Marky Dread wrote: ↑15 Sep 2017, 11:57am
Aeneas wrote: ↑15 Sep 2017, 8:42am
Marky Dread wrote: ↑14 Sep 2017, 4:34pm
Low Down Low wrote: ↑14 Sep 2017, 4:22pm
Drugs' raids were a common enough feature in UK cities back then, particularly in the high rises. I'm sure Joe witnessed one or two in his time. I witnessed one myself in London in the late 80s and it was indeed "raining" drugs as all manner of packages were thrown out windows as the cop cars screeched to a halt outside. Apart from the obvious dramatisation of the murders, those lines are pretty evocative for me anyway.
Yep still a regular ocurrence in the flats right behind my home.
Could be Strummer was trying to show in this lyric just how clumsy
these raids were, not intended to catch anyone, certainly not
a drug kingpin -- the screech of the tires, the clumsy, noisy
"clumping up the stairs" by officers, trademark "black shoes"
from the police uniform store -- nothing stealthy about these raids at all.
Police seemed to going out of their way to give advance notice
of their presence.
Just 'show raids' for appearances, to make citizens think their police tax
dollars/pounds were going to good use.
I can't make any UK/US comparisons having lived my whole life here in the UK. However I have witnessed police brutality first hand on more than enough occasions. In the 70's we had the SUS law where the police could stop and search you on sight without any other reason than you looked suspicious. Many of my black friends were stopped this way as was I in my punk days. A lot of the police that stopped you would be in plain clothes and in unmarked cars. Go watch the movie "Rude Boy" it clearly shows this type of event. The police here did nothing "for appearance" then or now and make these raids to get a collar and enter their paperwork for a quota to justify their being.
I see you're sticking with "clumping up the stairs". These raids are not clumsy at all they are pre-planned and often very early dawn raids in order to catch out the unsuspecting. Joe was talking from experience, as 101 Walterton has already mentioned most likely from his squatting days through to his looking different as a punk.
We are in complete agreement that the police want to make a collar --
just a show low-level collar, not one or several of the city drug kingpins
who orchestrate drug trafficking usually through circuitous paths
from other countries.
While the low level collar is at the police station, saying "do what officer",
fearing that the narcotics police and the drug kingpin will have him whacked
if he divulges anything,
the drug kingpin continues with business as usual,
making his regular bribe-payments to narcotics officers, to "stay free".
In this country, especially in a place like New York City,
where drugs are widespread,
they have city laws which allow police to "stop and frisk" --
there is definite commonality in that disproportionately most
victims of such searches are 'of color'.
In fact, black famous tennis player James Blake who i am sure
has appeared at Wimbledon was not just "stop and frisked" but
attacked and rammed to the ground in broad daylight by a NYPD officer
a couple of years ago.
The video is probably on Youtube.
Again, these excesses are for show -- drugs are rampant in NYC
and none of these conspicuous attacks on citizens is affecting
the ultimate path of drugs to the street.
As Strummer says: "they arrested every drug which had ever been made" --
but not he drug kingpin, who is protected by narcotics police officers.
And of course FBI/DEA.