Terror Alert

[Fish]

Their own statement now states that it is not believed that there was a creditable threat, from any source , terrorist or otherwise.

Sorry if that disturbs anyone's "agenda".

That is exactly what the West Midlands Polie are saying!

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/no-credible-threat-police-kidnap-8267959

No.

For example; Me a White CoE British citizen could threaten to kidnap a copper and kill him. Does this make me a Terrorist?

I thought an educated fella like you would understand this.

That's all OK in hindsight now AFTER they have arrested and questioned someone, but at the time it was taken extremely seriously, especially as the threat level has been at its highest for some months with officers who have firearm certificates carrying firearms at all times, so, when a call such as this was received, should it just be ignored or acted upon fully, or will we fall into the "cry wolf" story and then get shafted!

 

[Deleted member 18588]

That's all OK in hindsight now AFTER they have arrested and questioned someone, but at the time it was taken extremely seriously, especially as the threat level has been at its highest for some months with officers who have firearm certificates carrying firearms at all times, so, when a call such as this was received, should it just be ignored or acted upon fully, or will we fall into the "cry wolf" story and then get shafted!

Certainly care must be taken to protect both the police and the public but some officers do feel that the ACC may have over -reacted and that there may be a danger of judgement calls being based upon perception and "urban myth".

Either way can provide the terrorists, where they exist, with the result they crave.

 

[Foxholer]

That's all OK in hindsight now AFTER they have arrested and questioned someone, but at the time it was taken extremely seriously, especially as the threat level has been at its highest for some months with officers who have firearm certificates carrying firearms at all times, so, when a call such as this was received, should it just be ignored or acted upon fully, or will we fall into the "cry wolf" story and then get shafted!

There's obviously an escalation process within the WMP's command structure and this incident seems to have rocketed up that process - as might be expected! There's probably a 'better to over-react than under-react' policy in place, which covers the 'cry wolf' issue. But that'll all be part of the WMP's Incident Management process. I'm sure they'll be reviewing this particular incident to see whether any changes to the process need to be made.

Interesting to note the speed with which the 'casual network' operates though! I'm not certain that ALL Firearms Certified officers will be carrying them at ALL times - even at the current terror rating - but there has always been some that do - SO19 is based very close to where I worked a while back and they had a scary array of hardware!

Let's neither be complacent nor panic! Remember that if society has to change too markedly simply because the threat of terrorists, then it has been a victory for the terrorists and a defeat for society, which would be very sad! There are certain examples where I believe USA has already dropped into that state!

 

[SocketRocket]

No.

For example; Me a White CoE British citizen could threaten to kidnap a copper and kill him. Does this make me a Terrorist?

I thought an educated fella like you would understand this.

It would be an act of Terror, yes! Just like some White R/C British Citizens did when they killed people with bombs and guns. Was the killing of Lee Rigby not an act of terror?

terrorism
/ˈtɛrəˌrɪzəm/
noun
1.
systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal
2.
the act of terrorising
3.
the state of being terrorised

 

[Val]

No.

For example; Me a White CoE British citizen could threaten to kidnap a copper and kill him. Does this make me a Terrorist?

I thought an educated fella like you would understand this.

Have a think on that again Stu but I'll throw this in too...

.....Would it make you a terrorist with the exact same criteria and you had a Belfast accent?

 

[SocketRocket]

Have a think on that again Stu but I'll throw this in too...

.....Would it make you a terrorist with the exact same criteria and you had a Belfast accent?

Yes, that's the point I was making.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

That's all OK in hindsight now AFTER they have arrested and questioned someone, but at the time it was taken extremely seriously, especially as the threat level has been at its highest for some months with officers who have firearm certificates carrying firearms at all times, so, when a call such as this was received, should it just be ignored or acted upon fully, or will we fall into the "cry wolf" story and then get shafted!

My comment was made AFTER it was confirmed there was no terrorism threat as aluded to initially.

 

[Foxholer]

Have a think on that again Stu but I'll throw this in too...

.....Would it make you a terrorist with the exact same criteria and you had a Belfast accent?

And if the answer was different, would it make the person making that decision a Racist?

 

[Val]

And if the answer was different, would it make the person making that decision a Racist?

Not sure what you are getting at there but IMO no, not racist.

The reason I used the Belfast accent analogy was for years, and to use Stu's ref, White CoE (and RC) British citizen men were classed as terrorists during the troubles in NI, the only difference from Stu's ref was they were mainly all from NI with Irish accents.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Have a think on that again Stu but I'll throw this in too...

.....Would it make you a terrorist with the exact same criteria and you had a Belfast accent?

No it wouldn't.

 

[Val]

No it wouldn't.

Really?

Then why were 100's of men in jail classed as terrorists from the late 60's onward with the same demographic, white, COE (or RC) British Citzens?

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Not sure what you are getting at there but IMO no, not racist.

The reason I used the Belfast accent analogy was for years, and to use Stu's ref, White CoE (and RC) British citizen men were classed as terrorists during the troubles in NI, the only difference from Stu's ref was they were mainly all from NI with Irish accents.

Religion and politics was the root cause of that was it not?

 

[SocketRocket]

No it wouldn't.

Why not!

I gave you a definition of the word Terrorist, how does this not apply to someone kidnapping a Policeman and killing them? It matters not what race, colour or religion the perpetrator would be, they would be a Terrorist all the same.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Really?

Then why were 100's of men in jail classed as terrorists from the late 60's onward with the same demographic, white, COE (or RC) British Citzens?

A terrorist is a person who uses violence or threatens for political purposes.

Getting back to the OP, did the above apply to this case?

 

[SocketRocket]

Religion and politics was the root cause of that was it not?

No it wasn't, those were only excuses! Mans great indifference to his fellow man were the cause, it always is the cause!

 

[Deleted member 1740]

No it wasn't, those were only excuses! Mans great indifference to his fellow man were the cause, it always is the cause!

I stand corrected!

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Why not!

I gave you a definition of the word Terrorist, how does this not apply to someone kidnapping a Policeman and killing them? It matters not what race, colour or religion the perpetrator would be, they would be a Terrorist all the same.

But then nobody did kidnap and kill a Policeman , nor was there a credible threat to do so.

 

[SocketRocket]

No.

For example; Me a White CoE British citizen could threaten to kidnap a copper and kill him. Does this make me a Terrorist?

I thought an educated fella like you would understand this.

So someone saying they will be kidnapping a Police Officer and killing them is not a Terrorist threat

Whether there was a threat is not the point being debated now. It was more to do with whether a White, C of E /RC British Citizen carrying out such a crime would also be classed a Terrorist.

 

[c1973]

Whether there was a threat is not the point being debated now. It was more to do with whether a White, C of E /RC British Citizen carrying out such a crime would also be classed a Terrorist.

They used to be classed as terrorists, then they started being eligible for Nobel peace prizes!

 

[Foxholer]

Why not!

I gave you a definition of the word Terrorist, how does this not apply to someone kidnapping a Policeman and killing them? It matters not what race, colour or religion the perpetrator would be, they would be a Terrorist all the same.

A single act/incident would not be terrorism imo. Merely Kidnapping and/or Murder.

But, as per the definition you quoted (you should specify the source btw.) systematic acts would.