In a naive, misguided and tokenistic gesture, East Oxford Green Party councillors voted to buy two new bikes for the local bike cops - which they themselves admit "should have been funded directly by the police".
News of this decision came in their regular newsletter in which they boast:
"...the cash from the EAP [the green-run East Area Parliament] secured the future of the bike bobbies...".
What our local Green politicians don't seem aware of is the role of these harmless sounding "bike bobbies" in our local community. They've fallen into the usual trap of imagining the police as some kind of neutral protectors of the public good.
Unfortunately - as anyone who's been on the receiving end of their attentions will know - the police are far from neutral. On a day to day basis these bike cops can be seen bullying the poor and vulnerable in our communities - and this latest development just shows how out of touch our local Greens' roles as politicians has made them.
"...the cash from the EAP [the green-run East Area Parliament] secured the future of the bike bobbies...".
What our local Green politicians don't seem aware of is the role of these harmless sounding "bike bobbies" in our local community. They've fallen into the usual trap of imagining the police as some kind of neutral protectors of the public good.
Unfortunately - as anyone who's been on the receiving end of their attentions will know - the police are far from neutral. On a day to day basis these bike cops can be seen bullying the poor and vulnerable in our communities - and this latest development just shows how out of touch our local Greens' roles as politicians has made them.
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