From Reason’s “Brickbats”:
When London police refused even to send an officer to investigate a burglary at his home, Otto Chan put up posters offering a reward for anyone who returned his things. When police officers saw the posters, they threatened to arrest Chan for trying to buy stolen goods.
Of course, it might have been worse: in China, for instance, rumor has it they’ll execute you and then bill your family for the cost of the bullet.
So perhaps Mr “Chan” should count his blessings. Because it seems he’s found his way to a more civilized country, where the irony—while no less mordant— is at least a bit less lethal.
THE STATE KNOWS BEST!
SLAVERY IS FREEDOM!
THE NAIL THAT STICKS UP GETS POUNDED DOWN!
Get back in line, citizen. Big Brother is watching.
Oceania has always been at war … with its own citizens.
Incompetent and indifferent to the lives and property of its subjects, yet dogged in its pursuit of victims of the criminal class. Welcome to Labourite Britain, where the State has become an accomplice to barbarism.
Poor schmuck. The Brit cops are truly pathetic.
BTW: “should could his blessings”?
This story came up a while ago, and Kim Du Toit suggested than Chan should have sued the police for racial discrimination – it’s clear that they treated him differently because he’s Chinese, no?
If it wasn’t such a tragedy (travesty?) this would be a natural for a Monty Python sketch. I can visualize the stalwart Bobby intoning, “‘Ere now, ‘ere now, wot’s all this, then?” to the bewildered Chinaman.
Gotta be a dead parrot around here someplace.
Didn’t Monty Python do that in a skit more than 35 years ago.
’Es pining for the…
Perhaps I should refresh the thread before hitting “submit”…
Great minds think alike, eh slackjawed?
He was part of the loot.
‘Es gone to meet his……new owner.
I wonder if they’d accept cash to look for his stolen goods. From the Sunday Times of April 15: ”Car theft victims pay police £105 to investigate”
What I call privatizing the police.
So Chan puts up posters offering money for the return of his goods, which causes the police to want to charge him with receiving stolen goods, even though he would be buying back his own goods, which were stolen and not recovered by the police, who now want to charge him with receiving stolen goods for buying back the goods that were originally his before they were stolen?
OOOOHHHHH, so dizzy….
**Plop!**
Linky to the Daily Mail article.
Note that the burglary occurred while the family was home. We don’t get nearly as many of those over here, for some odd reason.
Perhaps Dr. Chan should consider emigrating to Texas.
Like every other repressive idea, Beijing stole the bullet policy from Moscow. State Security started that billing policy quite early.
Home invaders do tend to be carrying a bit more weight when departing Texas domiciles, generally in the form of a couple of ounces of 00 buckshot. I don’t see any reason British thugs shouldn’t be similarly encumbered.