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Brixton CopWatch Needs YOUR Support

Brixton CopWatch | 06.11.2007 20:24 | Anti-racism | London

Police monitoring has got to happen.

We are aiming to inform people about our activities, and are presently seeking much-needed support from Brixton-based people.

We are trying to put together volunteer groups who, on a rota-basis, monitor the activities of police on the streets of Brixton, in order to encourage more residents to take an active part in taking control of their streets. By being out on the streets 'CopWatching' we can help promote a better awareness in people about their rights especially vis-a-vis the police.

As well putting together these volunteer groups we want to encourage everybody else to make monitoring the police a part of their daily routine. Every time you notice the police stopping and searching someone you probably have a quick look already. Let's LET the police know we are watching them!

If you are interested in getting involved with Brixton CopWatch either contact us to become part of a regular volunteer monitoring group in Brixton, or email us with your record of any incidents you may 'watch'. The information to obtain for a formal record if you CopWatch is as follows:

Date and time.
Police I.D numbers and descriptions.
Description and/or name(s) of person(s) detained.
General description of incident witnessed (include location, police behaviour, etc.)
If arrested, why?
Name of police station taken to.
Names and addresses of witnesses, especially in the case of unfair treatment.
And any other comments you have regarding the incident witnessed.
(Accompanying video footage, if possible.)

Go over if you see someone has been detained and begin to collect the information. Let the police know you are from copwatch. In Brixton the name has become familiar to them so they will understand what you are doing. Comply with them if they ask you to step back, just in case they try to do you for obstruction, etc., but remain calm and assertively remind them of your right to watch (and film) on public ground. They have been known to distract you with an inquisition on the organisational structures of CopWatch ("so, who's your line manager then?") while they whisk the detained away and out of sight. Don't let them distract you from getting the important details!

Please email with us with any comments or contacts/groups who may also be interested or who are pursuing similar activities. We urgently need more people involved.

Brixton CopWatch

Whose streets?
OUR STREETS!

Brixton CopWatch
- e-mail: brixton_cop_watch@riseup.net
- Homepage: http://Not Yet!

Comments

Hide the following 14 comments

not fashionable to say it but we need the police here!

06.11.2007 23:09

When you say:

"Whose streets?
OUR STREETS!"

Who are you referring to? I think the majority welcome a strong police presence in Brixton. Mostly to protect them from the drug dealing trash that practically live on the high street and make a wonderful place appear to the uninitiated, a miserable hell hole.

Please explain the reasons for your "CopWatch" policy and the efforts you have made to date to voice any concerns with the local police force.

Brixtonite

please

07.11.2007 01:08

Yeah thats right, we have over 40,000 cops on our streets in London and we all feel happy and we don't have any fear of crime whats so ever!

Your being ridiculous. Increase police numbers does not make our lives better. More CCTV does not make our lives better. More laws do not protect us. FFS this system of "law and order" has been going on for hundreds of years and haven't develop any methods to actually protect people. Prison population is over 82,000, its now easier to get into prison with over 1,000 new laws made by the Labour Party since 1997. We are the most surveyed population in the world, yet we all fear and we are scared.

What we need is less police, less state intrusion, less surviellance, more self-organisation and revival of our collective political strengths. And yes they are problems with violence on the street, but the police can not prevent or erradicate it only through developing social struggles on issues can we sort these problems out. Working class people organised collectively are the most efficient way of dealing with these social problems.

A

a

Well of course it is in the mainstream pathetically 'fashionable' to...

07.11.2007 04:45

...give all your power away as an individual and commuity to the po-leece. Thats because you are a peverted collaborative piece of fucking vermin. with NO IDEA WHAT-SO-EVER. OK?

I'm pleased that 'copwatch' has started up here in the UK...Fitwatch etc. I recall seeing this idea on USA websites years ago and did try and promote the idea here, so again, its gratifying to see the thing take off at last...I was kinda worried that somehow I was jinxed so that no idea that I networked would ever take off.

Thanks for doing this work people - its absolutely 100% neccessary to watch these bunch of official BNP perverts, to provide solidarity to each other in the face of their abuse. Its absolutely nessessary also to be aware of who exactly is empowering these state sponsered bully boys - polititions, and those asleep wankers that read the Tabloids...haha. No seriously, that is the key ultimately, to wake up the people to a more accurate perception...change in collective consciousness...like wot Jesus did. R. Think I'll go and hide somewhere :~

King Amdo

I wonder if you guys live in Brixton?

07.11.2007 11:18

Most of what you have said is completely off the point and swearing just makes you appear foolish and ignorant.

I am talking about the local community and their opinions on the matter, which you seem to have no interest in.

So as you regard the police in Brixton to be of no use what is your practical alternative? What do you think should be done to allow people to walk down the street without being threatened by drug dealers for example?

If you have a good idea then please share it so we can help make Brixton a safer place for all to enjoy.

Brixtonite

yuppie tax our communities

07.11.2007 11:18

brixtonite sounds like another smug middle-class yuppie liberal fuckwit ( or a cop or snitch ) and not from Brixton. Brixton like other places e.g suffered rising violent crime due to the cops and the state smashing and dispersing the community leaving it open to exploitation by property developers, middleclassliberal NGO pigfuckaz etc etc. Die scum. We'll feel at least as safe as we need to then.
Comsumer fuckwitz.ha

devil

lots of talk, not much doing

07.11.2007 12:40

Well if anyone has any constructive ideas I would love to participate. It seems most of these posts are just from the usual "anti-everything" lot, who seem to be either slightly unhinged and/or have fascist tendencies. Most of you can't seem to string a sentence together!

Personally, I'm not in favour of more (or any CCTV) or greater police numbers. I'm just interested in a more constructive approach and actually DOING something rather than just whinging and swearing at anyone who has a different opinion.

I might see you in Brixton in one of my favourite liberal/yuppie (yuppie?! Are you living in the 80s?!) hangouts. I like the Ritzy Cinema myself - great place and the best pub in Brixton, the Effra. Perhaps you guys think they should be shutdown and replaced with something less liberal minded?

That is, if you've ever been to Brixton...

Brixtonite

Bloody Well Right

07.11.2007 13:10

after years of the 'drug war' both in brixton and here in camberwell we are still one of the capitals drug shoppers high streets and where are the law? how much help has the millions 'blown' on cctv aided the local community? except so they can follow every step of someone legally protesting for climate change or that they want their own employees (the met) to be accountable?

we are now back in the seventies when the spg [special patrol group] ran and caused riots in brixtion - we now have re-invented sus laws, even though they didn't work then. we also have the highly secretive fit - human cctv - there id covered by armoured vests and no excuse if you try and get pics of oneself through foia.

here in camberwell we also have 'school watch'. half-a-dozen of the mets finest to make sure kiddies behave on the way home? the met are so damned rude adults are also pissed off with them.

come on brixtonite, give, tell us all ONE thing the met is doing to help the local community

Peoples Republic of Southwark II

I agree with all of that.

07.11.2007 14:57

I'm just not really convinced by the "smash the pigs brigade". Everyone knows who and where the dealers are in Brixton - they are the one's shouting "skunk,weird,pills!" at the top of their voices!

I always presumed the reason the police don't just cart them away is because the dealers obviously know the law and so make sure they don't fall foul of it to the point of getting in any serious trouble and then arrests become very unproductive as they do not result in convictions.

The one thing I can say the Met has done is stop a lunatic in Brixton from mugging myself (I made the mistake of giving a guy some cash for the "bus").

Brixtonite

a note for all those whinging about drugs

07.11.2007 19:48

When's the last time you had a dealer come and try to push aspirin on you, or even some carrots?
It doesn't happen because aspirin is sold in chemists, and carrots, well, elsewhere.
If you try to buy a hundred aspirin you may get the chemist looking a bit concerned, suspecting you may use it to try to self-harm.
The same should be with other drugs. Sold in chemists, prescribed, and means to administer the fix safely provided too.
What if we try to smash the Tory booze barons, prohibition got the mob into them too, but you are unlikely to buy booze or ciggies off the street...

str8-edger

Thank you for taking the time to write comments re:copwatch...

07.11.2007 21:33

but would anyone like to use a similar level of energy to join us?

A word to Brixtonite; Would you like to come with us on our rounds? I believe you would benefit from the experience. We have found that the challenge to broaden people's knowledge of their rights is as large as the challenge to create the awareness in 'unaffected' people that the police really do abuse their position. At first we could not believe that there was any trust left in the police force; Brixtonite, you are not the only one who has tried to challenge CopWatch with this point of view, using their limited experience as a justified attack on our efforts.

The 'drug dealing trash' you refer to are a product of our society; fairly self explanatory. If you believe them to be 'trash' but ignore the fact that the make-up of our 'society' is certainly bin-worthy, including your favourite hang-out places, it would occur to me that you too are trash, blindly perpetuating the social system that is increasingly oppressing our lives.... How can you be above the 'trash' when we are all pieces of the same jig-saw puzzle?

Unfortunately you seem to be missing the point by looking at our organisation from a bureaucratic hierarchical point of view. It is not a 'smash the pigs brigade' it is an 'empower the people of the community brigade' to say the least, where is the harm in that?

We see CopWatch as a part of the general process of reclaiming our streets and lives from the capitalist system and the authoritarian state that encourages it. In the short-term we want to engage with any groups or individuals who believe that there may be more effective ways of dealing with issues like crime and drug abuse in Brixton than a belligerent and predominantly white police force.

This will be the last time we use our energy to defend ourselves from unproductive reactionary comments. If you are interested please email us.

Stop arguing, start watching.

Brixton CopWatch.

Brixton CopWatch
mail e-mail: brixton_cop_watch@riseup.net

Public Spirited

07.11.2007 23:26

I think this is an excellent idea, we need members of the community who are willing to give thier valuable time to monitor the police when they overstep the mark..just hope it doesnt interfere with your working day. What also would be nice is that while you are intervening with the police...you also intervene with the drug dealers and the guys mugging women and children at the bus stops in Brixton Rd.....or in the gangs of armed youths roaming the various estates in the Brixton area...but youre probably too busy in your role of self appointed guardian of peoples rights.

i live on a Brixton Council Estate...it isnt always pleasant. And idiots like you are not welcome on it. So Piss off!

kurtz

unelected and unaccountable

08.11.2007 16:33

I spend more than enough time arguing with the police as it is thankyou very much. I have no idea why you make these assumptions about my "experience" with the police.

I tried to write a response to your last paragraph about drug dealers but what you say makes no sense at all. Am I "above" the drug dealing trash? Yes, certainly. As are all decent people (the majority) who don't do things like mug and attack people and generally make the lives of others unbearable.

I'm not a big fan of the police. Some of them are a nightmare and yes, they do bend the rules and sometimes much worse. This is not acceptable. On an individual basis some of them are nice people just trying to do an impossible job.

I think your scheme will do more harm than good in Brixton. You are not elected and therefore you cannot say you have the support of the majority or even a large minority of the community.

Brixtonite

Make up your own mind!

09.11.2007 00:15

COPWATCH - bringing the nightmare to the UK!
COPWATCH - bringing the nightmare to the UK!

And check out  http://copwatch.com/

Does Brixton need these people?

Brixtonite

police the police

03.03.2008 01:41

for sure does not need you Brixtonite
you would rather better move in the new
gentrified Dalston town centre...

why cop watch is needed ?

 http://copwatchla.org/



leaving our community to the police
doesn't make it a safer place...

street