The elected role was created by the coalition government after being a key Conservative election pledge to introduce accountability to policing and elections are due to take place on 15 November.

Until now, only the Iraq war veteran Colonel Tim Collins had announced that he wishes to seek the Conservative candidacy for the position – stating his intention to stand at last year’s Conservative Party Conference.

However, Cllr O’Brien will be a formiddable opponent. He has lived in Kent all his life and took on the council community safety portfolio after Cllr Rehman Chishti was elected to parliament in May 2010.

He is also chairman of the Medway Community Safety Partnership.

Cllr O’Brien told the Messenger “I am considering my application. The opportunity’s there and I think it’s an exciting one.

“I feel my experience stands me in good stead.”

Col Collins expressed concern about the role going to a “sunset councillor” – a charge Cllr O’Brien dismissed.

It is not yet clear how many other potential candidates will put their names forward.

In a judgement passed on 12 January of this year, in the case of Gillan and Quinton v United Kingdom, the ECHR held unanimously that powers used under ss 44-47 of the Terrorism Act 2000 violated article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In July of last year, Medway photographer Alex Turner, aka monaxle, made local headlines after being arrested under s 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, after taking photographs in Chatham High Street.

In Turner’s case, he had already received confirmation that “complaints relating to unlawful and unnecessary arrest and detention have been recorded as proven”, after a complaint to the Professional Standards Department of Kent Police.

Turner was de-arrested before anything more serious could happen against him, although he had received rougher treatment than the Applicants in the above case.

Gillan and Quinton, both British nationals, were stopped near a demonstration close to an arms fair in London. Mr Kevin Gillan was riding a bicycle and carrying a rucksack, and was searched for 20 minutes. Ms Pennie Quinton, a journalist, was stopped and searched for five minutes, although she was also ordered to stop filming, despite carrying – and showing – her press cards.

The pair applied for judicial review, which the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords all dismissed. A complaint was subsequently made before the Human Rights Court that the use of s 44 to stop and search them breached their rights under articles 5, 8, 10 and 11 of the Convention.

Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which the Court upheld the application under, reads:

Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

In upholding the application, the Court expressed its concern that the provisions were open to a clear risk of arbitrary interference with privacy and that such provisions could be misused.

The Court stated that a search for articles could take place, even where no grounds existed for the suspicion that the person being searched could be in possession of such articles.

Finally, the Court was also concerned that, although not in the case of the application at hand, statistics showed that black and Asian people were disproportionately affected, and that there was a very real risk of discrimination against such people.

It therefore held unanimously that ss 44 and 45 were not in accordance with the law, under article 8, as they were not sufficiently circumscribed, nor subject to adequate legal safeguards against abuse.

Remember to keep checking back on AlanWCollins for legal news and analysis from Medway and England, from the perspective of a law school undergraduate.

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An amateur photographer who has made local headlines after being stopped and arrested by police for taking photographs has been quizzed again.

Alex Turner, who runs the popular blog monaxle.com, was arrested on 8 July under s44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 after taking photographs in Chatham High Street.

11 days later, Mr Turner was quizzed again in Chatham High Street, taking photographs on his way home from the pub. This time he was not arrested, but he still faced questions from police about his hobby.

Mr Turner said on his blog ‘should someone with a camera taking pictures openly in a public place be considered a threat? How far should preventative measures be taken? Is this far enough?

‘Perhaps cameras should be treated like guns and you have to have a licence to own one with tight restrictions on where and how you use it. Perhaps mobile phones with cameras should be banned. Perhaps video?s made in public should all be vetted. Perhaps compulsory ID cards should be introduced.

‘What price are you willing to pay to be reassured against a supposed threat to your safety?’

Mr Turner’s arrest has appeared in all three of the local papers – making the front page of the News last Thursday.

In a letter to the Proffesional Standards Department regarding his arrest, Mr Turner said ‘I was initially stopped by two men in the High Street close to Snappy Snaps. The men did not identify themselves though stated that they worked for Medway Council.

‘I was made to sit in a police van for around 20 minutes, after which the outer back doors were opened and I was spoken to through the locked inner cage by two officers, both of whom were in plain clothes and neither of which produced their warrant cards.

‘I was asked if I would provide details regarding my identity. I asked, taking into account I was now under arrest, handcuffed and detained, if I was obliged to do so. They stated that I was and said that if I did not I would be taken to the police station.

‘I indicated I could not physically provide any proof of my identity whilst handcuffed and locked in the van. I asked to be unhandcuffed. The request was refused.

‘One of the officers placed his hand inside my jacket pocket and removed my wallet upon which he opened it and could see my photo card driving license. He passed the wallet to one of his colleagues who took it away. He then proceeded to search my pockets and pat me down.

‘For a further 5-10 minutes I stood in the street in full view of passers by handcuffed. One of the officers stated she had felt threatened by me when I took her picture. I cannot recall exactly what she said but I do recall her referring to my size and inferring she found it intimidating at the time (I am 5ft 11in and weigh about 12 stone).

‘The other officer returned and released the handcuffs. He put his hand out for me to shake, apologised for the inconvenience, stated that he hoped I understood given the ?strange? times we are in and left in an unmarked car.

‘I asked the female officer if I was free to go and continue to take pictures in the High Street, she informed me that I was; the PCSO added as long as you don?t take any pictures of us. At this point I walked away feeling upset, embarrassed and traumatised by the events.’

Cllr Rehman Chishti, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Gillingham and Rainham, has launched a new campaign billboard in Gillingham.

Cllr Chishti’s billboard is situated at the very top of Canterbury Street, and replaces the UK Independence Party’s European election poster, which appeared to have been attacked by vandals.

The billboard directs residents to Cllr Chishti’s website, specifically asking to support his petition ‘for more police officers on our streets’.

I mean what exactly are these unaccountable do-nothings being paid for? They’re constantly being berated for not being out on the streets – yet when they’re in the police station they still seem unable to even pick up a phone and contact victims of crime.

If you’re wondering what this is about, then please allow me to explain.

At some point last night, though most likely between 02:00 and 07:00 this morning, two cars parked in Goudhurst Road were broken into. One of them, a black Skoda, belonged to my source.

Upon realising that the vehicle had been broken into – and several items had been taken – they did what most people in their situation would do and called the police. My source said this was about 07:15.

When I last spoke to them at just gone 15:00, they were still waiting for a call from the police.

So if you have any details of the incident, I could give you the police number, but to be honest you’d probably have just as much luck if you told me instead.

And your council tax doesn’t keep going up because of me…

Update 8/5/09 @ 00:30

Having still heard nothing back from the police (besides a call from the ‘fingerprints woman’ – who stated that, at the time she made the call, it was too late to be able to get prints!), my source is now considering another tactic often used by people who have been failed by services they are paying to maintain and contact the local media.

Kent Police have launched an investigation after a window was broken in Twydall Green.

According to the Medway Messenger, emergency services were called ‘to reports a man had cut his hand’.

A broken window was also reported to the police, who were called after cries of ‘help’ were heard at about 16:50 on Wednesday.

The man was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital, but with only minor injuries, was released soon after.

The Collins Comment

The article linked to above is brief, so allow me to pad out the story a little bit.

On Wednesday afternoon, I was given some much-needed overtime, starting at 13:00 and finishing at 17:00. It was my understanding that at 17:00 one of my colleagues was going to take over yet by about 16:50/16:55 he had not arrived.

Being curious, I briefly stuck my head out of the door of the shop to witness a police car (pictured) pull up. Within a matter of seconds a police van and ambulance had joined the scene. Rather unnervingly, whilst the door was open, I could hear a man’s voice shouting ‘help’.

Police officers disembarked fairly quickly and all rushed to the scene, which was blocked from view by the police van, ambulance and other vehicles.

The seriousness of the situation was ascertained when I finished work and eventually left the store at 17:10. One of my other colleagues had been informed by a customer that a man had apparently put his hand through a window and all the police officers were returning to their vehicles and preparing to leave.

However, the police van only went as far as the junction of Twydall Green and Goudhurst Road, when it pulled up on the corner (pictured) and the officers once again got out and, this time, headed for the flats.

By this time, I had no option but to leave, as I had somehwere else to be. But it was good to see the Messenger pick up on the story.

They never seem to miss anything.

Kent Police are operating mobile speed cameras in Medway this week.

The cameras will be around from today (Monday, February 9) until Friday (February 13).

No one should be breaking the speed limit, but we have all seen it happen, and many of us have seen the result, or know of someone who has seen the result, of speeding.

This is just to warn you that the cameras are out and about and could be positioned anywhere in Medway throughout this week.

On Wednesday, a 999 call was made at around 10:15, at the same time as a man wielding a gun was reportedly robbing the family-friendly restaurant in Chatham.

Just five days before, two men armed with an axe and sledgehammer made off with around £2,000 from McDonald’s in Strood.

Although police have caught the Chatham robber, they are still looking for the Strood duo.

Anyone with information on either incident should contact Medway Police Station on 01634 792529 or call Kent Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Iain Dale (and, as you may discover by following that link and running head-first into Lobster Blogster‘s rantings, Recess Monkey) followed up a tip-off email to highlight Hampshire police’s latest ad campaign.

Unfortunately for them, someone at the ad office obviously had a funny five minutes (and a good sense of humour) whilst designing this ad – and, well, you can see where the exhaust pipe ended up (click on the image for the full-size version if you can’t).

I’m going to avoid all the obvious jokes here as Iain Dale (“It gives a new meaning to the phrase “would you blow into this, sir”!”) and Racist Recess Monkey (“Maybe police officers aren’t so upstanding after all”) have said it all.

Mail Services
We need some action post haste

I HAVE been interested to read on your letters pages the recent exchange between Cllr Andy Stamp and MP Paul Clark, about Gillingham Post Office.

Following Cllr Stamp’s latest remarks regarding privatisation, I felt compelled to offer my two pennies’ worth.

I am a Conservative and proud of it. However, I completely disagree with Cllr Stamp’s suggestion that selling 49 per cent of the Royal Mail is the answer to our prayers as concerned citizens – and one could use Metrnoet entering into administration as an example of why privatisation should not be considered.

I seem to remember a report published around the time of Chancellor Gordon Brown’s Budget earlier in the year revealing that, for every extra £100 raised by Mr Brown’s stealth tax increases, only £30 made it on to front line services. The rest, it was claimed, was squandered on bureaucracy and Government waste.

What is needed as a sustainable solution to this, and many other Government failures, is to cut the Government waste, particularly eradicate as much bureaucracy as possible, and see what we are left with:

• Police Officers on the streets where they belong, not stuck at their desks filling in forms.
• Doctors who know what they are doing in charge of our Health Service, rather than pen-pushers who haven’t got a clue.
• Most importantly, more money to invest in eductaion, the NHS, policing and post offices.

This is the common sense approach to governance, supported by the Conservative Party and their Parliamentary Candidate for Gillingham & Rainham, Cllr Rehman Chishti.

Perhaps Cllr Stamp and Mr Clark could consider using their common sense and agree, or perhaps only the Conservative Party can save valuable services such as the Post Office, before it is too late.

Alan Collins
Goudhurst Road
Gillingham