A man is arrested at gunpoint, after a passer-by mistook his MP3 player for a gun (?) bundled into the back of a van, taken to a cell, finger-printed, DNA'd, and then, as he hadn't done anything wrong, released without charge.
Still, the police are keeping his DNA on file, and the records will show he was arrested for a gun-related crime, something that will crop up every time he comes into contact with the police, who always ask 'have you ever been arrested before?' when they stop you.
In other countries, no doubt, the same things happen with additional brutality. Nevertheless, the incident, including how the unfortunate fellow was tracked through CCTV, reveals the fundamental rottenness in the relationship between the individual and the state, mediated through the actions of the police. Even when the state is wrong, they'd have us believe, they're still right. Even when we are wholly innocent, we're still suspect.
Even after the incident had happened, the police could still have repaired the damage, by destroying the DNA record and fingerprints, wiping the slate clean, apologising, and dropping the chap home. Instead the original mistake is compounded by the psychopathic system of control erected around us.
Still, the police are keeping his DNA on file, and the records will show he was arrested for a gun-related crime, something that will crop up every time he comes into contact with the police, who always ask 'have you ever been arrested before?' when they stop you.
In other countries, no doubt, the same things happen with additional brutality. Nevertheless, the incident, including how the unfortunate fellow was tracked through CCTV, reveals the fundamental rottenness in the relationship between the individual and the state, mediated through the actions of the police. Even when the state is wrong, they'd have us believe, they're still right. Even when we are wholly innocent, we're still suspect.
Even after the incident had happened, the police could still have repaired the damage, by destroying the DNA record and fingerprints, wiping the slate clean, apologising, and dropping the chap home. Instead the original mistake is compounded by the psychopathic system of control erected around us.
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