Marcus Vaudin on the Rohais Arrest
Marcus says:
“Let’s call this what it is: a violent failure of policing, compounded by institutional spin. A man wrongly identified, violently detained, injured, and humiliated — and the official line is that ‘policing is difficult’. That excuse is worn out.
Difficult does not mean reckless. Dangerous does not mean unaccountable.
If this can happen to Steven Turner in broad daylight on the Rohais, it can happen to anyone.
A broken nose and a bruised dignity are not acceptable side effects of a misstep in ‘dynamic decision-making’. We must stop treating collateral damage as routine policing.”
Marcus’s Key Points
Mistaken Identity = Structural Weakness
“Calling someone the wrong name and then tackling them isn’t law enforcement, it’s incompetence. Our systems for identification, intelligence, and engagement are clearly not fit for purpose.”
Excessive Force
“Whether it’s a broken nose or not, a vulnerable man with a spinal implant was slammed into the ground. That is disproportionate by any definition. Policing must de-escalate first, not pile on.”
Medical Neglect
“The fact that a medic had to intervene twice before hospital treatment was given tells me the priority wasn’t health, it was containment. That’s backwards.”
Accountability Now
“The Professional Standards Department investigating the police is the fox guarding the henhouse. This must be an independent inquiry, led by civilians, with evidence made public in real time.”
Wider Issue: The Criminalisation of the Vulnerable
“We need to stop criminalising medicinal cannabis users, people with health conditions, and those on the margins. Dragging patients into custody for pharmacy-prescribed medication is an indictment of our laws, not of them.”
Marcus’s Radical Reform Proposal
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Independent Civilian Oversight Board — elected by the public, with authority to investigate complaints and discipline officers.
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Body-Worn Cameras Mandatory — all officers on active duty to livestream encounters, footage automatically available in disputes.
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Decriminalisation of Medicinal Use — patients using prescribed or therapeutic substances must not be treated as criminals.
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Public Review of Use-of-Force Protocols — every incident of injury during arrest reviewed by a citizens’ panel, not behind closed doors.
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