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Thames Valley Police Officers Arrest Peaceful Protestor
This
photograph shows the precise moment when Thames Valley Police officers
surrounded a peaceful animal rights protestor's car and dragged out
the driver following a small demonstration on 22nd December. No order
to alight the vehicle was given, and the individual was then thrown
into a police transit van, where they were then held in police custody
before being released without charge. The fact that no charges have
been brought clearly illustrates that this was a totally unprovoked
attack.
The incident occurred no more than minutes after the media had left the
area, and was timed to take place so that there would be no one present
to document the incident. It was a clear case of the harassment by
police of a peaceful campaigner who was exercising the right to protest
within our so-called democracy. Their heavy-handed stop and search
methods were a far cry from the neutral policing methods, of which this
country's force is allegedly meant to be the world's
standard-bearer.
SPEAK has from the outset of our campaign made a point of trying to
reach an understanding with Thames Valley Police. For example after the
7th July bombings in London, we suspended our regular Thursday site
demo in order to free up the police for important work related to the
terrorist attacks. Evidently, our attempts at co-operation have fallen
on deaf ears, culminating in this latest example of politicised
policing.
SPEAK have for months been pointing the finger at Thames Valley Police
and their biased operational methods. An Oxford University employee -
whom the police arrested after witnessing him throw a caustic substance
over a 70 year old protestor - had charges dropped against him, and
the horrific treatment of a primate at the hands of a leading professor
at Oxford University went unpunished after a police investigation,
despite evidence that animal welfare laws had been broken.
That no mitigating circumstances could possibly have been found in
defence of these two cases where laws had clearly been broken, strongly
suggests that the police are in someone's pocket. This influence can
best be illustrated when one considers the fact that two highly placed
individuals who work at Oxford University also hold key positions on
the board of Thames Valley Police Authority - in fact, both men are
vice-chairmen of the authority, throwing the entire question of Thames
Valley Police's neutrality into doubt. A force that is under the
control of either Oxford University or working at the behest of the
Labour Government is unacceptable in a democratic country, where the
Police are meant to uphold the law of the land, not act as a private
security firm for the powerful elite.
We are publishing this photo in the public arena to remind them that as
much as they have eyes, we do too, and that what they do does not go
unnoticed. Perhaps they should remember that, when they next decide to
act beyond the boundaries befitting unbiased policing.
In an attempt to force Thames Valley Police to act in a more
responsible way, we are asking our supporters to use the details
provided below in order to contact those listed and to ask them firstly
for the removal of the two individuals from the board of Thames Valley
Police Authority and secondly, that in future, their methods uphold the
traditions of policing in a democracy.
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Thames Valley Police Authority
The Farmhouse
Oxford Road
Kidlington
Oxon OX5 2NX
All correspondence should be addressed to:
Jim Booth - Executive Director
Telephone: 01865 846780
Email: tvpa@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk
Local Police Area Commander Oxford City
Oxford Police Station
St. Aldates
Oxford
OX1 1SZ
Superintendent Paul Sullivan
Telephone: 0845 8 505 505
Email: paul.sullivan@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk
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