had taken place and that they were not in trouble but, in accordance to national policy, they had to be given a Stop and Account form to show where and why they were spoken to.
Everyone, every activity, has to have a piece of paper. Right.
Give the copper a little video camera and chip him. Saves on paperwork.
I do believe the slip for anti-social behaviour should be given to the neighbors.
I am starting to think that George Orwell was from the future but even the Vulcan Science directorate knows that time travel is impossible.
#3 “even the Vulcan Science directorate knows that time travel is impossible.”
You didn’t watch the last Star Trek movie, did you?
Anyway, it is creepy that cops have nothing better to do than go after children climbing trees. Boys climb trees, run around playing soldier while holding a fallen branches as rifles, or play football or baseball.
In England, I guess, any child that shows any indication that they are having fun is made to take drugs (like Ritalin) to make sure they are too tired to have fun. They are not allowed to play outside, but they are also not allowed to play video games and get obese either.
Now even Germans are saying UK police is too overbearing… oh, the irony… I suggest a new slogan for British police: “Ordnung Muss Sein!”
“UK police is too overbearing”
Be fair, they’re only overbearing on normal law abiding citizens; with actual criminals they’re lenient as fuck.
In China things are worse, but England is catching up.
Urgh. I can’t believe how you people always seem to fall for this stuff hook, line and sinker. This article is from the Daily Wail. Maybe you Americans don’t understand that whenever you see an article from this paper, it is mainly completely reactionary, tabloid rubbish, if not completely made up. It is a paper for old, out of touch people who constantly think nothing is as good as “the good old days”, and are forever convinced the world is going to pot, and that every young person is a knife weilding “hoodie” and they should never leave the house…EVER!
Look at that facts of the case. The kids were playing in a park, and someone reported to the police they were causing trouble (Ironically, the sorts of people who complain about “youth” gathering outside are exactly the sort of people who read the Daily Mail). The police came along and moved them on, and just signed a little bit of paper to let them know what has happened, for legal, and reporting reasons no doubt. Seems like a simple everyday incident.
However, when the Daily Fail gets hold of it, its suddenly the police abusing children, and wasting time on none-issues, and the police state coming down onto poor normal folks. Not to mention that the kids are now TERRIFIED to come to England again, because they were moved on by some police. Talk about melodramatic. Me thinks this has been overhyped for dramatic effect somehow. I’m sorry, but if someone reports a group of kids causing trouble or whatever, the police HAVE to reply. Would you prefer it if the police dismissed any calls from gangs of youths causing trouble? I’m sure if they did this, the Daily Wail would be straight onto how the police are neglecting the poor poor members of the public. They were in the war you know?!?
Basically, Whenever you see an article from this paper, just imagine an 80 year old man in a rocking chair, wearing his adult diaper, constantly decrying how things aren’t how they used to be, and that you can’t leave the doors unlocked like you used to be able to in the old days, and how the internet was in black and white, and kids respected their elders, etc etc etc (despite all objective evidence showing the opposite)
The funny thing is that America now thinks that the UK is some big Nanny state, largely because of papers like this which everyone seems to believe. When I lived in America I didn’t see any papers of the equivilent, so maybe thats why Americans think that “Hitler would be proud”, and think we are so far ahead in the who police state thing.
Just for fun, lets look at the last 3 DU articles for America and the UK, and see which ones show more “police state” activities, and decide from there who is further down the road
UK:
kids moved on by police for playing in a tree
Police stopped a party for someones birthday, fearing it may be a rave.
parents not allowed to watch their children at school sports day incase of pedophiles
USA:
Log onto website and government controls your PC
Guy arrested for saying he hated the cops.
men getting 5 years prison for gang sign on myspace profile.
Look at the evidence objectively. All of the UK ones were quite trivial things, which resulted in everyone going “OMGG, POLICE STATE, LOLZ!!11”, mainly due to Daily Mail hype.
The ones in America seem much worse. The 4th one on the list woulds have been the guy who was in jail for 11 months for being accused of being an illigal immigrant. In America, people are being properly fricking arrested, and the government is actively claiming PC’s as their own that log onto their scrap cars website. Not to mention things like the patriot act, etc etc, which we don’t have in the UK.
Just because you Americans have a subdued media, and ours is still a bit more active, it may give the illusion that we are more totalitarian than you, as it gets reported and overhypred more. However, if you look at the stories objectively, you are a lot further down the road than us.
“who explained to them that their behaviour had upset one of the neighbours”.
Yeah, I find children playing happily offensive too.
“They were just playing on the park and climbing the tree”..
“that their behaviour had upset one of the neighbours”
Then don’t live next to a park if kids playing upset you dumbass.
Let’s see…the kid wasn’t ticketed or “busted” and his offense wasn’t climbing a tree. But, he WAS 9 years old so, at least, that part of the title was correct.
“A report was made to us by a resident who complained of rude and anti-social behavior”
A new meme?
“Get outta my tree, punk!”
“They said they were abusive but my son can’t even speak English so how could he be abusive?”
– I don’t think Germans have ever had a problem being abusive…
This just begs for a Cleese-esque sendup, complete with phony German accent and lines such as: “What kind of tree is that?” “A what? I can’t hear you!” “A fagus?” “A fagus??” “You can stand there in broad daylight and tell me that tree is a fagus? Do they teach you no-sink in schooool in Deutschland, little boy? Or is that just the biggest lie your teacher could think of at the time?” And so on. Just begging.
On a serious note, the original call might have resulted from a genuine affection for children, and not wanting to see them fall out of the tree from a great height–or land awkwardly–and become paraplegics. You might call it “tough love” and it is practised by cranky adults and grandparents all over the world. We really don’t know the details.
What are community police? Is this some UK government job creation scheme for would be real police who can’t make the grade? Busybody paper shufflers seems like a better title. Pathetic.
# 9. Some things are better I’m sure but in the old days England wasn’t an absolutely over the top police state and it is now.
We Americans watch England with horror because we’re next.
Maybe it’s time for the President to “blue-slip” the UK, as their actions are upsetting us Americans.
I gotta go with podman: what the hell are community police? I lived in the UK for a few years around the turn of the century (20 to 21st, thank you) and I don’t remember any community police.
Is this some sort of neighborhood watch?
I don’t care if the story is hyped — if the “community police” had to fill out forms and give the kids a copy just because they talked to the lads, that’s oppression by bureaucracy!
“Community Police?” and a “Stop and Account form?” – Sheez! Sounds like it could be a comic bit from “Demolition Man.” Funny movie (1993, can you believe it was 16 years ago?) but not funny for real.
Hard to believe that Stallone, Bullock and Snipes were such a prescient trio – but I love the movie anyway. Just don’t make it real life.
Whatever British slip of paper that equates to the Constitution in the US needs to be ripped up and redone. You folks over there need to stand up for yourselves and take down the cameras and draft some proper rules for your government. And then enforce them better than the US does.