UK law enforcement has told the country’s police that they are not “thought police” and should instead focus on real crime.
The UK’s new chief law enforcement officer, Andy Cook, says police should remember that they are not “thought police” and focus instead on the fundamentals of policing.
Cook’s comments come at a time when the British police force is becoming increasingly popular due to its obsession with controlling political views, and recently there has been controversy over the recording of so-called “non-criminal hate incidents” against those with political beliefs. transgender people. . This prompted the ruling Conservative Party to promise to end the recording of such wrongdoings.
According to the report TimeThe view that British police should not protect the minds of citizens was shared by the country’s new chief police inspector, who said he wanted law enforcement to focus instead on the fundamentals of their business.
“I think it’s really important that we prioritize those most at risk and that the police stay away from the low politics and divergent mentalities that people have,” Cook told the publication.
“These thoughts are not insults unless they translate into action,” he continued. “The law clearly defines what is a crime and what is not.”
This criticism echoes the criticism made by Tom Windsor, the current Chief Inspector’s predecessor, who said earlier that year that “thinking about something is not and should not be a crime”.
The two men also stressed that it is the country’s legislature, not the UK police, that needs to pass new laws on hate speech and hate crime.
Cooke later expressed disappointment at the low rate of police clearance in cases involving theft, burglary and sex crimes, and asked ground officials to redouble their efforts by going back to basics about their jobs.
UK to eliminate use of ‘Orwellian’ non-criminal hate stories in the fight for freedom of expression https://t.co/FEslIFQ7uH
– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) 23 December 2021
Cooke’s comments came amid an extended investigation into police reporting of so-called “non-criminal hate crimes”, in which police maintain official records of several incidents deemed problematic despite such non-criminal incidents.
Even if no crime has been recorded, such incident records can emerge when a person is being questioned by the police, making it difficult for the person to find a job.
After a judge learned that a British police officer had acted illegally while recording a particular “non-criminal hate incident”, Home Secretary Priti Patel promised to issue new instructions to prevent police from recording such incidents.
“The police will always support me in a thorough investigation of hate crimes, but they must do so while protecting the basic right to freedom of expression,” a Conservative Party politician previously said.
“Some existing practices have a detrimental effect on freedom of expression and potentially prevent people from expressing their views,” he continued.
Source: Breitbart
