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Tuesday 30 June 2009

Norfolk Police to Issue Muslim Detainees with Compasses

Another frankly surreal story from the Daily Mail:

A police force today announced plans to issue all Muslims it detains in cells with a compass - so they can face towards Mecca when praying.

Norfolk Police has decided on the move to ensure arrested Muslims face towards the holy site and has even painted the ceiling of some cells to point them in the right direction.

Inspector Colin William, custody Insp for King's Lynn, said the force had a responsibility to meet the religious needs of everyone it takes into custody.

He said: 'We have responsibilities to ensure that everyone detained has their specific needs met whether they are unable to read, visually impaired or a vulnerable young person.

'Each person taken into custody is asked if they have any particular religious or dietary requirements.

'We will also have the compasses available to Muslims so they they may know the direction of Mecca.

'Wherever possible, custody staff facilitate any reasonable request in respect of religious considerations.'

The announcement comes after a successful trial at Bethel Street police station in Norwich, where compasses were painted on the ceilings of cells. The custody suite at King's Lynn station is next in line to be redecorated.

Norfolk Police Authority suggested the idea in its Custody Visitors Committee report.

The report states: 'The painted compasses on the ceilings at Bethel Street will be replicated across the rest of the county.

'However, further guidance has been received and in future small compasses will be issued to those detainees who request them.'

According to the latest national census in 2002, three per cent of the UK population - 1.6million people - are Muslim.

4 comments:

Solkhar said...

A waste of compasses, just put one with the Station Sargeant so that he can tell them, give them a bedsheet instead of a carpet. That is all they would get in a cell in the Muslim World. Well, actually no compass as the Station Chief will know the direction.

I think that is fine, enough to fulfill the minimum required and not too much to show that the because he/she is a Muslim that they are special, because they are not.

Nemesis said...

Solkhar...I appreciate your comment.

I guess what should happen now is that any Christians arrested should ask for crucifixes, which I have no doubt would be denied them.

They should then take the police to court for religious discrimination.

Anonymous said...

Why is a compass necessary in prison? It is not as if the prison is mobile. Each prison's layout is fixed, and if a Muslim wishes to determine which way is north or south, then I see no reason why the state has to provide a compass.

Allowing Muslims into the West has created a whole panoply of nits, grits, demands, halal this that, dimunition of our freedoms, intrusive security checks, and a list of others. It just is'nt worth it.

Solkhar said...

There's your sign!

You cannot undersand the differences that are important to different communities but you wish to not be called a bigot or ignorant?

So Muslims are required to face a direction when prayer, but you call it some annoying demand.

I have explained it well enough, there are no huge demands by Muslims on Muslims in the Muslim World, the right to be clean, the direction to pray to that is all. I would not give more to fanatics or fundamentalists as I give no quarter to bigos and ignorants on websites.