Tayside police force has been forced to apologise after complaints that an advert featuring a German shepherd puppy could be offensive to members of the local Muslim community.
Tayside Police used a picture of 29-week-old black puppy "Rebel" on postcards promoting the force's new non-emergency telephone number.
However, Mohammed Asif, a member of the Tayside Joint Police Board and a Dundee councillor raised an objection saying that it would "not be welcomed" by some communities.
Mr Asif said some shopkeepers would not display the postcard as a result.
The police said:
"We did not seek advice from the force's diversity adviser prior to publishing and distributing the postcards.
That was an oversight and we apologise for any offence caused."
Isn't this rather an over reaction?
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ReplyDeleteI think the doe-eyed puppy is a perfect representation of the police and indeed the government's supine attitude to the 'muslim community.'
It seems some groups will protest at the drop of a hat. (Whether containing a dog or otherwise!!)
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many Muslims are actually offended.
This type of attitude reminds me of the attitude that many people from Liverpool adopted in East London when many came down to work in the docks......They would harp on about how great Liverpool was and how much better it was up there; I always asked the question, why aren't you back there then instead of here?
There seems to be an element of nostalgia when people are away from their roots, people long for the area of their roots and look back at it through rose tinted specs....I wonder if the same is true to some extent regarding our Muslims......Do they feel they need to be almost fanatical to make up for the fact that they are not living in a Muslim country.
Most Muslims I know are very upset by the fanatics and their bigoted attitudes which my friends feel undermine their position and alienates them from British mainstream society.
Maybe I just don't have the PC disease, but after wracking my brains I just cannot work out how that postcard is offensive to Muslims, black people, women, rapists, Christians, or indeed, any human, mineral or animal on the planet.
ReplyDeleteI seriously cannot see anything there at all that could offend anyone.
Help please.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why it " would not be welcomed"
Is it because it's German? The war ended over 60 years ago.
Is it because it's a puppy? A yoof problem.
Is it 'cos it's black?
How is that offensive? I reckon it cos i is black
ReplyDeleteThere are two things I find very offensive about this matter. Firstly, the petty bigotry of certain members of minority groups and communities. Secondly, the outrageous way that Tayside Police, with indecent speed, caved in to these demands. I wonder if they would have been so compliant if the complaint had been raised by a white Christian?
ReplyDeleteIt's because Muslims supposedly consider dogs "dirty". We had an issue here in Minneapolis, where some Muslim cab driver on the airport route refused to take a fare...a blind man with a service dog. A few also refused to take people who were transporting alcohol they purchased on their trips(i.e. a bottle of wine) I believe these cab drivers were told to get bent.
ReplyDeleteIf you Google for muslim and dog you you will discover why this is a big deal for some people. Seems the problem is also endemic in the USA.
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that there are too many religions with peculiarly distorted beliefs that really don't fit the developed world, though I have no especial fondness for dogs or their owners.
Grant
Grant said "It occurs to me that there are too many religions with peculiarly distorted beliefs that really don't fit the developed world".
ReplyDeleteIsn't that all religions?
"It's because Muslims supposedly consider dogs "dirty"."
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that. Fair enough then.
NOT! How on Earth can it be considered offensive? Dogs do exist - and so do cameras. I would expect that somewhere pictures of dogs would exist.
Personally I am offended by police officers - maybe they should remove any police images from the postcard too.
What made me prick my ears up [woof,woof] about this grotesque story is that the police grovelled because they hadn't consulted "the force's diversity adviser".
ReplyDeleteWho I wonder, is this jobsworth? What are his or her qualifications and experience for the post? How were they selected and appointed? And how much is their salary?
For a fat fee, I am more than willing to advise anyone interested on how best to tackle diversity issues. It would indeed be a diverting experience!
Anticant
ReplyDeleteI suspect it's like here in Wigan - we have "The Wigan and Leigh Hate Crime Co-ordinator".
I've never met anyone who can recall seeing a job advertisement for one of those.
Also notice that it's an 0845 number. You've actually got to pay to phone the police. How outrageous is that. Some doctors surgeries do the same. What a nasty country this has become.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a disgrace!
ReplyDeleteI just saw a dog on the television. I could hardly believe it. What if some poor Muslim chap living in our country had seen it?
What would he think?
I saw a cow on there the other day too - I just hope no Indian people living here got to see it. God only knows what would have happened.
As to the 0845 number, when the London bombings had just happened the 'emergency' number to call if you were worried about friends/family was an 0871 number - 20p per minute.
Scum. That's the only word that can be used without fear of 'offending' someone.
Scum? I am offended!
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:58 PM
ReplyDeleteYou may think that, I couldn't possibly comment other than to say that some seem to be less out of tune than others.
Black Sea.
They couldn't find a Pig free from form filling duties.
Anon & Derek
I checked - the 0845 number information on the BT web site is a littel ambiguous but I think the public pays the regular 6p connection (termination) charge and then 2p per minutes. Nice to see how BT have steadily increased the connection charge as the cost of such things has reduced.
Anyway, it's the equivalent of a local call from anywhere, not just locally.
The lines are rented by the user for £10 per month plus 3.8p (or some such figure) per minute for each call received. Plus VAT. Perhaps the polis get a deal on that.
So the winners are ---- er, BT.
Of all the 08xx numbers, 0845 seems not the worst.
Grant
My brother has a medium sized business and he uses the 0845 service, he receives about a penny a minute for each call received, so he does make money with each call received, as does BT.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the police do the same, as do most of Nanny's departments and agencies including HMRC and the DWP.
Sir Henry Morgan, I'm glad to see that in Wigan and Leigh 'Hate Crimes' are co-ordinated. Anywhere else they're just left to random yobbos to commit them in an unplanned, random manner. I'm sure the co-ordinator is worth every penny of his/her job.
ReplyDeleteTonk,
ReplyDeleteI did say I was surprised at the 0845 information but, ambiguous as it seems, this is what the web page says;
http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/btbusinessProducts/displayProduct.do?productId=BTB-5767&com.bea.event.type=linkclick&oLName=link.searchresults&oLDesc=KB_1064
Could it be that the web page is wrong and is another example of poor BT internal communication? Judging from my recent experiences that would be very believable.
Grant
Grant:
ReplyDeleteI looked at the link, it is indeed ambiguous.
I think the clue is:-
You pay 3.48 pence per minute
The call costs (To the dialer) 6p per minute plus upto an additional 2p per minute for BT together landline customers.
I assume that the difference between the 6pence and the 3.48pence is what the business receives.....But it is unclear from their site.
Tonk,
ReplyDeleteBut the caller is paying a standard 6p for connection (includes first minute?) and then 2p per minute is seems.
If the callee is paying 3.48p (+VAT) and the caller, after the first minute, is paying 2p ...
Unless one has a lot of short calls or early disconnects hanging on listening to the muzak starts to look expensive for the callee.
Any chance of checking with your brother at some point?
Grant
Grant:
ReplyDeleteYeah I shall do that, he is overseas for the next few days but I plan to have a pint with him next Wednesday....I shall clarify the situation then.
Regards
Tonk.
I sincerely hope that puppy is member of the BPDA.
ReplyDelete(Black Police Dogs Association)
(can I say black?) :ob
Archroy:'I'm sure the co-ordinator is worth every penny of his/her job.'
ReplyDeleteI am offended Archroy! You did not include hermaphrodites in that statement. I suggest a course of diversity training will go some way to mitigating your Wordcrime. Oh and I want some compo as well! :ob