Security

I was stopped by a policeman on the way out of Picadilly Circus station this morning, and questioned under section 44 of the Terrorism Act.

This is, unnervingly, becoming a regular sight in ticket offices, especially in the central locations I tend to have to go to. Seeing someone being questioned and their bag searched is one thing. having it happen to you is quite another.

The questioning officer was perfectly polite, assuring me that the only criteria for the search was that I happened to be the next one out of the barrier after the previous person he’d been questioning. However, I had to wonder whether the fact that I was wearing a leather jacket with the collar up, a peaked woolen cap pulled low and toting a rucksack made me a more obvious choice for questioning. Yeah, I know. Asking for it, right? I’ve been accused of being a bomber before, of course.

I was asked where I’d come from, where I was going, and the policeman got some details from my driving licence. He was chatty and amenable, spotted I had a birthday coming up, and wished me a peaceful day. That last was enough to thoroughly freak me out. Why would i not have a peaceful day? His reason for searching me had to do with ‘events over the last 24 hours in the vicinity.’ Like what? The global warming march on Saturday? Or was other shit going down that I knew nothing about?

Strangely, he didn’t ask to search my bag. Probably just as well. God only knows what he would have made of the section of “Satan’s School For Girls” that the laptop’s parked on.

If the intent, as the policeman put it , was to set people’s mind’s at rest that the police are protecting them, then frankly it failed, as the whole experience left me a little frayed and un-nerved.

Worse, I claim to be a free speech, anti-police state and freedom of information advocate. Yet, when it came down to it, I meekly handed over my driving licence for inspection without a word of protest. I certainly gave away my information freely enough. The whole thing has left me feeling foolish, and more than a little powerless.

*I was going to blog about NanoWriMo and my experiences at this year’s Frightfest allnighter, but frankly that’ll have to wait until I’m feeling a bit less angry with myself. *