Let me start with a quick comment on our flight to London. We flew with Thomas Cook airlines. Apparenly this is an airline that predominantly flies to vacation destinations and specializes in all inclusive vacation packages. So, we were on a huge plane packed full of sunburned Brits returning from holiday. It was mostly a pleasant flight, except for the obviously drunk middle aged man who kept pestering the flight attendants, the three young adults who hadn't showered since they left London, and the guy who took his shirt off for most of the flight (I have never seen this happen on a plane).
While relaxing after the long flight in our hotel room that night we stumbled upon an episode of Night Cops. It's like Cops in the US, but with British accents. Comparing the two, I was very pleasantly surprised by Night Cops. If it's any indication of what really goes on, I like the UK way a lot better; seems a lot more fair and rational. Firstly, suspected wrongdoers were all treated with respect, patience, and sometimes humor, a very different vibe from the aggression and strong arming (not to mention brutal force) seen in the US. Secondly, their attitude towards illegal drugs is much different. Whereas in the US non-violent drug users fill our prisons for minor infractions (a public health matter, not a criminal matter, in my opinion), the UK police appears much more linient. For example, they found a small bit of cocaine on a man; they confiscated it and gave him a warning. A kid caught with weed in his car - was taken to jail for one night, as it was not his first time getting caught. Minors caught drinking beer in the park - got off with a stern warning. The best part was that their parents showed up at the police station asking for the beer back (apparently it was for celebrating the mom's birthday) and the police gave it back! In the US, the parents would be in jail for giving alcohol to minors. They are serious about some things though - a drunk driver who crashed into a fence was promptly arrested and sentenced to a few years in prison - rightfully so. Also really surprising was the fact that just about all the people suspected of crimes were White. While watching Cops I have often been struck by the number of minorities hassled by police; not the case here.
For our second and last full day in London we chose to go to the Criminal Court to observe a case in progress. I was very curious to see the differences between the US and UK justice systems. As cameras are not alowed in the court we do not have any pictures from this day. We ended up observing a rape case of a young muslim woman. The defendant was her maternal uncle. While we did not get to hear the verdict as not all the evidence had been presented by the end of the day, we were pretty confident that he was guilty, and that the jury would agree. In fact, he had already been found guilty of assaulting his other niece.
I mention the victim's religion because it sparked a number of discussions. While we were not in London very long, we witnessed a number of covert and overt racist behaviors towards non White minoroties. A glaring example for me occured when Caryl was discussing the case with an older British couple at our hotel. He recalled they asked if the family was "proper British". When Caryl shared that they were Muslim, the couple nodded and stated this sort of thing happens all the time with " them". This did not sit well with me, and I continue to think about the juxtaposition of the kind, friendly Brits I experienced, and how minorities may have a very different experience.
The plane flight out of London was less eventful; we sat next to a very friendly, middle aged British bloke (of Indian descent) who was returning to Morocco for vacation with his friend. He shared that he was ready to party - he had booze (mostly duty free vodka), curry, and shrimp (!!!) In his suitcase. We later learned he had to give the customs guy a 50 pound bribe to be able to get everything into the country. There were also some rowdy drunk young guys in the back; the pilot had to threaten to turn the plane around for them to relax. Our chatty seatmate also had a word with them, which probably helped. We arrived on time and without further incident.
While relaxing after the long flight in our hotel room that night we stumbled upon an episode of Night Cops. It's like Cops in the US, but with British accents. Comparing the two, I was very pleasantly surprised by Night Cops. If it's any indication of what really goes on, I like the UK way a lot better; seems a lot more fair and rational. Firstly, suspected wrongdoers were all treated with respect, patience, and sometimes humor, a very different vibe from the aggression and strong arming (not to mention brutal force) seen in the US. Secondly, their attitude towards illegal drugs is much different. Whereas in the US non-violent drug users fill our prisons for minor infractions (a public health matter, not a criminal matter, in my opinion), the UK police appears much more linient. For example, they found a small bit of cocaine on a man; they confiscated it and gave him a warning. A kid caught with weed in his car - was taken to jail for one night, as it was not his first time getting caught. Minors caught drinking beer in the park - got off with a stern warning. The best part was that their parents showed up at the police station asking for the beer back (apparently it was for celebrating the mom's birthday) and the police gave it back! In the US, the parents would be in jail for giving alcohol to minors. They are serious about some things though - a drunk driver who crashed into a fence was promptly arrested and sentenced to a few years in prison - rightfully so. Also really surprising was the fact that just about all the people suspected of crimes were White. While watching Cops I have often been struck by the number of minorities hassled by police; not the case here.
For our second and last full day in London we chose to go to the Criminal Court to observe a case in progress. I was very curious to see the differences between the US and UK justice systems. As cameras are not alowed in the court we do not have any pictures from this day. We ended up observing a rape case of a young muslim woman. The defendant was her maternal uncle. While we did not get to hear the verdict as not all the evidence had been presented by the end of the day, we were pretty confident that he was guilty, and that the jury would agree. In fact, he had already been found guilty of assaulting his other niece.
I mention the victim's religion because it sparked a number of discussions. While we were not in London very long, we witnessed a number of covert and overt racist behaviors towards non White minoroties. A glaring example for me occured when Caryl was discussing the case with an older British couple at our hotel. He recalled they asked if the family was "proper British". When Caryl shared that they were Muslim, the couple nodded and stated this sort of thing happens all the time with " them". This did not sit well with me, and I continue to think about the juxtaposition of the kind, friendly Brits I experienced, and how minorities may have a very different experience.
The plane flight out of London was less eventful; we sat next to a very friendly, middle aged British bloke (of Indian descent) who was returning to Morocco for vacation with his friend. He shared that he was ready to party - he had booze (mostly duty free vodka), curry, and shrimp (!!!) In his suitcase. We later learned he had to give the customs guy a 50 pound bribe to be able to get everything into the country. There were also some rowdy drunk young guys in the back; the pilot had to threaten to turn the plane around for them to relax. Our chatty seatmate also had a word with them, which probably helped. We arrived on time and without further incident.
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