Archive for April 12th, 2009
Controversial cop on shortlist
(CNS): Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales who said the legalization of all drugs was “inevitable”, that Ecstasy is “far safer than aspirin” and that prohibition does not work, is on the shortlist for Commissioner of the Cayman Islands, according to reports in the British media. Brunstrom is also nicknamed “the Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban” because of his campaign against speeding motorists and is known for his hard stance on teen drinking, claiming that alcohol abuse, particularly by children, was the biggest cause of anti-social behaviour in North Wales.
The chief constable’s prediction that hard drugs would be decriminalized within ten years caused a storm of controversy in 2007, and was criticized by Ken Jones, president of the UK Association of Chief Police Officers. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme in January 2008, Brunstrom said that repealing the Misuse of Drugs Act would destroy a major source of organised crime. "I’m certainly out of step with the majority of senior police officers, but not all of them."
“…In terms of society, public attitudes change quite rapidly and you need look no further than drinking and driving: in the space of my lifetime drinking and driving has gone from being socially acceptable, almost the norm, to being socially unacceptable. I think that the legalisation and subsequent regulation of proscribed drugs is now inevitable, and I think it’s ten years away, not ten months away."
He also said, "More than half of all recorded crime is caused by people feeding a drugs habit. The government wants evidence-based policy; the evidence is very clear that prohibition doesn’t work, it can’t work, an enforcement-led strategy is making things worse, not better."
According to the Telegraph, he was one of 37 applicants for the £112,000-a-year role of Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands, and hasmade it on to the shortlist of six officers after an interview in the Caribbean.“The islands enjoy one of the lowest crime rates in the world and if successful, the 54-year-old will be able to indulge his passion for sailing,” the Telegraph reported.
Among Brunstrom’s more controversial ideas is a call for fatal car wrecks to be removed with their dead victims still inside to ease traffic congestion. In 2007 he was criticised for using a photo of a decapitated biker in a road safety campaign without his family’s permission. He has also stunned himself with a Taser gun to prove the police device was not dangerous, and broke into his own headquarters at night to highlight a lack of security.
In December 2008, Governor Stuart Jackannounced that the new police commissioner would be selected, not solely by the UK through his office as done previously, but by a panel that will include private sector representatives which will take community input into account.
The position attracted 37 applicants from eleven different countries, including the current Acting PC James Smith and former RCIPS Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Haines. It is anticipated that the successful candidate will take up his or her duties in June or July 2009.