Stick 'em Up: It's a "Raid"

It never ceases to make me my blood boil when I read of another celebrity falling prey to police theatrics due to the time of his/her arrest. These arrests often occur between 4-7am, a time when any self-respecting white collar criminal will be tucked up in bed and should be left to sleep off the day's fraudulent activities.

Believe it or not, police officers often try to justify these early hours arrests by saying that the offender may try to flee, or to dispose of evidence, if they see the police coming. Whoever heard of such a thing? We all know that celebrities always comply with the police and would happily bring in their incriminating computers and all secret files to the police station at a reasonable hour to be interviewed.

Finally, just to clarify...

Police definition of "raid": An organised arrest or search warrant involving a team of officers who are method-of-entry trained, who have a formal briefing from a supervisor. They will possess maps of the address, intelligence documents, a box of exhibits labels and bags, a list of things to search for or people to arrest, and quite possibly latex gloves. They will surround the premises, bash in the door without knocking and charge into all rooms shouting "Police". Persons inside will be rounded up and detained while the property is systematically searched for whatever the object is.

Media defintion of "raid": Two or three uniformed officers who knock politely and ask for the relevant person, giving them time to have a drink, cigarette and inform their sleeping family before escorting them civilly into a waiting police car.

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