What do people think about the litter incident in Croydon?

Question

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/18/ukcrime.youthjustice

Answer 1

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

I really dislike violence of any kind in any shape or form from any age group or section of the population but I really think it is the whole absurd litter issue that is 'spiralling out of control', another sensationalist phrase which I hate btw.

Okay think about it, there was that story recently in the press about a white mother who dropped a child's half eaten sausage roll and got reprimanded and everyone leapt to her defence and said that this was high-handed.  Then we have the fact that there is litter on the ground in a lot of urban areas so a lot of people are obviously dropping it and getting away with it, so when a person occasionally gets reprimanded they are bound to think it is unfair.  Littering is unpleasant and anti-social and symbolic of something rather sloppy but let's face it isn't one of the more serious or damaging criminal activities that we have to contend with.  We also have a society that encourages fast food outlets and the consumption of things like canned drinks and crisps but, probably because of bomb risks, doesn't provide adequate litter bins in most public areas.  And do you think the officers would have similarily confronted for instance a white 'chav' mum?  I think this has to be seen at the least as an example of insensitive policing until there is some more coherent policy about littering so that these random strikes are not seen as anything other than opportunities for harrassment of certain groups in society, or just as plain unfairness or pettiness.

I find this especially upsetting because I was living on the Broadwater Farm estate at the time of the 'riot' in the 1980s, and since then a lot of hard work has been done by the residents, the council, the police and other organisations to improve the estate and the quality of life on it, with more sensitive community policing to improve relations and co-operation especially with the black community being a priority.  It's as though Croydon puts us back over twenty years to square one and the lessons have not been learned about not creating  flashpoints over things which may not be worth it.

Edit,

Omg this is brilliant, I now apparantly have five thumbs down for daring to state a bit of rationalism and truth if the racists like it or not who are spammng diligently for the BNP.  Please do us all a favour and tell us if you are attempting to spam for the BNP, we have all looked at your website and know that the BNP are encouraging members into 'cyber-activism' and stirring up racial hatred, which no other political parties in the UK are doing at the moment.  I am prepared to state that I am a bit of a liberal leftie, but why are no other political parties being invited to join in the debate?

Oooh and thank you ever so much to the one intrepid soul who has given me the thumbs up, return your compliment when I can, can't say when or how but thanks a million.

When you are taken ill and God forbid admitted into hospital you will find that most of the doctors and nurses and domestic staff who will care for you will be 'immigrants', do you seriously want to discuss this?

Further edit, excuse me, the lady dropped one crisp packet, this is not going to destroy Western culture, get a grip please.

Answer 2

disgraceful behaviour from all of them...

some kids and adults have no respect for rules and the law, they think they"re above it..

something needs to be done to stop these kids acting like thugs or its only going to get a lot worse.

Answer 3

Following recent cases of police bulling of people for photographing in public and wasting time interviewing school children about an Internet film, it is almost good to be able to empathise with the police for doing their job.

Maybe a resurrection of The Riot Act would be a better deterrent than the rather restricted sanctions that Courts can apply to minors.

Having described the gang of black youths as animals, I would not be at all surprised if these officers are disciplined for racism and the thugs paid compensation.

Answer 4

I am not being racist i have many black and asian friends, but with the immigration culture of our Governments past and present. You can see a decline in respect for the law and people, as more and more people come into the country. Don't take my word for it, look at the facts and figures, this countries respect for things has nosedived in the past years.

Answer 5

This was bound to come what with letting so many immigrants into the country. Typical black behaviour - when they are 10+ blacks to 2 whites they get aggressive and start a violent incident. It's the only way they know how to respond.

Enoch Powell saw it coming but the weak-hearted liberals did not believe him.

Answer 6

These things happen-were the police black as well?

The offense was trivial-most turn a blind eye to litter dropping although technically it's against the Law

Seems like a bit of over zealousness-cheekyness-ganging up in support of a black brother and hotbloodedness!

Ridiculous -and no one is above the Law!

Answer 7

I just hope that the culprits are brought to justice and I mean serious justice - a long prison term.

I visited London a few weeks ago and was walking in Ealing and passed a group of black men standing outside of a newsagents. One of the group dropped a drinks carton onto the floor with contempt.....and I looked at him and he just looked back with a look that said I can do whatever I want to do......

I know it's only litter but is this not where respect starts?

Answer 8

The cops bollocked her because she littered the street,rightly so,not because she was black ,chill out soul brothers and sisters.This sort of reaction creates racial tensions------not good bruv.

Answer 9

This is the part of England where all these stabbings are happening. What is annoying though is that the British media virtually never say that the people doing the stabbings are nearly all BLACKS. The same as ALL the violent people involved in this incident are blacks.

What happened to Britain’s leaders who once looked after the country but now are h**l bent on turning the country into a third-world h**l hole?

Answer 10

I would have immediately called in the police and tried to help the police even if it meant getting bitten..soon as these people are robbed, they'll ask where were the police..the answer is that the police won't want to help if the area is notorious for this kind of behaviour.

Wednesday afternoon and a 15 year old isn't in school..hello..what are these parents doing!

I read the article this morning, it's like this every day, school age kids playing truant...what happened to the law that can fine or even lock up the parents of persistent truants.

The problem is more than littering, it's about modern PC values and liberal parenting, liberal schooling and not enough severe punishments for kids.

Answer 11

"the girl's parents arrived at the police station they complained that the start of her summer holiday had been disrupted."

what the heck no wonder the girl is a tearaway with an idiot mum and dad.

i live a tram ride away from croydon. i've been shopping there many times never seen any trouble, maybe i've been lucky - usually only go on saturday afternoon.

also i dont hang out there a lot so that might explan why i've walked around croydon not seeing trouble

Answer 12

That place needs a mini-nuke or a Brazillian Death Squad!

The Cops should have CS spayed them all! - Scum!

Answer 13

I found this horrifying, if this can happen to police officers in uniform what would have happened had it been anyone else.  No wonder people in this country are looking the other way.  We have lost respect and those who flout the laws and bylaws are getting away with it because no one is brave enough to take a stand.

I've read some of the other posts, my answer is applicable universally regardless of  creed or colour

Answer 14

I live not far from Croydon and it's grim. Don't ever go there if you can help it. All the scum and Chavs come down from New Addington and on a Saturday night it's like a bad scene from a boozing documentary with everyone drunk, the lads shouting, arguing and fighting their own mates, girls wearing next to nothing falling over, passing out and yelling and crying.

They should flatten it and start again. This incident doesn't suprise me judging by the people that go there. It's got a tense aggro vibe. Look how many stabbings have happened in the area recently.

Answer 15

There is just no respect for the law anymore. The country is spiralling out of control.