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Police Piss-Take Poster Pandemonium!
You’d have to have some serious balls to commit a crime right under the nose of the ever-vigilant 5-0.
Turns out Strike Magazine, a bi-monthly political and cultural publication, has just that. In the last week, mocking posters have been appearing around London in the advertising style employed by the Metropolitan Police, most notably on the bus station next to New Scotland Yard, The Metropolitan Police HQ. The posters convey messages such as ‘You are 28 times more likely to be stopped and searched in London if you don’t have white skin, because we’re still really racist’. This is accompanied by the tagline ‘The only workplace still tolerating racism in 2014 #ACAB’.
USA: solidarity from London! Your struggle is our struggle. #Duggan #Ferguson #ICantBreathe http://t.co/w1S5FqCpoM pic.twitter.com/36EmP0FAwH
— STRIKE! magazine (@strikeyo) December 14, 2014
The magazine has now claimed credit for the stunt, saying on their website: ‘...we came up with our own posters. They’re available for you to freely download and distribute – help us spread the word and print yourself out some counter-propaganda today!’
The posters appear to be a reaction to the current racial tensions in USA. The magazine has uploaded a photo of their poster outside New Scotland Yard with the hashtags ‘Duggan’, ‘Ferguson’, and ‘ICan’tBreathe’ in solidarity with the people who are protesting the police’s actions.
More STRIKE! counter propaganda spotted in North London. #ACAB http://t.co/lG1UToNh2m pic.twitter.com/nR4xPQUCrY
— STRIKE! magazine (@strikeyo) December 13, 2014
The stunt raises questions as to how something like this could have happened in the police’s own back yard. Literally.
However, the more pertinent question is how true is this statistic? 28 times seems like an extraordinarily high number. Even if the statistic is incorrect, the message still stands; we should constantly keep assessing our relationship with the people whose duty it is to police us. The events occuring in the US should inspire us to look closer to home and ensure that we do our best to avoid such tragedies.
The posters have also popped up in other London locations including Lewisham, and more impressively, the underground.
London Underground today: Infiltrate the stores, give away the toys! #infiltratechristmas @guardian @GdnPolitics pic.twitter.com/vfGCp00Y9P
— STRIKE! magazine (@strikeyo) December 12, 2014
Tweet us the photos of the posters @guestlistdotnet, if you see any around!
By @benjyrabs
