From BigBrotherWatch
Some time ago, Big Brother Watch was contacted by a person
who had just been visited by the police. Not because he was suspected of a
crime or involved in one. The Police wanted to know what he was planning when
the Olympic Torch Relay came to town. We’re told an 80 year old man was also
visited.
This wasn’t based on any evidence something was being
planned, nor had the individual been involved in anti-Olympic protests at other
points on the torch relay. So we decided to find out how many others had been
visited.
It turned out Devon and Cornwall Constabulary visited 18
people, which seemed a surprisingly high number. So we decided to ask every
other force in the country if they’d done the same.
On Monday this week we receieved six responses. Since then
we’ve had a further ten. All the responses, with one exception, are identical. We can only assume someone,
somewhere has supplied the forces with the template response to our request,
but the detail is quite remarkable for it’s tone and severity.
The forces claim that “Disclosure of the information
requested would cause operational harm to [insert force name] and affect the
force’s ability to fulfil the core function of law enforcement in the future”
Apparently it’s a secret that the police talk to people.
It goes on: “The release of information identifying the
focus of policing activity in safeguarding public order and the prevention of
terrorism could be used to the advantage of terrorists or criminal
organisations.”
So anyone planning to protest during the Olympic torch relay
is a terrorist now?
“To disclose
intelligence, tactics and methods used to ensure the safety and security of the
Olympic Torch Relay may make them ineffectual for future similar events and
future Olympic Torch Relays which may pass through the United Kingdom.”
You’d be forgiven for thinking we’re making this up, but
alas no.
The fact that police forces are devoting resources to pre-crime investigations about they Olympic torch relay demonstrates how utterly out of proportion the Olympic security operation has become. Rather than investigating crimes that have actually happened, the police are wasting their time questioning people about a potential protest, something that is neither a crime nor a security risk.
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