Short hot summer 1981
Submitted by wojtek on Jan 10 2012 19:31
A series of articles by History is Made at Night on the 1981 July uprisings/ riots, which occurred in Brixton, Southall, Toxteth, Moss Side, Wood Green, London, Leicester and Bradford.
Brixton Uprising 1981
Thirty years ago, Brixton exploded in the middle of Operation Swamp 81 - a police operaation that saw almost 950 mainly black young people stopped and searched in the area. It was the start of a period that saw uprisings up and down the country, reaching a peak in July 1981.
It was April 1981,
Down in the ghetto of Brixton,
On the death of Colin Roach and “community policing”, 1983 - Workers Playtime
Submitted by wojtek on Jan 8 2012 14:56
An article by Workers Playtime on the death of Colin Roach in 1983 and the inability/ unwillingness of the police, politicians and community leaders to render justice.
London Under Six Foot of Blue Sewage
The abortive attempt by the filth to hunt down David Martin using a process of elimination made visible the new style of London policing. The novelty doesn’t lie in the botched assassination of Stephen Waldorf. That’s only causing a stir because the wrong person was taken out (middle-class, clean record, influential friends).
St Pauls uprising, Bristol 1980
Submitted by wojtek on Jan 8 2012 13:44
An article on the 1980 uprising in St. Pauls, Bristol and the music scene which flourished there after with excerpts from contemporary literature.
[i]The current ConDem government has faced riotous opposition six months after coming into office. The last time a new Conservative government came in in 1979 it took almost a year for this state of affairs to arise, but the riots were much more ferocious than anything seen in recent years. In the St Paul's area of Bristol in April 1980 the riot saw police cars and a Lloyds Bank set on fire.
Evelyn Manesta and the resistance to "modern" photographic surveillance
Submitted by wojtek on Jan 7 2012 02:14
An article by Not Bored's Bill Brown on the Suffragettes' resistance to modern photographic surveillance, the introduction of which exposes the fallacy of the 'democratic' State.
Thanks to the recent discovery of 90-year-old police files, unearthed by researchers at the National Archives in Kew, England, one can say with some confidence that - in England, at least - "modern" photographic surveillance began in September 1913.
The police: the case against - Polite Ire
There is a commonly held assumption that the police are a necessary presence in a civilised society, one that ensures the preservation of social order. And yet this assumption is deeply ideological, blurring the distinction between the act of policing with the existence of an institutional police force. Polite Ire queries the supposed necessity of the police, asking how they gain their legitimacy and whether this is deserved.
This article will also consider how such legitimacy fluctuates according to the political, social, and economic context, both by looking at historical examples of police (de)politicisation (within the UK), and upon the situation under the coalition government and austerity measures.
Kettling 2.0: The Olympic State of Exception and TSG Action Figures
A piece by Dan Hancox discussing the restrictions on free assembly, freedom of movement and the commons in relation to the dismantling of the welfare state and the upcoming 2012 Olympics.
After the kettle, the cordon
Sorry plod, I really do not give a damn
Submitted by working class s... on Dec 7 2011 21:11
A police federation report highlights the absolutely disgusting working conditions that the police had to endure during the riots earlier this year.
The Police Federation, the staff association for police officers has published a long winded report into how police officers coped during the riots earlier this year. The report is based on the views of 8,500 officers who participated in a study.
Notes on Oakland 2011
Submitted by maxrenn on Nov 6 2011 16:55
A first-hand account and reflection on the events of November 2, where there was an attempted wildcat general strike.
by Asad Haider
originally published at Viewpoint Magazine
Policing politics? Or, what do you do when the president of your student's union is a cop?
Submitted by Ramona on Nov 3 2011 14:01
My friend Joel White wrote this piece, about the president of our student's union, who is also a Special Constable. It appeared in the University's student newspaper and also on Bright Green. Personally, I'd have gone further, criticising the role of both police and elected representatives, and pointed out that Specials are worse than normal cops cos they do it for free, but still an interesting piece especially considering it was aimed initially at an apolitical student body rather than anyone directly involved with any kind of organising.
The independence of policing and politics is a fundamental principle of democracy. Yet, as very few people at our university know, Matt McPherson, the elected President of Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA), is also a part time special constable with Lothian and Borders police.
Anti-police murder march in Atlanta
Submitted by Metakosmia on Oct 19 2011 17:21
Around 200 Atlantans march rowdily through the downtown business district in response to police murder of a 19 year old at the Vine City MARTA station in the city's west end.
On October 15th, 2011 at the Vine City MARTA station, in Atlanta's West End, 19 year old Joetavius Stafford was murdered in cold blood by Robert Waldo, a white MARTA police officer.
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