| Friday, August 10, 2001 |
Excellent feed-back after police recruitment picketing.
Today's demo against police's attempt to recruit people from
'ethnic minorities' was a big success. We were just four of us but this shows the possibilities and the need to mobilize before any attempt of the system to wash their image.
The fear of facing a harsh attitude from the police was vanished as we weren't taken in consideration that they are also in a muddy ground were they could behave badly but trying to show a nice side of the force (if they have one) in the community.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary had enclosed a leaflet in the free community magazine, Planet Easton (very political and progressive and a real voice for the community despite its inserts). Therefore this flyer had been posted to every
single house in the area with this publication. Sure they spent some money: glossy, full colour.. And sure they spent some money too in the attempt: a bus was parked outside the Easton Job Centre where the police together with the Job centre were starting the recruitment from.
The bus was taking the candidates for a tour around constabulary facilities (I tell you: better there than
inside a fucking vacuum van handcuffed and with a coppers knee on your back as other activists and Black people have
experienced), police helicopter 9the same one which gives so
much hassle in the area every fucking night!). For this they had mobilized 4 New Deal workers and about other 4 plain-cloth who laughed at us as we unfolded our banners. They weren't that smiley when they read our plackcard with info and text direct on the police's racism. We also had banners for Gary Mills and Tony Poole who have been for 12 years inside after being stiched up by the coppers for the
death of Hensley Wiltshire -funny enough- in custody and the one we did for the demo on the Genoa aftermath "Stop Police brutality" 'cause brutality and racism are not just the Italian police's patrimony but part of this system (abolish capitalism!) and police everywhere (abolish the
police!).
The bus took just four people (4 people!!!) and buggered off!! It didn't come back as they saw that not many people were into it and that even they had some opossition within the community. Another shift picketed the job centre in the afternoon ( as we write this report). Therefore mission accomplished.
If you want to change your image behave yourself and as far as you serve the ruling class and the multinationals don't bother to come back to our community. Dismantle
the police!
Meet the beat
(we meet it every time !)
Bristol police hold an ethnic minority recruitment session at Easton Job Centre on Tuesday 7th August from 10am - 4pm. The reason to come to the more racially diverse area in Bristol is to recruit cops to improve their racist image within society.
We believe the way of presenting it was intimidatory and misledand wanted to make sure that people weren't put on a position where thay feel forced to follow the police directions.
Last year people in Easton got organised on 'Justice for the Community'because of the spread police abuse against Black and Asian people in the area. In the meeting organized to talk about the two mayor cases who were object of police intimidation, other people shared their experiences too.
A young person pointed out he had been stopped for 15 times in a month since he had got his driving lisence. That is why the police don't have enough members from ethnic minorities groups: because it's a racist institution.
The police is responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths in custody and detention since 1968 (the last one Dereck Benett in Brixton - 20 July) - This is an average of 60 deaths on police hands a year ! Most of them -obviously- from ethnic minorities. The police are currently keeping
busy trying to stop the projection of a video on this matter, Injustice (by Migrant Media). They had managed to cancelled their film's view on two ocassions so far.
The police have being behind all the violence experienced in the last months in race riots. They have always protected the fascists on their marches, as we all know. They were the ones responsible to spread that Oldham had no-go areas for whites, the ones who defined a mugging as
a racist attack on a white, the ones arresting 5 Asians when they had being attacked by fascists, the ones charging Asians when they were attacked by fascists. The ones saying that all this unrest was Asian riots and not fascist and police violence.
The police have ignored the McPherson Report after putting in evidence how racist the force is and after accepting that this was needed to be tackled within the force. Racist attitude and action is still happening.
Racist thugs and murderers still enjoy immunity because of police complacence. One of the latest scandals was the arrest of Stephen Lawrence's cousin by the coppers while he was paying in a shop. He was sprayed with CS gas on his eyes and testicles, subjected to further brutal and humiliating treatment, left hand-cuffed facing down on the
floor and kicked on his balls by the coppers.
In this anti-globalization time -like always before- coppers are leading the repression against our demands because they are -and so they'll be- on the side of the powerful, the rich and obviously the multinationals.
They are the ones beating those who dare to stand up against the system. There is not reason why anyone should join the police.
Whatever your ethnic background is the police defends power and the system.
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