News Shorts & Other Busyness

Police Against Criminalisation

Squall 5, Oct/Nov 1993, pg. 26.

“We don’t have a lot of expertise in the field of squatting and landlord/tenant relations,” said Tony Judge of the Police Federation. "We are reluctant to get involved.”

If squatting is criminalised, there is no doubt that the burden of action would be placed onto the police. How exactly they are to determine on the spot whether an occupier has rights of occupancy or not, is something that irks them considerably.

Contacted by SQUALL, Mr Judge fore-saw “grave problems and all kinds of difficulties” arising from legislation against squatting, and pointed out that “the police do not wish to become the lead agency in de-squatting.”