Moral Panics & the Police Service by Les May

APART from the disastrous Operation Midland investigation into the lurid claims of a ’toffs’ paedophile and murder ring which resulted in substantial payment of damages to those accused and whose reputations were ruined, the police service has a pretty good record in dextrously handling the various ‘moral panics’ which beset us from time to time.

It kept out of the witchcraft stories of Geoffrey Dickens MP, he of the famous ‘dossier’ which he handed to then Home Secretary Leon Brittan. Whilst the NSPCC made a fool of itself over ‘Satanic Abuse’ and would now like us all to quietly forget its role, the police service avoided deep involvement. More recently it emerged with a great deal more credibility than Simon Danczuk with its investigation into his claims about the unsavoury goings on at Knowl View school.

A quick arrest after the murder of Sarah Everard has ensured that, whilst politicians from all parties pledge their desire to ‘do something about violence against women’, the police service has been seen to be doing its job.

But what do you do when a lot of schoolgirls anonymously share their claims of ‘sexual harassment’ on a website? Does anyone really want to have to interview all these girls and the lads they are accusing, with the ever present possibility that at the end of the investigation someone will have to declare that some of the claims are really ‘porky pies’ encouraged and made possible by the anonymity of the WWW? So what to do?

I know; lets wheel out a senior office who talks about ‘victims and survivors’, code for ‘we believe you girls, just as we said we believed Carl Beech’s claims that led to Operation Midland’, that should divert any criticism that we don’t take these claims seriously, then let’s get into Pontius Pilate mode and suggest a public inquiry to sort out the mess.

QED

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