An ex policeman's view of law and order

(and mine) in The Mail.

"As a retired police officer I, and many of my colleagues, have always felt that the government have always deliberately put hurdles in the way of the police gaining convictions resulting in terms of imprisonment.
The prison population has remained relatively static in the last 50 years yet the crime rate has increased dramatically.
My impression was that the government created legislation and procedures to make policing so difficult that a specialist solicitor could always get somebody of on a technicality (deliberately built in).
Another way of keeping effectiveness down is woolly soft sentencing. When I joined the service anyone assaulting an officer automatically went to prison. The theory was that the courts must protect those that protect the public.
Now, they don't even necessarily get prosecuted for that. Offenders can even badly beat up the elderly and still avoid prison.
The government does not protect its public and has not done so during my lifetime."

- Dave, Gloucester, 22/11/2010 00:15

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331806/More-police-streets-does-NOT-mean-crime-claims-minister-Nick-Herbert.html#ixzz15zwDXkFY