| Is criticism of the police justified? | | | | watching," Mcallister said. |
| "Is the police force structure fit for purpose?" asked | | | | Police Fail Three |
| Robert McFarland in a Guardian (link below) article of | | | | Police knew the car Moat was driving but failed to tell |
| the same name. He went on to say: "...Gloucester, | | | | the public. It was parked for a day in a town called |
| Ipswich, Soham, Whitehaven, and Birtley in Tyne & | | | | Rothbury for a day before police discovered it. Local |
| Wear...what they have in common is they are all the | | | | people were unaware of its significance. |
| site of one or more particularly unpleasant murders... | | | | Police Fail Four |
| that for days and sometimes weeks captured lurid | | | | After the discovery of the car the police threw a |
| headlines in the nation's redtops. Each of these crimes | | | | 'ring of steel' round the town but despite several |
| left a legacy if not of police incompetence, at least | | | | sightings of him "wandering around" the police, |
| of police incapacity as to varying degrees the local | | | | comprising the 'elite' of 15 police forces including |
| force was overwhelmed by the demands placed on | | | | London's Metropolitan Police (MET), failed to spot him. |
| it." | | | | Police Fail Five |
| Criticism of the police is increasing. CCTV, | | | | After seven days they had him surrounded and |
| camera-phones and camcorders are putting police | | | | pinned down in a field. Moat had been in one position, |
| actions under greater scrutiny than in years past. It's | | | | open to the elements for six hours but the cops lost |
| not that police incompetence and brutality didn't | | | | patience. It seems they got fed up with negotiating |
| happen in the past but they are now more likely to | | | | and decided to Taser Moat twice. It has been |
| get caught out with photographic evidence. | | | | suggested that the shock from the Taser caused |
| What happened in the Raoul Moat case? | | | | him to involuntarily pull the trigger on his gun. He died |
| Raoul Moat was in jail for assault. While he was there | | | | directly after the Taser attack. |
| his girlfriend Samantha Stobbart told him their 6-year | | | | Police Fail Six |
| relationship was over. After his release on July 1 he | | | | It has taken five days for police to admit that they |
| prepared for revenge and in the early hours of | | | | used an untested and lethal Taser Xrep that is |
| Saturday, July 3 he shot both his former girlfriend and | | | | deployed from a 12-gauge shotgun with a range of |
| her new partner Chris Brown. She survived with | | | | 100ft. It can incapacitate a person for 20 seconds, |
| critical injuries, Mr Brown died. So how did the police | | | | much longer than a regular stun gun. The police |
| fail Ms Stobbart and Mr Brown? | | | | officers were from the West Yorkshire force who |
| Six critical police failures | | | | do not have these weapons. It is reasonable to |
| Police Fail One | | | | conclude that these officers did not have the |
| The prison authorities warned the police that Mr Moat | | | | required expertise to use these Tasers. They |
| could be a danger to his former girlfriend. They | | | | untrained amateurs using untested experimental |
| ignored the advice and he was able to obtain a gun | | | | weapons. |
| and attempt the execution. His girlfriend, Samantha | | | | The United Nations has declared Tasers as |
| Stobbart, escaped death but was badly wounded. | | | | "instruments of torture" and yet the British |
| Her new partner, Chris Brown, was shot and killed | | | | government issue them to the Police, Prison Service |
| trying to save his girlfriend. These two people are | | | | and Military. |
| members of the public the police keep telling us they | | | | Raoul Moat was a violent man, he was dangerous |
| are there to protect. | | | | and he was also clearly a mentally ill man. The cops |
| Police Fail Two | | | | killed him and I bet the order came from above. The |
| After the shootings Moat turned went to the home | | | | British police have too much power, power that they |
| of his friend Andy Mcallister to give "his side of the | | | | do not have intellect to handle responsibly. |
| story". He went back a second time after shooting | | | | See the Guardian article here. I also recommend the |
| the cop."They knew he had been to my house once | | | | article in the Independent for for information on the |
| - I would have thought they would have been | | | | Raoul Moat case. |