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An occasional commentary on the fundamental things in life 
Latest diary entries by JonathanG tagged with "police"
By Jonathan Martin Goddard
on Thu, 6th Mar 2008 at 20:29
You may recall that I was arrested back in January, and then I put in a complaint. The story has come to a close and it turns out that it was a lawful arrest and detention. I'm still not right after it, but it's a learning process, amirite?
I thought I'd use this experience as a way of sharing some understanding of the law in all its intricacies. It turns out that you can be arrested and locked up for up to 24 hours on the say-so of one person, regardless of supporting evidence. This is on the grounds that a signed statement is legally evidence and assumed to be a true account of events. In my case, I knew it was all rubbish, but the police didn't. They are legally obliged to follow up any allegations and that usually means arresting and questioning the suspect. The officer assigned to my complaint explained the reasons for my arrest and I have to grudgingly admit that he's right, but hell, I was in agony and I nearly went insane. I'm still on a knife-edge emotionally, but that's not the police's fault. I'm also going to share, for the first time, what it feels like to live with clinical depression. I'm sure most people can guess, or already know, but I'm hoping that by sharing, I can lose some of the weight from my shoulders. I recently started taking anti-depressant medication and I can't even tell if they're working. Some days I feel cheery and chipper and other days I feel like I'm staring over the edge of a cliff. It's an old cliché but so apt. I'm hoping that the meds are starting to work, because I'm sick of feeling like this. I've been depressed for probably about ten years, but I was only diagnosed in September. Since then I've been getting worse, which makes me wonder if I should have gone to get diagnosed. The worst thing about my mind is that I'm constantly trying to figure out what's wrong with me, which can escalate my problems as I start to fret about these things on top of my existing depression. I'm sorry for blathering on, but I'm hoping that someone else out there can help me, or that someone else can see there's others like them. Permanent link
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By Jonathan Martin Goddard
on Mon, 14th Jan 2008 at 22:29
As some people may already be aware, I was arrested on Friday afternoon, out of the blue on a trumped up (for which read "fake") and uncorroborated allegation of common assault.
I'll set the scene for you briefly: A police officer called by at 8AM to inform my girlfriend that she would be arrested and taken into custody at 1PM the same day, and I went along to give her moral support (the same made-up charge applied to her). She was taken in, and I sat bored and impatient outside the police station wondering what was going on, til 4PM, when a policeman came out, asked me who I was then proceeded to arrest me on suspicion of a common assault that apparently happened a month previous. Here's where the lesson begins. Lesson 1: Co-operate fully with the police
When they arrest you, do exactly as they say, be polite and answer any pertinent questions. When you're booked in, you're offered the right to read the police codes of practice and the right to legal representation, take this up! Do not answer anything related to the case, but give all identifying information to the custody sergeant and be as helpful as you can. I was doubled over in agony after an operation, but I tried to be as helpful as possible.
Lesson 2: Be friendly to the police and custody officers
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