HMP Britain

Hundreds of motorcyclists have participated in a mass bike ride through Snowdonia National Park in protest at North Wales Constabulary’s policy of stopping motorcyclists. This policy is called Operation Focus and started in 2003 with the stated objective of “actively prosecute those who ride dangerously or have illegal machines”. Operation Focus–started under the previous Chief Constable–had little to do with the law; it was a cynical attempt to boost the Chief Constable’s pension pot, but we’ll come to that later.

Sadly, the statement by North Wales’ PR department contradicts many motorcyclists who reported they have been harassed with the intention of discouraging them from the North Wales area.

To quote MCM:

North Wales Police denies it wants to drive riders away but a motorcycle officer in the road policing unit of another force said: “From the outside it certainly looks that way. Four hundred is an enormous number of riders to stop in a weekend. We stop about 1,000 a year.”

The targeting of minor motoring offences in this way is a fantastic way of increasing the force’s ‘offences brought to justice’ performance figure, a common component of a Chief Constable’s performance related pay. Do remind yourself of the story earlier this year of front-line constables in North Wales being deployed to target litter so Chief Constable Brunstrom could hit his bonused target before his retirement. As a police man–on a final salary pension scheme–his increased pay through the artificial and cynical inflation of his force’s statistics will reap a massive reward for the duration of his retirement. The police officers of North Wales–who care about real crime–doubtlessly resent fattening the pension pot of management through this meaningless policing.

The persecution and harassment of motorcyclists has a long history in North Wales. Perhaps you can remember the disgusting and obscene publication of images from the fatal accident of a motorcyclist, Mr Mark Gibney. Richard Brunstrom–the Chief Constable–thought it would be a good idea to show journalists a picture of Mark’s severed head as it lay beside the roadside. Brunstrom’s true, vindictive nature was further demonstrated by him gloating over the fact the Mark’s torso–without its head–was clad in a t-shirt containing an anti-police message.

We’ll be looking at North Wales Police over the coming months but the force’s previous management were out of control and a law unto only themselves, and it wasn’t just their uniforms that resembled a paramilitary organisation..

Related posts:

1. Analysis: UK Taser Usage Statistics Detailed look at Taser usage by UK Police Forces. Figures...
2. More PNC Problems in South Wales Police Another police officer has been convicted at South Wales Police...
3. More Information about Nottingham Police Taser Follow up to the Taser incident in Nottingham where a...
4. In Defence of Leicestershire Police A defense of Leicestershire Police in the wake of the...
5. Paedophile Police Officer: Questions Andrew Rowe, a former police officer with Staffordshire Constabulary, was...