Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
No, it's head-in-the-clouds idiocy driven by a fundamentally misguided idea of what law enforcement bodies are there to achieve. You also don't believe it for a second.
Judging and policing are two different things. We should all be equal before the law, but we most certainly should not be equal before law enforcement bodies. Their job is to prevent and solve crime and that means looking where it is most likely to happen and at those people who are most likely to commit it. If law enforcement bodies behaved as you suggest, they would waste vast resources, crime rates would soar and their clear-up rates would plummet.

Seriously, though, why on earth am I arguing with someone who's already conceded his approach to crime prevention and policing makes no practical sense? Fückssake!
Oh I'd be the first to admit that my post was high level, head in the clouds, theoretical view only. In practice, there are times that we have to be more realistic and compromise the approach. But, equally, we need to be sensitive about how we conduct ourselves with respect to the definition of 'communities' and how we approach them.

As an example, would I support the public distribution of anti-terrorism pamphlets in areas which were predominantly Muslim? No, absolutely not as it leaves otherwise innocent people feeling stigmatized. Would I support a government program which sent representatives to mosques around the country in an attempt to understand the degree of radicalization within various communities and what we might be able to do to help address the issue? Absolutely.

Fine lines, Burney. I think my main point is that the definition of 'community' is one we need to be careful with, both the definition and how we use it.