Kirkby Times recently ran a new item which pointed out the circumstances surrounding
the Andrew Kernan shooting by Merseyside Police. One of the points missed out was that
Merseyside Police were investigated by their colleagues in Manchester. A 15 month
'independent' investigation by Greater Manchester police force decided that the
Merseyside police officers responsible for shooting Andrew had no case to answer.
Maria Kernan Andrew's mother believed that from start to finish the whole investigation
was a shambles. Many of us here in Merseyside believe it is a cover up.
Police investigating Police.
The practice of police investigating themselves is almost medieval and the
so called modernised police force prefers to use this practice from the dark ages
whereby they hold judgement over themselves. Most people reading this will recognise
the flaws in such a system, basically it is a system which seeks to protect policemen
and women when they break the very laws they are supposed to uphold.
Slater Street
Readers may recall the 'Slater Street Riot' back in Sept 1999. The 'riot'
happened not long after Norman Bettison came here under the shadow of his role at
Hillsborough. Trouble began when riot cops gathered to keep an eye on football fans
and city revellers and then went into riot mode when a stone apparently was thrown
at one of their heavily-armoured vehicles, the sort of riot control vehicles you
see in Northern Ireland.
Robocops, the OSG and falsifying statements.
Squads of Robocops jumped from their vans, the truncheon-wielding
officers ran amok through Slater Street and down Bold Street, and then
into Lime Street, scattering shoppers and revellers alike. A police
constable from the city's notorious Operational Support Group (Riot Squad)
was found guilty of 'baton strikes on members of the public' and of
'falsifying statements.' We keep hearing about statements being falsified,
its gotten to the point where falsifying documents is a way of life for the
police and other authorities here in the UK.
Norman Bettison
Chief constable Norman Bettison, notorious for his part in the Hillsborough
tragedy cover-up when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death due to police negligence,
refused to identify the dropped cop; this is despite his promises to have a more open
policing strategy. More than sixty people lodged complaints against the police; some
of the victims of police violence suffered broken bones. One of the witnesses was
actually an off duty police officer!
The Crown Prosecution Service claimed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute,
due to the cops involved being unidentifiable and refusing to identify each other. The
police, or local taxpayers, paid out compensation to people caught up in the incident.
Six officers, four police constables and two inspectors were 'disciplined.'
Misguided Loyalty
The Slater Street incident proves what most of us already know.
The police will cover each others backs and they don't like a cop who grasses up
other cops. This is only human nature but when the police cover each other it can
range from a minor incident with little consequence to possibly seeing innocent
people banged up for life. It is ironic when the police commission posters imploring
the public to 'Rat on a rat', yet most police, if asked to rat on a colleague who had
broke a law, would be very reluctant to do so. The police, like many of us, can have
a misguided loyalty to each other and can and have allowed dangerous police officers
to carry on wearing the uniform due to this misguided loyalty.
As stated, the investigation into Merseyside police by Greater Manchester police
regarding the shooting of Andrew Kernan found no wrong doing. We all expected that,
and sickeningly, the practice of cops investigating cops, is being allowed to continue.
Recent events in Manchester provide further proof that using police to investigate police
is about as clever as allowing drug dealers to pass sentence on their mates.
Rotten apples in the Barrel
Two years ago, police in Stockport's J1 division were noted for their brilliant
clear up rates with respect to robberies and burglaries. So good were the officers
in solving crimes that other police forces decided to see what they could learn
from the magnificent clear up rates. Sadly, what they learned was that officers
had been up to no good, they were wooing criminals by taking them out of prison
while they were on remand awaiting trial and getting serving prisoners to confess
to crimes. This gives local police an instant bonus point or two as crime statistics
can plummet down a fair bit if just one serving prisoner can confess to a few hundred
crimes. This is one of the oldest tricks in the cops book and it's amazing to see that
it's still going on after all these years! On one occasion, a criminal was able to
see his new baby for the first time. He is alleged to have unwittingly signed documents
in which he admitted to hundreds of offences he had not committed! Another man on remand
was taken out of prison to McDonald's and allowed to see his girlfriend, so inflamed
by passion was this bloke that he allegedly confessed to 200 crimes he did not commit.
Because of their actions, those responsible for 1,000 crimes in Stockport
will never be convicted; this means that burglar's muggers and robbers have
got off Scot free! The crimes where convictions were falsely secured will not
be reinvestigated, which is great for people who have been fitted up. Sadly,
for British Justice, these officers will NOT be sacked nor will they face
criminal proceedings. It's one law for the police and another for those
they police. Remember that the cops who investigated South Yorkshire
Police's role in the Hillsborough Disaster were themselves under
suspicion of irregularities.
Retiring under a cloud of suspicion
Last December, the head of the division's CID, Detective Chief Inspector
Kenny Caldwell, was given a written warning for his part in the bogus crime figures.
He later retired from the force, like most cops who face damning evidence; he would
only need to claim he was suffering stress - just like the police who used that
excuse with regards to Hillsborough. These people are a disgrace to the uniform.
Every decent cop who believes in Justice will surely feel embarrassed at the
minority of police who feel the uniform gives them some sort of right to do as
they will. In many ways, cops who break the very laws they are supposed to uphold
are traitors to the British people. The lowering of moral values in the UK is not
helped by the willingness of police to pick and choose when the law applies to
them.
Police investigating Police.
How many police are actually being investigated in this Country? Remember
that for every cop being investigated, there will be a team which is investigating them.
It's possible a great percentage of the police are being paid to in effect, investigate
other police or to be investigated themselves. The fact that Manchester Police investigated
Merseyside Police for the Andrew Kernan shooting leaves the public highly suspicious of the
loyalty of the officers investigating. After all, it's highly possible some of these
officers have themselves been investigated or know colleagues who are under investigation.
There will be fraternisation between Merseyside and Manchester police, and the geographical
closeness of the investigating force only adds to the fear that the police themselves
have already judged the Andrew Kernan case. The latest scandal with Manchester Police
only serves to further muddy the waters and most of the public out here are in
agreement that the archaic practice whereby police investigate the police has
got to end.
Victims
Sometimes the police may despair as it seems that nothing they do is working.
The police don't make policies; they just carry them out at the command of their political
masters. The polices role has been widened so much that they are threw in at the deep
end in incidents and in the case of Andrew Kernan it was obvious that the police involved
were inexperienced in dealing with people with mental illnesses. There are many tried and
tested non lethal ways of stopping people, the main way would be negotiating with the
patient. Police officers spraying CS Gas are not going to help - but to the police,
Andrew was a threat. The police did not know Andrew, and therein lies one of the great
failings of Merseyside Police. Had one of the officers known Andrew on the most casual
of terms, he or she would have realised that the all out assault on him was counter
productive and totally unnecessary. Sadly, the violent society we live in has a
habit of making victims of the kind and gentle and the innocent. Andrew Kernan
was a decent man; he didn't deserve to die the way he did. His mother deserves
better than to be treated the way she has. She is a bereaved mother who wants
to know HOW her son came to be shot. She deserves to know this.
Honesty
All we ask from the police is honesty. But as seen by the latest scandal
in Manchester Police Force, it seems that there is still a reluctance, even from
senior officers, to really tackle the usual 'passengers' using the uniform as an
easy route to a generous pension. Like all professions the police have good and
bad, but unlike most professions they have the luxury of being judged by their
fellow officers/workmates when things go wrong. In the eyes of the law, we must
ALL be equal; otherwise the law will have no real meaning.
Andrew Kernan, a Profile
I was sent this anon by email so cannot give credit to whoever wrote it.
On Thursday night last week 12th July Andrew Kernan, 37, was cut down by
police bullets. This likeable Liverpool man was suffering from a mild form of
schizophrenia, quite a harmless medical condition in 95% of cases.
Andrew had enjoyed a perfectly normal childhood and developed his illness
only when he was twenty-two years old. He had never been in trouble with the law;
had never caused harm to himself or others. In fact he was well liked in his neighbourhood.
Local friends said they had never felt apprehensive in his company. He was just a
happy-go-lucky individual who loved his pets, adored his sister and doted on her
young son. He had recently become interested in computers and was attending a
day course. Why then did Merseyside police shoot Andrew down in cold blood?
Andrew's distressed mother, Marie Kernan, 59, described how her son had
become agitated on the night he was shot by the police. She had called his
uncle and aunt, Ted and Pauline Devlin telling them 'Andrew was having a bad night.'
VICTIM'S MOTHER ORDERED OUTSIDE
The young victim's uncle said: "We were trying to keep him calm but in the end
I telephoned the police." Ted Devlin also called for the assistance of a person trained
in treating mental health problems.
The police arrived mob-handed at the flat and the shot victim's uncle
described how he and Andrew's mother were then ordered to leave their apartment.
Now frightened and alone with six or seven police officers, Andrew Kernan visibly
distressed at being parted from the comforting presence of his mother and uncle,
grabbed a sword and managed to escape into the street outside.
Afterwards his uncle added: "There were six or seven police officers inside
the flat. They should have been able to overpower him. When I was there I didn't see
any sword. I didn't even know he had one until later on. It's hard to imagine why
they would do that to him."
The mentally ill man, now distressed and frightened, was being pursued
by police officers spraying him with CS gas. By this time the street was cordoned
off by up to thirty mostly armed adrenaline-surging police officers whom on past
performance it might be assumed relished the prospect of a 'turkey shoot'.
"MUM, MUM!" THEN TWO SHOTS RANG OUT
A police marksman then shot down Andrew Kernan like a dog while his family
looked on. The young victim's mother was watching from the police car she had been ordered
in to. Today the first 100 metre long anti-police graffiti appeared on the street wall:
"What is our society coming to when the police become judge and jury? - RIP"
The victim's mother described the tragedy as it unfolded, how she had
heard her son scream "Mum, mum!" Then the two shots rang out. Now she is
demanding justice and feels vital questions surrounding her son's death
need to be answered. Her solicitor Rex Makin was less than optimistic.
He said: "Police investigating police is unsatisfactory as the East Sussex
case of James Ashley, another Liverpool man shot dead by the police, proved."
THE GENTLE GIANT
Mrs Kernan sobbed as she described events leading to her son being gunned
down by Merseyside's trigger-happy gung-ho armed police: Claiming she had
been let down by her son's psychiatric team at nearby Broadgreen Hospital
she said: "He was my son, a gentle giant. Nobody deserves to be shot dead
when they're ill. I wouldn't want anyone to go through the hurt I am feeling
right now. I have looked after my son for thirty-seven years and now he is gone."
"YOUR SON HAS PASSED AWAY?"
On the night he was shot I had calmed him down and he was in his bedroom
when the police arrived. They ordered me outside and I sat in the police car nearby.
Then I heard Andrew. I heard him scream for his mother. I heard him scream, 'Mum mum!'
And then came the gunshots. At the police station an officer told me he had 'passed away.'
"Passed away!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, he had been shot dead.
Andrew was an innocent man with no criminal record. He was sick, that's all.
"I can't let this rest, what kind of mother would I be? He was my child, my
baby, and I didn't bring him into this world and care for him all his life for
it to end like this."
End of article - thanks to the author - apologies for not knowing who wrote it.
Apologies to Indymedia website for not including a link in the last article
about Andrew Kernan. Indymedia
here -
A few police have e-mailed in with supportive comments, it's a pity more police
didn't submit stuff for inclusion, although obviously they'd be wary as any police
speaking out are generally not promoted! - anyone can submit an anonymous article,
so any coppers who are moaning about their lot down the canteen may be better putting
pen to paper, or fingers to keyboards, and perhaps telling the people out here what
life is like there on the beat, or in the car!. Sometimes the police get it right,
like the officer who gave vital first aid to someone who had their throat cut in
Kirkby Town Centre a few weeks back, or the cops who talked a knifeman in Southdene.
However, the good work of many is easily spoiled by a few, that's the story of the
UK in a nutshell - the few spoiling it for the many.
