Is This Anti-Terrorism?

Question

2 days ago I picked 3 members of my family up from a major London airport. Upon arrival I could not find the collection point for arrivals so I circled the area twice attempting to look for the correct place; as I am sure many other people do who are unfamiliar with the area.

On the second pass of the car park I was stopped with my 15 year old son present in the car by armed police officers, shouting out at the top of their voices for me to stop behind their checkpoint. I complied and was asked to leave the car and provide details of my name and address (as was my son). They were all verified and the grounds given for the stop were anti-terrorist related. I have no quarms with being stopped as I am sure that this is a highly sensitive site but the events that followed are of concern.

At no point was the inside of my car searched or was myself or my son (this seems one of the obvious procedures being a suspected terrorist stop). It seemed that the police were not entirely concerned about us being terrorists as they spent an inordinate amount of time checking the tyres, windows, tax and general condition of my car. As I drive a high spec car and maintain it properly they rightly could not find any faults with the condition of the vehicle to their chagrin.

After around 25-30 minutes of inspections of my car EXTERIOR they approached me and declared that my license plates were not of the correct dimensions. I was given a £30 fixed penalty and nothing more.

At all times during the 25-30 minute stop 2 armed police officers were training their weapons on both me and my son. Neither of us found the incident traumatising, what I am annoyed with however is the reason for us being stopped and the following events.

Surely being stopped on anti-terrorist ground the condition of the vehicle should be at the back of their minds, with the contents and passengers being at the front of their minds. I cannot make it clear enough that I strongly believe that these officers used these anti-terrorist powers simply to stop my car in order to perform the checks listed above and not what they claimed to stop me for, as they spent most of the time trying to find fault with my car. I could see in their faces that they were to some degree annoyed that they could not find fault with the tyres, windows etc as they had spent no less then 10 minutes examining them.

Can you please share your views with me on this subject and if any of you are involved in law enforcement and other fields give me your thought on this.

Answer 1

What is your ethnic origin? Its a well known fact that a majority of the police force are quite racist. There have been numerous reporters who have gone undercover and filmed this fact. This along with the current war on terror means open season on anyone with non-white skin.

What you have described just seems like intimidation, the same kind of thing that would have happened 20 yrs ago if you happened to be black and drove a nice car.

Arbiter is wrong. Firstly cars can be modded in any way the driver wants, they do not have to fit in with law. Secondly you do not need to have documentation to buy a number plate. You go into any car store and tell them the number you want printed, and they print it for you. ANY style you want (road legal or not). I have had done this dozens of times.

Answer 2

Its because the Filth are all Bigoted,  Racist, Sexist,and any other kind of "ist" you can think of. Also, they are Bored,( bacause the threat of terrorism is as vastly overinflated as their Powers ) Armed, Paranoid, Brain Dead, Bottom feeding, Sub-Human, roided up, Socially mal- adjusted ,suppressed Homosexuals.And thats just the W.P.C's.

BadBeast not like Polis.  

Answer 3

I refer you to my answer to this question in News and Events category.

Answer 4

An over dramatised account!!

If as you say the two armed officers had their weapons trained on you for twenty minutes then you must make a complaint against police immediately and the two officers will be disciplined because it will all have been recorded on video since there is no blank spot from video coverage at the airport.

Of course it would lay you open to charges if it showed your claim was not true!!

If as you claim you drive a high spec car -how did it end up with a non spec licence plate?  The only way a non spec plate can end up on a car bought in the last eight or ten years is if it has been illegally bought and put on!!  You cannot even get a proper plate without all the right docukmentation!!

Sad that you start out being anti terrorist accepting and then used it to snipe at the police!!

Please do put you money and your fate where your mouth is an make that complaint!!  If the officers did train guns on you for twenty minutes then they will be found guilty!!

Answer 5

If you were in the US I'd advise you to "Lawyer Up" and bring some attention to this debacle, but you are not and so that is of little help. But as far as I know you have a very similar judicial system and although London is a high threat level city, the q***r way in which you, your family, and your property were handled raises some serious alarms in my mind. I'd make a formal report as soon as possible at the governing police department ("constabulary" in UK?) of that airport.