Neighbourhood Policing ? Scottish Style
News in this report that the Ministry of Defence Police are to undertake a higher profile in policing the Rosneath Peninsula on the Clyde in the Scottish Sunday Herald (link):
The MOD Police like the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is paramilitary i.e. organised and equipped like a military force. Over 90% of its officers are armed with a variety of weapons including sub machine guns and assault rifles. It?s unclear if it has the heavier weapons the CNC deploy but like the CNC it uses armoured vehicle.
Alannah Maurer, a resident of the Rosneath peninsula and a spokesperson for the local campaign group, Navy not Nuclear is quoted in the Herald article saying:
?There seems to have been no public consultation nor any statement from Police Scotland to inform the local population of these plans?.
She pointed out that the responsibilities of the MoD police to protect Faslane and Coulport and the movement of nuclear weapons were very different from the law and order responsibilities of Police Scotland. She questioned whether MoD officers were trained to the same standards, and whether they had the experience to deal with the general public.
Arthur West, chair of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament also expressed reservations saying;
?This would be a step towards increasing militarisation of the locality.?
The Scottish government do not seem to have been consulted and again like the CNC which also operates in Scotland these quasi-military armed police forces are answerable to Westminster not Holyrood.
Related link:
Image: Neighbourhood Policing by the MOD Police!
BERNARD MOFFATT
Public Relations Officer Mannin Branch
Issued by: The Mannin branch of the Celtic League.
08/01/17
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