In the week when a Gloucestershire car thief, throwing bricks and tiles from a roof of a house, was given a KFC meal to "protect his human rights", an ex-New York police officer, now living in Britain, has been given the sack from the probation service for daring to put the rights of victims and the public above those of criminals. He repeatedly clashed with his bosses because they didn't put suspects behind bars when they should have done.
It's now wonder that Britain is the most dangerous country in the Western World. London is 7 times more dangerous than New York - but ranks only as the 29th most dangerous city in the UK overall.
In Britain, the rights of the criminals come BEFORE the rights of the victims.
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Ex-New York cop sacked from probation service for putting public safety first
By DAVID WILKES, Daily Mail
5th June 2006
Career switch: Terrence Houlahan in his NYPD uniform
As a police officer on the streets of New York, it was Terrence Houlahan's duty to protect the public from violent crooks.
But when he moved to Britain and joined the probation service in Essex, he was shocked to discover there was quite a different approach to law and order.
Mr Houlahan, 39, repeatedly clashed with his new bosses because they failed to discipline or send back to prison criminals who breached the terms of their community sentences or parole.
The situation reached breaking point when Mr Houlahan refused to join collective cheering for a fictional character called 'Billy the offender' at a motivational conference.
The New Yorker was sacked after an official report into his behaviour found 'he appears to see public protection as the key task in his role and could not identify with the idea of rehabilitation of offenders'.
In one astonishing case, Mr Houlahan was staggered when a man of 23 who breached the terms of his licence by threatening his parents was given an 'anger diary' instead of being put behind bars.
Weeks later the thug assaulted his mother and father and beat up a police officer. He was sentenced to four months in prison.
Mr Houlahan now plans to take the probation service to an employment tribunal.
He claims he was unfairly dismissed last October after complaints of insubordination, inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues and unauthorised absence. He was also found to have breached health and safety rules by failing to take a full hour off for his lunch break.
Mr Houlahan, who moved to Britain after meeting his British wife Nichola, told The Sunday Times: "I wanted to bring the skills I learnt as an NYPD cop to the probation service.
"Seeing the results of crime on the ground, I thought it was my duty to help protect the public.
'More interested in rights of offender
"The probation service were more interested in the so-called rights of the offender and hellbent on keeping him out of jail than actually looking at the facts."
Last month it emerged that more than 10,000 crimes a month are committed by offenders on probation. Mr Houlahan, of Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, is a former sergeant in the US special forces. He served with the New York Police Department from 1998 to 2000.
He agrees that the reform of offenders is important, but believes public protection must come first.
"Working for the probation service was totally different from how I imagined it," he said. "I didn't join it to sit in swanky hotels cheering for Billy the offender but to protect the public."
In another incident, he was suspended for three weeks for 'violating the confidentiality' of a criminal he had removed from a group workshop because he was racially insulting participants. Mr Houlahan claims he was told by managers that the offender had only insulted others 'when he was angry'.
Essex probation service declined to comment on the detail of Mr Houlahan's allegations or on its policies, because of the possible legal action. A spokesman said: "Mr Houlahan was dismissed after a thorough disciplinary investigation, and a subsequent appeal, which was unanimously dismissed.
"The probation service has as its absolute primary aim the prevention of further crime."
dailymail.co.uk
It's now wonder that Britain is the most dangerous country in the Western World. London is 7 times more dangerous than New York - but ranks only as the 29th most dangerous city in the UK overall.
In Britain, the rights of the criminals come BEFORE the rights of the victims.
----------------------------------------------------------
Ex-New York cop sacked from probation service for putting public safety first
By DAVID WILKES, Daily Mail
5th June 2006
Career switch: Terrence Houlahan in his NYPD uniform
As a police officer on the streets of New York, it was Terrence Houlahan's duty to protect the public from violent crooks.
But when he moved to Britain and joined the probation service in Essex, he was shocked to discover there was quite a different approach to law and order.
Mr Houlahan, 39, repeatedly clashed with his new bosses because they failed to discipline or send back to prison criminals who breached the terms of their community sentences or parole.
The situation reached breaking point when Mr Houlahan refused to join collective cheering for a fictional character called 'Billy the offender' at a motivational conference.
The New Yorker was sacked after an official report into his behaviour found 'he appears to see public protection as the key task in his role and could not identify with the idea of rehabilitation of offenders'.
In one astonishing case, Mr Houlahan was staggered when a man of 23 who breached the terms of his licence by threatening his parents was given an 'anger diary' instead of being put behind bars.
Weeks later the thug assaulted his mother and father and beat up a police officer. He was sentenced to four months in prison.
Mr Houlahan now plans to take the probation service to an employment tribunal.
He claims he was unfairly dismissed last October after complaints of insubordination, inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues and unauthorised absence. He was also found to have breached health and safety rules by failing to take a full hour off for his lunch break.
Mr Houlahan, who moved to Britain after meeting his British wife Nichola, told The Sunday Times: "I wanted to bring the skills I learnt as an NYPD cop to the probation service.
"Seeing the results of crime on the ground, I thought it was my duty to help protect the public.
'More interested in rights of offender
"The probation service were more interested in the so-called rights of the offender and hellbent on keeping him out of jail than actually looking at the facts."
Last month it emerged that more than 10,000 crimes a month are committed by offenders on probation. Mr Houlahan, of Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, is a former sergeant in the US special forces. He served with the New York Police Department from 1998 to 2000.
He agrees that the reform of offenders is important, but believes public protection must come first.
"Working for the probation service was totally different from how I imagined it," he said. "I didn't join it to sit in swanky hotels cheering for Billy the offender but to protect the public."
In another incident, he was suspended for three weeks for 'violating the confidentiality' of a criminal he had removed from a group workshop because he was racially insulting participants. Mr Houlahan claims he was told by managers that the offender had only insulted others 'when he was angry'.
Essex probation service declined to comment on the detail of Mr Houlahan's allegations or on its policies, because of the possible legal action. A spokesman said: "Mr Houlahan was dismissed after a thorough disciplinary investigation, and a subsequent appeal, which was unanimously dismissed.
"The probation service has as its absolute primary aim the prevention of further crime."
dailymail.co.uk