Daily Times

The law is enforced in social and cultural ways to protect citizens and national critical infrastructure, and to prevent crimes. As law enforcement is a societal function necessary for internal stability, society exercises a form of social control of behaviour through the process of law enforcement. In the UK, the law is enforced through CCTV cameras (7,000,000), fitted in every corner of buildings, roads, houses, buses, trains, toilets, schools, colleges, traffic lights and even within street lights. Despite all these precautions, the parameters of crime continue to exacerbate. Our strongest surveillance system (TEMPORA), helicopters, drones and other means of intelligence are in the skies recording conversations and scanning houses and offices to protect us from criminal gangs and terrorist attacks but, unfortunately, all these security measures have failed to address the complaints of the business and investment communities. The London police commissioner recently warned that law enforcement agencies had lost the trust of communities after the revelations of Edward Snowden.
Otto von Bismarck once said, “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes; the wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” The way we tackle security issues has caused many negative perceptions and social discontent in our society. Research reports of London-based think tanks have raised important questions about the performance of state institutions and their mode of operation. Corruption, racism and discrimination have left an ugly blot on the UK’s multicultural face, and Scotland Yard and the Home Office are in hot water as their forces have failed to demonstrate their professionalism. After every six months the government announces new security and immigration measures, indicative of its frustration and anxiety to control the prevailing environment of fear and discontent. However, we have lost our destiny and are now looking for a light to come out of this social quagmire.
According to an English proverb, there is a solution for everything even though there are doubts. The police and its private partners are failing to intercept and investigate serious organised crime and sexually abuse cases properly. According to the recently released Police Watchdog report, the police is stuck in the past, using outdated methods to deal with modern, organised criminal networks across the country. Notwithstanding their access to modern technology, which enables them to act professionally, police officers lack proper skills, training and education. In the Rotherham child abuse case, the police chief admitted failure: “This is a hideous crime. I am deeply embarrassed. I can say with honesty I had no idea of the scale and scope of this.” However, the Home Affairs Select Committee also criticised the former chief constable on how his ignorance over these activities was “totally unconvincing”.
In February 2015, The Independent reported the failure of Essex police to investigate 30 child abuse claims. Vulnerable children were left at the mercy of a child sex offender after a police unit delayed the arrests of suspects during more than three years of systemic failure, the newspaper reported. Later on, the chief constable of the Essex police apologised. On November 27, 2014, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) published a report that criticised the police force for its inability to demonstrate its professionalism. On March 9, 2015, BBC reported that Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent London police, said that many Muslims did not trust the prevention strategy. The police approach to law enforcement is quite peculiar, which typically involves waiting until a crime has been committed and then attempting to tackle it and arrest the criminal. This kind of approach no longer works as professional criminal gangs from Asia and Europe have adopted new strategies and technologies. The performance of the National Crime Agency (NCA) is also in question as the parameters of drug trafficking, serious organised crime, human trafficking and fake currency trade have expanded.
Corruption in our state institutions is a matter of great concern. This disease deeply affects the performance of government. The threat of institutional corruption still needs to be recognised. In the National Security Strategy (NSS) of 2010, the word corruption has been mentioned only on page 13. However, the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2010, which fleshes out some aspects and the NSS’s implementation strategies, does not mention corruption at all. This inconsistent behaviour in the UK’s policymaking process indicates that corruption is not yet seen as relevant to all aspects of national security. This is a serious mistake that directly affects the development of an integrated strategy for reducing the risk of looming security threats.
Hate crimes, motivated jihadism and the scourge of Islamophobia have significantly intensified in London. Faith-related attacks have increased and Muslim students are suffering backlash and abuse in schools. Recently, The Independent reported that a teenage Muslim student at a school in Oxfordshire was slapped and called a “terrorist”. Members of the teachers union told the newspaper that there was an increase in Islamophobic incidents with the 400,000 Muslim students in schools increasingly likely to be jeered at as “terrorists”, “paedophiles” or “immigrants”. However, anti-Semitic incidents too reached a high level with record damage to property, abuse and threats. A Jewish NGO recorded more than 1,168 incidents in 2014. The home secretary termed the figure “deeply concerning”. Criminal money continues to be channelled through UK banks to terrorists.
Every day, the threat of terrorism and violent extremism is growing, which makes the police overactive. Racism has affected the law enforcement efforts of the police. Racial inequality in the workplace has also worsened. The Macpherson Enquiry Report asserted that institutional racism brought a bad name to the UK. There are some pieces of legislation that remain ineffective. The government has placed terrorism as the top threat to the country but the response to it has been unsatisfactory. The prime minister has shown little or no interest in foreign policy and national security issues. The police needs to improve its performance and reduce cost. Our policing must evolve along with the social make up of communities, inequalities and divisions. We need to create a police force that is professional, and accountable.

The writer is the author of Punjabi Taliban and can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com