Ok What am I missing here?

[Carol]

The only reason why the UK is being made sport of is because their news articles are in English. I think there are other nations that have self defense laws that Americans would not find palatable, and I also suspect that those nations do not have troops that are serving alongside ours the war on terror, or at least not with the same penetration that the UK is doing.

However, to understand what goes on in those countries requires reading a news account in a language other than English, something most Americans are not wont to do.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

There is a bottom line here. That is, this is a matter of UK laws and rights, which work differently, in a somewhat different cultural mindset. We as American's may not understand the "why", but in the end it is not our country. Our laws and approaches to things confound the UK folks as much as theirs do us.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Actually I think Tez3 and Bob are right.

The cops in the UK were wrong, just as the cops in the U.S. who have a fit over being filmed are wrong.

I feel in both cases the cops have this thing for control. They feel only they should have the power to control.

The more you confuse people as to if they can defend themselves the more they 'need' you. The more you disallow people to contridict what you say, as in filming their actions, the more they can do without anyones notice.

The saying absolute power corrupts absolutely is not a hollow statement.

Deaf

Actually, police have a DUTY to be in control..........but a responsibility to exercise judgment.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Actually, police have a DUTY to be in control..........but a responsibility to exercise judgment.

True. But some feel only they should have the power to control.

And that's the problem. When they feel their authority is absolute and should not be questioned then trouble will come.

Deaf

 

[Tez3]

It seems the story she was warned by the police was given to the press by her agent, the force concerned deny giving any warning at all.

http://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/hertfordshire_police_deny_giving_myleene_klass_knife_warning_1_35428

"However, a police spokeswoman told the Welwyn Hatfield Times they had NOT issued any kind of warning to Myleene about using a knife during the incident.
She said: “For clarification, at no point were any official warnings or words of advice given to the home owner in relation to the use of a knife or offensive weapon in their home.”


I think you will find the truth in here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2010/jan/15/myleene-klass-marina-hyde

 

[Bruno@MT]

It could well be a lot simpler than that, we have a huge amount of law to keep in our heads and it's sometimes easier for an inexperienced officer to state baldly that so and so is illegal rather than go into the whole letter of the law stuff.

This reminds me of the book I am reading now, which was written by a cosmologist about his theories. In it he mentions various annecdotes about his time in cambridge and other places.

One of his annecdotes mentions a grad student who demanded his glass of brown ale during the exam. For a prank he had gone over the ancient books of university regulations to search for something he could use. Apparently, this was a regulation from hundreds of years ago, which was simply not printed anymore in current rule books, but never officially repealed.

After a lot of discussion, an angry porter was sent to the nearest pub to get a glass of brown ale.

The porters got back at him though. After a similar journey through time and dusty tomes, they got him fined a substantial amount because he showed up at the exam without his sword.

 

[Tez3]

One publicity hungry 'celeb' + publicity agent + politicians looking to score points for electon = a false story blaming police for something they didn't do.
While the police aren't perfect there's too many people willing to believe the worst of them.