Police are so out of touch

Sometimes it looks as though the police are not so keen on best relations with the trade

If you've been following the terrorist bill and Tony Blair's attempts to hold suspects for 90 days, you'll have been struck by how his whole argument for this unprecedented move is simply to say 'the police want it.'

Yet many observers must have pondered: should the police get what they want, just because they say they want it? And most will have surely concluded no.

In the pub trade, we need to be just as sceptical. It goes without saying that the police are an essential part of life in the trade, particularly in town centres these days, and all licensees want good relations with their local constabulary. But it sometimes looks as though the police aren't quite so keen on fostering the best relations with the trade. Take, for example, the appalling events in Basingstoke last week when Greene King licensee Shani Rogers found her life shattered by a police raid. It was 9pm on a Friday evening and about 50 customers were enjoying a quiet drink, when 90 policemen burst in and subjected them to the horrendous indignity of strip searches. The event has been traumatic for all concerned, and particularly Ms Rogers, whose pub has never had drug problems. A small amount of cannabis and some white powder was detected, but nothing that justified such a brutal and demeaning exercise in intrusive power. No apology has been forthcoming.

This kind of event certainly destroys faith in the police for all concerned. And although unique in our experience, it does perhaps fit with a disturbingpattern we noted recently (MA Opinion, 27 October) of police looking for soft trade targets in order to get some high-profile 'wins' in the battle against anti-social behaviour. This must not be allowed to become a trend.

The police's reputation took a further blow in many peoples' eyes this week when the Association of Chief Police Officers noted that the new licensing hours may not lead to staggered closing times after all. Presumably they'd just seen the statistics that showed that most pubs will still all be closing at the same time as before, but just an hour later. Doh! The trade's known that for years. It's worrying that our leading policemen seem so out of touch with what's happening on their beat.