UK: Land of the Free
So, you Brits who keep saying, "Whoa, those Yanks sure are screwed up. Good thing we'll never have any problems like that over here!"
- Army could patrol UK streets -
19/06/2005
"In an attempt to crack down on alcohol-fuelled disorder, dozens of towns around the country will draft in military police to help civilian officers arrest drunken yobs, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.
Home secretary Charles Clarke has ordered the initiative following an experiment at a town in Hertfordshire, southern England, where military police were used to patrol the streets late at night.
They were mainly there to keep order among soldiers from a nearby army base, but also arrested civilians who were drunk and causing trouble, which they are entitled to do under British law, the paper said.
Local police found people responding well to the uniformed military officers - who were not armed, but carried batons - and the government decided to expand the experiment to a series of other towns, mainly near military bases.
"We do not expect hundreds of troops on the streets, but we think the very presence of unarmed troops will deter bad behaviour," a ministry of defence official told the paper.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,6119,2-10-1462_1723441,00.html
- Of course this isn't the end of the world, and of course it hasn't happened yet.
But once again, we see the contemporary political mind in action, "Oh no! Bad behavior! Send in the troops!"
.
- Army could patrol UK streets -
19/06/2005
"In an attempt to crack down on alcohol-fuelled disorder, dozens of towns around the country will draft in military police to help civilian officers arrest drunken yobs, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.
Home secretary Charles Clarke has ordered the initiative following an experiment at a town in Hertfordshire, southern England, where military police were used to patrol the streets late at night.
They were mainly there to keep order among soldiers from a nearby army base, but also arrested civilians who were drunk and causing trouble, which they are entitled to do under British law, the paper said.
Local police found people responding well to the uniformed military officers - who were not armed, but carried batons - and the government decided to expand the experiment to a series of other towns, mainly near military bases.
"We do not expect hundreds of troops on the streets, but we think the very presence of unarmed troops will deter bad behaviour," a ministry of defence official told the paper.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,6119,2-10-1462_1723441,00.html
- Of course this isn't the end of the world, and of course it hasn't happened yet.
But once again, we see the contemporary political mind in action, "Oh no! Bad behavior! Send in the troops!"
.