Commander Crackpot
The SUN 20th Feb 2002
By MIKE SULLIVAN
Sun Crime Editor
A POLICE chief was branded Britain’s oddest cop last night after saying he finds anarchy “appealing”.
Bobbies were enraged by Commander Brian Paddick’s amazing remark, one of 25 outbursts he made on a website covering protests against capitalism.
A former Flying Squad boss said Paddick — head of the Met in Brixton, South London — was “the strangest police officer I have come across”.
The police chief has admitted most of his colleagues think he is a crackpot.
In one of his bizarre outpourings on the internet, he said: “Most people in the police think I am beyond redemption — ‘let’s get the guys in the white coats to take him away’.”
And last night rank-and-file bobbies were furious after the 43-year-old commander declared: “The concept of anarchism has always appealed to me. The idea of the innate goodness of the individual that is corrupted by society or the system.
“It is a theoretical argument but I am not sure everyone would behave well if there were no laws and no system.”
Paddick, architect of the police’s softly-softly approach to cannabis smokers, revealed his forthright view on the radical website urban75.com.
It is well known for discussions about drugs and direct action protests against capitalism.
The liberal police chief, Britain’s most senior openly gay officer, has made 25 contributions to the site so far this year.
Paddick, head of the Metropolitan Police force in the borough of Lambeth, South London, has also:
LANDED in trouble with bosses after saying he was not interested in chasing people who use small amounts of cocaine and ecstasy.
DECLARED that he does not give a “hoot” about his promotion prospects, and CONFESSED he is “either brave or stupid”.
In another posting on the website, he said: “Do not treat all police officers as lapdogs of a corrupt capitalist system. Dogs sometimes turn on their owners.”
The outspoken cop — whose patch includes Brixton, one of Britain’s toughest areas — used the monicker Brian: The Commander.
His presence on the site initially caused disbelief among other contributors using names like Panda Killer and Slowdog.
Paddick says he is trying to broaden his understanding by exchanging views with people who have differing views on policing. But his outburst on anarchy dismayed ordinary bobbies.
Paddick … angered cops
Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: “Commander Paddick is a very senior officer in a high profile position — and he should be more careful about what he says.
“It is quite bizarre that a police commander should say he finds anarchy attractive.
“It is a kind of language you would expect from a hard Left Leninist. If one of our members said something similar in public there would be repercussions.
“I just wonder whether he can carry on doing his job like this.” Ex-Flying Squad chief John O’Connor accused Paddick of “undermining law and order” and bringing the force into disrepute.
He said: “Brian Paddick must be the oddest police officer I have ever come across. “He has to run one of the most difficult areas in the country.
“How can politicians talk about zero tolerance and hardline policing while this man is making statements like this.”
Oxford graduate Paddick is currently on holiday in Australia with his male partner, a Gucci shop manager.
He will be quizzed by top brass on his return but is unlikely to be sacked.
A senior source said: “If the remarks he made on the net are his personal views no disciplinary action will be taken against him.
“He enjoys the confidence of the Commissioner and is perceived to have done a good job in establishing confidence of his local community.”
But there is a feeling among many officers that Paddick has become an embarrassment who is living on borrowed time.
Another source said: “Brian is a brilliant policeman and nobody could question his commitment to the job. But he has a habit of putting his foot in it and his views are too radical for most officers to stomach.”
Paddick took over in Lambeth 13 months ago. He hit the headlines last July when he ordered his officers to just issue warnings to people caught with cannabis instead of arresting them.
He took the decision without clearing it with boss Sir John Stevens. Home Secretary David Blunkett took note and demanded frequent updates on the experiment.
In six months, the softly-softly approach is said to have saved 2,500 man hours and £4million in court costs by not prosecuting 400 people caught with the drug.
But arrests for possession of harder drugs rose by 19 per cent.
As a result, the Government is downgrading cannabis from Class B to Class C from May.
Critics, however, claim the policy has led to an influx of youngsters eager for easy dope. And last week the scheme was blasted by visiting ex-New York mayor Sir Rudy Giuliani, whose zero tolerance helped clean up his city.
Paddick went a step too far in November by telling a committee of MPs he was not in favour of collaring those who use small amounts of cocaine and ecstasy.
He was hauled up by top brass and Sir John Stevens dissociated the force from his remarks.
Soft laws and crime is soaring
Streets of fear … law-abiding locals are afraid to venture out at night in crime-plagued Brixton
COMMANDER Paddick is testing his softly-softly cannabis policy in Brixton — dubbed London’s drugs capital with a terrifying reputation for crime.
Many locals are now too scared to go out at night. They say crime has soared since the policy brought in last July attracted more drug users to the area.
The run-down part of Lambeth borough is plagued by mugging, burglary and car crime.
Drug dealers openly sell heroin and crack cocaine on busy streets. Youths smoke pot knowing they are unlikely to face even a caution.
Street robberies in Lambeth rose 46 per cent to 4,691 last year and a robbery was committed every 73 minutes in December. Drug-related crime rose by 25 per cent.
