redemption song

I was thinking about Bob Marley’s Redemption Song all weekend, this part in particular:

‘…But my hand was made strong, By the ‘and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation, Triumphantly.
Won't you help to sing, These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have: Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time…’

The song reminds me of an altercation I had with an armed officer this year who thought I was ‘a nobody’ and didn’t know that:
· I am not afraid of trained officers holding guns because my father was in the Air Force.
· I wasn’t going to stand for his small mindedness or his patronizing and covertly racists remarks.
· My hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty.

I am going to call him PC Plod (which is an big insult to Enid Blyton’s character... so I'm taking a moment here to apologise to the author... the PC Plod in this post bears no resemblance at all to hers).

PC Plod saw me and wrongly thought me to be ‘Noddy’; however, he failed to understand that ‘Noddy’ got into trouble because he never knew how ‘Toyland’ worked.

I do.

Below are various excerpts from a letter I wrote to his office and the regulators of his office. I confess that I've had to edit it quite heavily (it was over 4 pages long...); however, I've tried my best to make it read as a whole here.

At 8:19am …I left my car and started to exit the car park on foot. I saw I was being approached by a member of the constabulary from the gate. I now know this to be PC Plod. I stopped to listen to what he had to say.

He informed me that the speed at which I had come around the bend was a cause of concern. He said that seeing a car approaching at that speed automatically put the constabulary at the gates on their guard. I said I... acknowledged what he was saying and... would take his advice on board. He proceeded to point to where my car had been moving at speed when it had startled the constabulary. At this point I corrected him. I said that I had not been speeding because I was driving at about 30mph. He agreed.

He chose to repeat his statement and I chose to repeat mine; I had not been speeding. I decided to walk away and avoid an argument when I realised that neither of us would relent; however, I only headed towards my office building after I acknowledging his concerns again and thanking him for bringing it to my attention.

At approximately 10:00 my Company Director… came to tell me that I had visitors…two ‘armed policemen’… wanted to see me. I asked if he would accompany me and sit in on the conversation because I wanted a credible witness to what was to take place. He agreed.

As there were four people in the room I will only continue to highlight parts of the discussion that I believe were important.

I find it disturbing that after my Director mentioned that I had worked on a secure site, the conversation moved away from the incident that morning and centred on what I believe to be the PC Plod’s unjust and scornful ‘perception’ of my attitude.

I am a professional at work...I take serious offence to somebody saying they think that I have a ‘just got out of bed’, and ‘could not be bothered’ attitude. That comment made by PC Plod is unfounded and I take it to be real slight on my character... For the record I wanted it noted that the day before the incident, I had just been told that a close family relation had died... This was on my mind the morning I was approached by PC Plod. I have a text message I sent and phone records to family members in London and Nigeria to prove this fact.

PC Plod said I... walked away while he was talking to me ‘with a talk to the hand’ attitude. Please note he said this twice. At both times I said I took offence to that particular statement because I had never actually said those words and asked him what he meant by that. He did not answer... I never raised my hand at PC Plod or gestured inappropriately to PC Plod at anytime when he had approached me as I left the car park or entered the office building.

I do not feel it was correct for PC Plod to put me under additional duress at my workplace by saying things about me that are disparate to the initial incident that had cause him to approach me in the morning. Comments such as ‘just getting out of bed’, ‘not being bothered’ or my so called ‘talk to the hand’ attitudes are condescending, out of context and have not place in the discussion.

As long as I do not pose a danger to the public... I believe I should be able to drive to and from work with peace of mind. I do not want to feel that I am being targeted or harassed unjustly for correcting a member of the constabulary about the fact that I was not speeding if I felt he kept implying that I had been. I chose to walk away from him after I had agreed to take note of his point several times to avoid a heated altercation. The way I was driving...was not illegal or dangerous.

I want to make clear that if the speed limit approaching the gate is changed to 10mph, I would adjust my speed accordingly and drive at 10mph. As... stated several times, I have taken aboard the concerns of the constabulary at the gate because I also want to avoid any possibility of an accidental discharge of firearms aimed at a vehicle that I (or any law abiding citizen) is driving.

I got a 2 page letter in response with an apology.