MPs told claims of two-tier policing are ‘nonsense’

A police chief has branded claims of two-tier policing as “nonsense” as he insists the way his officers responded to the summer riots was “completely impartial”.

Cleveland Police Chief Constable Mark Webster told MPs “people don’t want to hear the facts” when asked about the debate, which began amid allegations that some people are getting special treatment from police because of their background .

Misinformation on social media led to violent disorder in parts of England in July and August following a stabbing in Southport.

Responding to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Mr Webster said the “story” about a two-tier policing system was “really unhelpful”, adding: “I go so far as to say that sometimes it Bullshit, and it’s debilitating.”

He added: “Without fear or favor if you were involved in criminality, you were arrested, or you will be arrested.”

He insisted that his force was “very impartial” and emphasized that people were arrested when there was “clear evidence” that they were suspected of committing violent disorder or other crimes.

People don’t necessarily want to hear the facts, and if it’s not consistent with the viewpoint that you want to put forth and you want to accuse the police of two-tiered policing, that has a really negative impact on me. ” Officer”, Mr Webster told the committee.

Earlier in the session, Mr Webster said forces “do not have the ability to police the whole of social media”, adding: “Clearly these entities are much bigger than anything the police have introduced. “

Asked what was behind the riots, Mr Webster said there were “common factors” across the areas where the unrest occurred, adding: “Many of them are challenging communities. The social fabric in many of them is quite tight.” And I think that’s probably what makes them quite fertile for either whipping or violence, maybe just because of criminality, boredom, a desire for a lot of different issues.”

He cited examples of convicted people who “went out, drank too much, they passed by and thought, why not?”

He said, “It’s not a representative sample, but I think that desperation, that lack of hope, that lack of state, that there’s nothing to lose, I think a lot of it certainly came from the riots in Cleveland and Chaos was affected.” ,

Costs for Cleveland Police have soared as they trace people who took part in unrest in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool on Teesside Reached over £660,000,

Chief Constable Chris Noble of Staffordshire Police told MPs, “There is no point in policing to show favoritism when we are based on respect for the rule of law”.

He added, “If a two-tier policing system is bringing people to justice faster, I’m not sure many people would argue with that.”

“The allegations were not pleasant to hear, but our skin is relatively thick,” he said.

Chief Constable Judy Heaton of Humberside Police told the committee “how important a quick-acting justice system was to nip this (riots) in the bud”, adding: “We could not have a situation where, Nationally, we were experiencing this kind of disorder, day after day, day after day, week after week.

“So really, it was really important to have quick justice and to see it happen.”

Ms Heaton said her force had initially taken a “low-key approach” to controlling the disorder, but when violence and looting broke out in Hull she had “never seen anything like it”.

MP Jake Richards told Ms Heaton he was aware officers had “raised a number of issues” including “members of the chief officer group not being in the area before and during the riots”.

In response, the Chief Constable insisted that they were “around” and working “constantly”.

Ms Heaton also told the committee she was “not aware” that officers injured during the chaos were being taken to hospital in taxis or private vehicles.