Velcro… no sharp edges
APEC is by and large over, however, the criticism of the dozens of police who were unidentifiable will be investigated for failing to wear name tags during a weekend protest amid accusations their tactics were unnecessarily heavy-handed.
“People need to remember we’ve had incidents in the past where those badges (when they were made of metal) have been taken by protesters and used as weapons against police- people need to keep an open mind.” -NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
Not placing metal weapons on police which may be used against them in a violent situation is reasonable, however the missing name tags are cotton patches attached with Velcro.
Image text is “STAY IN YOUR HOMES you’ll only get in the way.” Image from here.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:58 am
There is one reason and one reason alone for cops policing a protest march to remove their velcro-backed name badges- and that’s because they are about to commit a few civil rights violations- and would find it just oh-so-inconvenient to be held responsible for them.
At least Ken Moroney had the good common sense to know that if NSW Police got a water cannon, they’d lost control– and the plot.
Scipione has a use-by date- and it’ll come a lot sooner than Moroney’s did.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:51 am
The Sydney fence.
It turns out that NSW Police has a three-year contract with the equipment hire group- Coates, for the fencing.
“If we need it, we can use it,” the NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said yesterday of what will become of the fencing. Like the water cannon, it will lie in reserve for the next big event.
Do you think that Scipione will last as long as the contract? 🙂
September 11th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I think if we see that bloody fence or policing tactics like we saw last weekend, the pressure for a Royal Commission is going to get very high very fast.
To stop abuses of due process in future- and that’s precisely what a copper removing a name badge is doing to those s/he’s engaged (at least in theory) to serve and protect, how about we just eliminate name badges? Put them in jerseys like footy players’, with the officer’s identifying number in big letters, front and back. Even distant video footage or stills could be used to identify officers. Marked police cars have identifying letters painted on bonnets and roofs- no different.
Artist’s conception…
After all, if you’re doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear from being identifiable… eh? 😉
September 11th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
[…] many as 200 NSW Police officers were photographed at the APEC protest who had removed their velcro-backed name badges. Velcro is not terribly effective as a weapon, so Scipione’s name badge pin-stick injury excuse doesn’t hold any water[…]
September 18th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
[…] Commish apparently has been reading mgk and Suki Has An Opinion… but don’t the cops already have velcro name badges? What’s that black strip on […]