Thursday, May 10, 2007
Jim Gamble doesn't have a clue
(Update - I re-titled this article cos Jim Gamble is defending the ruining of peoples lives).
These days, everybody has heard of credit card fraud. Except the police investigating child pornorgraphy.
According to the BBC, Lawyers and computer experts have told BBC Radio 4's The Investigation that many of those arrested may have been innocent victims of credit card fraud. Many were investigated purely because their credit card had been used. Nothing was found on their computers.
Didn't it strike the police that people who download child porn might also be the less-than-perfect individuals who might indulge in credit card fraud? Surely these people aren't stupid enough to use their own credit card.
Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and former head of the national crime squad, defended the record of the operation and told the programme that more than 90% of the individuals tracked by police had pleaded guilty. Translation: "Only 10% of people may have been innocent, so it's not that bad. But I'm only guessing". Apart from the fact the about 60 people have committed suicide as well. No doubt Jim would say that's because they knew they were guilty.
UPDATE (From the BBC article):
If you were falsely accused of purchasing child pornography, and were given the choice of admitting guilt and accepting a caution, or be exposed in the publicity of a trial, what would you do?
Still, Jim "Thicko" Gamble see's nothing wrong with this:
Isn't there some phrase along the lines of "Better for a guilty man to go free than imprison an innocent man."? Maybe someone should give Jim "Scarily he was formerly head of the national crime squad" Gamble a clue. And then ask him why he joined the police in the first place and didn't just become a bouncer or something if he just wanted to ruin peoples lives.
These days, everybody has heard of credit card fraud. Except the police investigating child pornorgraphy.
According to the BBC, Lawyers and computer experts have told BBC Radio 4's The Investigation that many of those arrested may have been innocent victims of credit card fraud. Many were investigated purely because their credit card had been used. Nothing was found on their computers.
Didn't it strike the police that people who download child porn might also be the less-than-perfect individuals who might indulge in credit card fraud? Surely these people aren't stupid enough to use their own credit card.
Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and former head of the national crime squad, defended the record of the operation and told the programme that more than 90% of the individuals tracked by police had pleaded guilty. Translation: "Only 10% of people may have been innocent, so it's not that bad. But I'm only guessing". Apart from the fact the about 60 people have committed suicide as well. No doubt Jim would say that's because they knew they were guilty.
UPDATE (From the BBC article):
If you were falsely accused of purchasing child pornography, and were given the choice of admitting guilt and accepting a caution, or be exposed in the publicity of a trial, what would you do?
"One of those cases was Richard's. He was arrested in the Midlands for a single credit card transaction. Richard did use adult pornography, but no child pornography was found on his computers.Also, it gets worse:
He maintained his innocence, but did not want to expose himself to the publicity of a trial where his friends and family would find out about the allegation.
So, like 600 others in the Ore enquiry, he accepted a caution. This meant admitting his guilt and being placed on the sex offenders register.
"The prospect of a trial with all the publicity in the local paper and your name being known was much more frightening than accepting the caution," he says.
David Campbell is a solicitor who has dealt with around a 100 Operation Ore cases. "I've had clients who have had to agree not to live at home, not to have access to their children - there was no evidence to prosecute them or that they were a danger to their own children," he says.
Still, Jim "Thicko" Gamble see's nothing wrong with this:
The police admit they have made mistakes, but Mr Gamble stands by what Operation Ore has achieved.
He says: "Let people who are paid to make those judgements, who are trained to make those judgements, make a finding. Thus far, the findings have been massively in our favour."
Isn't there some phrase along the lines of "Better for a guilty man to go free than imprison an innocent man."? Maybe someone should give Jim "Scarily he was formerly head of the national crime squad" Gamble a clue. And then ask him why he joined the police in the first place and didn't just become a bouncer or something if he just wanted to ruin peoples lives.
