Following the effective strike by #firearms officers in the Metropolitan #Police over one of their colleagues being chased with the murder of #ChrisKaba, we have a situation where the #army is 'supporting' the police in the counter-terrorism activities.
So, the firearms officers think they are above the law, the #Tories seeming interest in service level requirements doesn't seem to apply to armed officers, and we now have the army on the streets.
@ChrisMayLA6 I may be being paranoid, but I’m reminded of a quote from the Battlesta galactica reboot “There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people”
@ChrisMayLA6 Someone pointed out to me when we were discussing this earlier that the last time the army were asked to act as civilian law enforcement was in Northern Ireland. So there's that.
@fkamiah17@ChrisMayLA6 A pedant might suggest the deployment of the military as security for the 2012 Lympics (when G4 proved inadequate to their contracted task) was actually the most recent occasion
@patrickhadfield@ChrisMayLA6 It's not quite the same thing, but the police during the miners' strike was effectively a paramilitary force, particularly at Orgreave.
@patrickhadfield@ChrisMayLA6 Tell me about it. That and the Battle of the Beanfield the year before.
Have you seen Still The Enemy Within? Highly recommended doc about how the police were turned against the population during the strike.
@patrickhadfield I'm an inveterate sobber at pretty much anything but it was such a beautiful example of solidarity, and all too rare, sadly.
The scenes at the end where they spoke to the people they'd helped were incredible.
I'm afraid Still The Enemy Within is just as emotional. Grab the Kleenex before you press play.
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