How does anyone know that the person in the photograph is the perpetrator? It's not necessarily a fact, it's what the victim says. He might be lying, it might be a photograph of someone else. That's why we have police and prosecutors, to assess the evidence and determine what facts might be suggested by the evidence. The police have to do their job properly, I accept that, and they sometimes don't. But give licence to members of the public to put their own judgement in place of the police goes closer to lynch law than you're admitting.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Trent
> Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 1:35 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [data-protection] DPA to blame agai n
>
> You know, everyone is making this unduly complex and legalistic.
>
> Fact: A crime was committed
> Fact: The perpetrator has been identified.
>
> What seems to be happening is that a police force is blaming its failure to
> act (I seem to recall they never even took a witness statement?) on
> legislation that is a side issue.
>
> This is not lynch law. This is a person who has identified a perpetrator
> and a police force with more excuses than manpower.
>
> I am reminded of a flasher in the woods in Bracknell who flashed my wife
> rather aggressively. She reported him to the police who never bothered to
> come and take a statement from her.
>
> This endless navel gazing about whether it was legal for the poor shopkeeper
> to use his records to identify the jerk in his shop is the same navel gazing
> that allowed Political Correctness to become reality instead of a TV Satire
> Show sketch where it originated.
>
> What should happen next is simple. The police should accept the material
> from the shopkeeper, make a determination about what different or additional
> evidence they need to bring their investigation to a conclusion, and
> determine with the DPP whether to prosecute. Rocket science this is not.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Turner,Tim (Corporate
> Resources)
> Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 1:24 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [data-protection] FW: [data-protection] DPA to blame agai n
>
> I don't think anyone comes out of this well. I think the victim of the crime
> has reacted in a way which makes investigating that crime more difficult.
> And yet as the victim of a burglary in November which will almost certainly
> never be solved, I think the police have acted unwisely in that they could
> use the photographs (which represent a strong tipoff) even if they think the
> rest of the evidence is tainted. Their own inquiries using the pictures
> could turn up the same data without the data protection problems. A society
> where citizens go round attempting to sort out their own justice easily
> turns into anarchy. A society where the police don't investigate crimes
> quickly or efficiently faces the same risk.
>
> Tim Turner
> Data and Information Security Officer
> Derbyshire County Council
> Tel: 01629 580000 ext 7373
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> > [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Antoinette Carter
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 1:06 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: [data-protection] FW: [data-protection] DPA to blame
> agai n
> >
> > I feel nothing but sympathy for the position of the police here. Love
> > or loathe them, the Police have an extraordinarily difficult job to
> > do, and I think they need all the help and support of the community to
> > do that job properly. The Police quite rightly pointed out that there>
> > was no way they can prosecute a case based on the "evidence" collected
> > by the shop-keeper for a crime that has neither been officially
> > reported or until the evidence has been verified. Or do we send
> > people to prison on anybody's say-so these days? Just because the
> > victim believes he has tracked down the correct man who attacked him,
> > doesn't mean that he actually has. And how can the Police be expected
> > to investigate a crime until they have a statement of facts from the
> > victim? They can't just put that sort of evidence before the Crown
> > Prosecution Service; they need to prove their case. These are facts
> > of life. This is not a cheap ITV drama, this is real life; and in
> > real life, amateur sleuths actually don't know what the blazes they
> > are doing, and don't know what damage they might do to an otherwise
> > clear-cut case by interfering with the proper process of law. Well,
> that's my rant over for the day!! I feel much better now.....
> >
> >
>
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