Neil Woods of LEAPUK, wrote about the “skewed approach” to drugs policy that is “Undermining Policing” and having an adverse impact upon our society. The current Knife Crime Epidemic, is an example in point.
There is still no better definition of what policing should be about other than the original Principles of policing from Sir Robert Peel in 1829. One thing I would add to those principles which is not explicit within them, but implied, is that the police should be honest. (Neil Woods)
Does modern policing stand up to these standards? It would do if not for our drug policy.
The attempt to deal with drugs using the police has completely skewed the ethics of community policing. Peel’s principles as a whole have been breached as a result, but I would invite a discussion about Principle number 9 in particular….
The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.
Good Cop, Bad War (Neil Woods) is an intense account of the true effects of the [failed] War on Drugs and provides a much-needed insight into the high pressure world of British undercover policing.
‘The logic of the drugs war only leads one way: the police get smarter, so the criminals get nastier. Things can only ever go from bad to worse, from savagery to savagery…’
“Starting out in the early 1990s and making the rules up as he went, Neil was at the forefront of police surveillance. He became a successful operative and his expertise was called upon by drugs squads around the country to tackle an ever growing problem.” But after years on the streets, spending time with the vulnerable users at the bottom of the chain, Neil began to question the seemingly futile war he was risking both his life and sanity for. What if the real enemy wasn’t who he thought?
See Neil’s presentation – Time to declare peace in the worlds longest running war – TEDx Newcastle – November 2018 (below).
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