IN LOVING MEMORY OF PC NICOLA HUGHES & PC FIONA BONE (END OF WATCH: 18 SEPTEMBER 2012)

            In loving memory of PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bone who were killed in the line of duty on 18 September 2012. I will post information about them from Wikipedia and I will write a rebuttal essay to Ian Dunt’s article, ‘Comment: Armed police and capital punishment will make crime worse’.

PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes

Location	Mottram in Longdendale, Greater Manchester, England
Date	18 September 2012 around 11 am
Target	Greater Manchester Police
Weapon(s)	Glock pistol; M75 hand grenade
Deaths	2
Victims	Nicola Hughes Fiona Bone

On 18 September 2012, Police Constables Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, two Greater Manchester Police officers, were killed by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade attack while responding to a report of a burglary in Greater Manchester, England.

The incident was the first in Great Britain in which two female police officers were killed on duty. Greater Manchester's chief constable Peter Fahy called the attack "cold-blooded murder" and British prime minister David Cameron described it as a "despicable act...of pure evil". The deaths renewed the debate about whether British police officers should be armed.

On 12 February 2013, Cregan changed his plea to guilty in relation to the murder of the two police officers. Three months later he admitted to carrying out two separate murders in 2012, which were linked to a gangland feud in Manchester.

Cregan was sentenced to a term of whole life imprisonment at Preston Crown Court on 13 June 2013.

Incident

Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, were on routine patrol on 18 September 2012 when they were sent to Abbey Gardens, Mottram in Longdendale, near Hyde, at about 11 am, following a report of a burglary. This was the result of a 999 emergency telephone call from a member of the public, which was later found to be the work of Dale Cregan, who had led the officers into a trap. After arriving at the house where the burglary had been reported the officers came under attack, with 32 gunshots being fired from a Glock pistol within 31 seconds, and one M75 hand grenade being used. One officer died at the scene while the other was badly wounded and died later in hospital.

Arrest of killer

Dale Cregan, 29, was arrested by police after walking into a police station in Hyde an hour after Hughes and Bone were killed. Cregan was wanted in connection with the murders of Mark Short, 23, who was shot dead in the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden on 25 May 2012, and of his father David Short, 46, who was killed in a gun and grenade attack at his home on Folkstone Road East in Clayton on 10 August 2012. Cregan was on bail after being arrested in June 2012 for questioning over the murder of Mark Short. Greater Manchester Police chief constable Peter Fahy defended the decision to grant bail, saying "It is absolutely normal in complex crime inquiries that when people are arrested there are occasions where there is insufficient evidence available for them to be charged."

Cregan was later charged with the murders of Hughes, Bone and the Shorts, as well as four separate counts of attempted murder. On 21 September 2012 Cregan appeared before magistrates and was remanded in custody. He appeared at Manchester crown court via video-link from Strangeways Prison, Manchester on 24 September and he was further remanded.

The case was adjourned until 5 November 2012, and on that date Cregan appeared via video-link at Liverpool Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing. Cregan pleaded not guilty to the murders of Hughes and Bone.

In February 2013 it was revealed Cregan had celebrated the night before with 'beer and cigars' since he 'knew it was his last night of freedom.' He walked into a police station after the murders, saying he had 'done two coppers' because police were 'hounding my family'. His only regret was that he killed female officers. On 12 February 2013, Cregan admitted in court that he had killed the officers.

Reactions

The deaths of Hughes and Bone were met with shock and condemnation in the United Kingdom and other countries. The following day, a moment of silence was held by all of Greater Manchester Police at 11 am in remembrance of Hughes and Bone, and the Union Flag at the force's headquarters was lowered to fly at half-mast.

British prime minister David Cameron described the attack as "a shocking reminder of the debt we owe to those who put themselves in danger to keep us safe and secure". Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Peter Fahy described the officers as "two very brave and courageous colleagues who exemplified the very best of British policing". Manchester City Football Club lowered the flags outside their stadium to half-mast and sent flowers of condolence to nearby Tameside. They and the team they played against wore black armbands for one match and had a minute of silence. Manchester United Football Club players wore black armbands in their match against Galatasaray on 19 September 2012. Then manager Sir Alex Ferguson attended the funerals, and said in a statement that the club was "deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two young policewomen protecting our community."

Funerals

The funeral services of Hughes and Bone were held at Manchester Cathedral on consecutive days. The service for PC Hughes was held on Wednesday 3 October with the service broadcast to the outside crowds on a screen with an audio feed. The service for PC Bone was held on 4 October with, at the request of the deceased's family, only an audio feed available for the crowds outside the cathedral. Much of Manchester city centre came to a standstill and the services were attended by officers from around the country. A memorial to the two officers is to be placed near Mottram Parish Church.

Trial and subsequent events

The trial of Cregan began on 4 February 2013 at Preston Crown Court, where he stood with nine co-accused charged with murder and attempted murder. Cregan had earlier pleaded not guilty to the murders of PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bone, and the murders of Mark Short and David Short in an appearance by video link at Liverpool Crown Court. Cregan changed his plea to guilty for the murders of the two police officers on 12 February 2013, and pleaded guilty on 22 May 2013 to the murders of father and son David and Mark Short. The killings of David and Mark Short were the culmination of a decade-long feud between two families in Manchester, the Shorts and the Atkinsons, with whom Cregan was friendly. The deaths of Fiona Bone, Nicola Hughes and David Short were the first time that a hand grenade had been used as a murder weapon in Britain. On 13 June 2013, Cregan was cleared of the attempted murder of Sharon Hark. On the same day, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the four murders with a whole life order, meaning that he is unlikely ever to be released from prison.

In August 2013 it was reported that Cregan was on hunger strike. He was moved to Ashworth Hospital in September 2013.

Comment: Armed police and capital punishment will make crime worse [Wednesday, 19 September 2012 10:21 AM]

With depressing predictability, the murder of police officers is usually followed by a debate on armed patrols and the return of capital punishment by the usual motley crew of Tory MPs and mid-market tabloid commentators. The tragic killing of two policewomen in Manchester yesterday has triggered the latest bout, but their proposals would put the police in greater danger, rob them of legitimacy and wreck a policing model which is the envy of the world.

REBUTTAL: Greater danger? Without the death penalty, more police would be killed for sure. Chief Justice Rayner Goddard said in a Speech in the House of Lords, 10 July 1956:

“Is this the time to remove what rightly or wrongly the police and prison service believe to be their main protection against attack? We have to remember that our police are armed with a short baton, the only weapon they have against these gunmen and other people who do not hesitate to shoot and take the lives of policemen. If this (Death Penalty Abolition) bill passes I am sure it will encourage resignation from the police forces and make recruitment more difficult.”

A country where the public are barred from owning weapons and the police wield them on the street appears more tyrannical than the chaos of the US, where everyone is precisely as foolish as each other.

A country where the public are barred from owning weapons and the police wield them on the street appears more tyrannical than the chaos of the US, where everyone is precisely as foolish as each other.

The outpouring of sympathy for Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes following their murder yesterday is in sharp contrast with the difficult political period officers have faced in 2012. Earlier this week, Simon Harwood was forced to step down from a Met force he should never have been on for using excessive force against Ian Tomlinson. The Hillsborough report showed officers cut witness statements which were critical of police and libelled the victims of the tragedy as riotous, ticketless drunks.

It's not a coincidence that the appalling response to Hillsborough came during the harshness of Thatcher's Britain, where an increasingly political police force was being used to attack striking miners in their homes. When the police become detached from the public, they become increasingly oppressive.

The American example provides compelling evidence. In 12 states, it is illegal to record police actions, even if you are recording police misbehaviour. In many places where it is still allowed, police anyway arrest photographers. Questionable police killings, such as that of Erik Scott in Las Vegas, are often followed by glitches in nearby CCTV equipment.

REBUTTAL: Here is a great example for the police in the USA to become discipline and not cause trouble, it does not mean that police must be unarmed and capital punishment be abolished. Illinois has ended the death penalty and their homicide rate had soared by 60% and they now have shortages of police.

Critics claim that a lack of armed police encourages the importing of criminality, because the country is seen as 'light touch'. If true, they should be flocking here from across the world. Apart from the UK and New Zealand, barely any major countries continue to have unarmed police. And yet there were only 0.073 recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants in England and Wales in 2009. The figure for the United States was 3.0 - about 40 times higher - and for Germany 0.2.

REBUTTAL: It is totally useless comparing the United States with UK and New Zealand, by comparing the crime rate when the U.S.A have a higher population. Why not compare USA with Mexico and Brazil where more innocent people and even more policemen get murdered everyday? Or compare with Japan which have the death penalty and a lower crime rate than UK?

The American example shows armed police do not protect officers from shootings or the public from itself. But they most certainly make the police more dangerous to the public, especially if you're black.

A University of Chicago study with the Denver police force asked a group of hundreds of officers from various states to play a game in which a series of 100 male targets appeared. Participants saw 25 armed black targets, 25 armed white targets, 25 unarmed black targets and 25 unarmed white targets. Participants were asked to press a button labelled 'shoot' if the target was armed and 'don't shoot' if they were unarmed - with 850 milliseconds to make the decision. Predictably, the officers were uniformly faster to shoot an armed black target relative to an armed white target. They were also uniformly faster to press the 'don't shoot' button for an unarmed white target relative to an unarmed black target. There is clear data which shows officers – like everyone else – respond more quickly to stereotypes. Any black youth in this country who is going through his latest stop-and-search will testify to that.

REBUTTAL: If racism is the problem, end the racism, not call for the banning of guns for the police force or more innocent people will die for sure. Please see this blog post, ‘STOP THE RACISM, KEEP THE PUNISHMENT!’

Even on a practical level, the introduction of armed police would be unwise. The enterprise would cost a spectacular amount of money, not just in weapons but training, precisely when the police can least afford it. Police suspensions would be a regular occurrence, taking officers off the street for pending internal investigations.

REBUTTAL: I suspect that even without arming police, it will also cost money too. Stop putting a price tag on justice! Why not we disarm the armed forces then, since it cost money too?

Running parallel to the argument for an armed police force is the idea that capital punishment would prove a deterrent for criminal behaviour. There is no data for this, but there is plenty to contradict it. Between 1976 to 1996, the US went from executing zero prisoners to executing just under 60 of them. The homicide rate remained constant.

Figures for 1996 show that US states with the death penalty had an average murder rate of 7.1 per 100,000 of population. States without had 3.6 per 100,000.

One 1980 study found murders in New York rose in the month after an execution. Similar results were found in California fifteen years later. Murders increased by ten per cent in 1952 to 1967, but when the state stopped killing people, between 1968 and 1991, the rate dropped to 4.8%.

REBUTTAL: There are many circumstances other than capital punishment that affects the homicide rates. Oregon Clatsop County District Attorney Joshua Marquis once said:

“Citing a high murder rate in Texas makes as little sense as citing Michigan or the District of Columbia - both places with much higher than average murder rate - as examples of how. Comparing the United States with other countries is equally pointless. There are very stable countries like Switzerland or Japan with low murder rates (one has the death penalty, the other not) or point to countries like Brazil with murder rates much worse than the United States.”

Norman Tebbit talks about the effect of the "shadow of the gallows". The effect is entirely in his head. There is no evidence for it. It is evidence of a yearning for bloody vengeance, but it is not a solution.

REBUTTAL: The Lord Chief Justice Goddard spoke about a case in a Speech in the House of Lords, 10 July 1956, the case when a bandit caught after a chase in London fired low at a young constable. “He fired low because he knew what the consequences would be if he murdered the policeman. When he was arrested his first question was, ‘Is the copper dead?’ That is what he was afraid of…These instances make me say with all the earnestness I can command: do not gamble with the lives of the police.”

Most proponents of the death penalty on the airwaves today suggest it should be introduced for police killers specifically. The very idea we would start categorising adult murder victims is contrary to everything that is decent and respectable about British law.

REBUTTAL: Decent and respectable about British Law? The British Law today is a joke and a land fit for criminals. Unlike the law in Pre-1970s, where they were tough on crime by hanging murderers.

Finding the appropriate limit to police power is one of the key tasks of a civilised society.

Those who challenge it threaten to replicate a European or American policing model here. They should be ignored. Instead, we should be mourning two senseless murders and feeling grateful there are so few of them.

REBUTTAL: Civilized society? Weaker police power means more evildoers will grow and more innocent lives lost.

So few of them? Two police killed in the line of duty is two too many!

George Orwell has a message for people like Ian Dunt who wants to go soft on crime. 

SOURCE: http://izquotes.com/quote/139782