Pubdate: Wed, 20 Feb 2002
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Nick Hopkins, Crime Correspondent
Cited: http://www.urban75.com

POLICE CHIEF FACES MUSIC OVER OUTBURST ON WEBSITE

The senior police officer in charge of a controversial cannabis initiative 
found himself at the centre of another furore yesterday over outspoken 
remarks he is supposed to have made to a website renowned for its coverage 
of direct action protests.

Commander Brian Paddick, who is in charge of policing in Lambeth, south 
London, told www.urban75.com that "the concept of anarchism has always 
appealed to me".

Using the chatroom name Brian: The Commander, he also implied that certain 
drugs should be legalised. "What do I really think? We need to take the 
criminality out of it by legislation and strict control."

Mr Paddick, whose candour has not always been appreciated by his bosses at 
Scotland Yard, used forthright language to make his points.

"Bottom line - screw the dealers, help the addicts ... I don't give two 
hoots about my promotion prospects ... do not treat all police officers as 
lapdogs of a corrupt capitalist system. Dogs sometimes turn on their owners."

The highest ranking openly gay officer in the Met, Mr Paddick also admitted 
that "someone has already found out which gay club I go to and is trying to 
cause serious shit for me."

Other senior officers at Scotland Yard indicated that a more immediate 
worry is the reception he will get when he returns from holiday in 
Australia and is summoned to headquarters.

Although Mr Paddick has not broken any disciplinary codes, some at the Met 
believe he is "too honest for his own good" and needs to be persuaded that 
there are occasions when, for the sake of the force, his maverick views are 
best kept to himself.

It will not be the first time Mr Paddick has been called to Scotland Yard 
to clarify his position on a sensitive matter. Last November he received 
unwanted headlines when he appeared to tell a committee of MPs that he was 
not interested in "weekend" drug users who take small amounts of cocaine 
and ecstasy.

"If I felt my officers were going into nightclubs looking for people in 
possession of ecstasy, then I would say to them, and I would say publicly, 
they are wasting valuable police resources," he said.

Mr Paddick, 43, inspired the "softly softly" drugs scheme that has been 
operating in Lambeth since the middle of last year.

Under the initiative, people caught with a small amount of cannabis are 
cautioned rather than arrested; the pilot has already saved officers 
thousands of hours of work, but it has been severely criticised by the 
Police Federation and rightwing critics who believe that it sends the wrong 
signals to drug users. An independent study of the scheme is expected to be 
published next month and the Met was hoping that Mr Paddick would keep a 
low profile until then.

Before leaving for Australia, the borough commander told the Big Issue that 
he had contributed to the website, but Scotland Yard said it could not 
comment further until Mr Paddick returned.

"We cannot confirm that Commander Paddick made these remarks," said a 
spokesman. "He is on annual leave and there is no way of verifying the 
alleged comments."
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