Police stakeout bill for Assange tops £1m as it costs £11,000 a DAY to ensure he doesn't flee ...

[struggle4progress]

Ecuadorian Embassy
At least four Met officers stand guard around the clock
William Hague admits there is 'no sign of breakthrough'
By Chris Greenwood, Crime Reporter
PUBLISHED: 19:34 EST, 1 October 2012 | UPDATED: 04:51 EST, 2 October 2012

The police bill for staking out the embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is evading justice has already reached more than £1million. Scotland Yard confirmed it is costing £11,000 every day to ensure the Australian does not flee his bolthole at the Ecuadorean Embassy ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211530/Police-stakeout-Assange-tops-1m-costs-11-000-DAY-ensure-doesnt-flee-Ecuadorian-Embassy.html?ito=feeds-newsxml


Sentencing Guidelines Council
Fail to Surrender to Bail

... Bail Act offences are committed in significant numbers each year and are a major cause of disruption, delay and unnecessary cost for the criminal justice system ... When a Bail Act offence has been committed, the sentence must be commensurate with the seriousness of the offence and must take into account both the reason why the offender failed to surrender and the degree of harm intended or caused. For these purposes, ‘harm’ is not only that caused to individual victims and witnesses but includes the consequential effect on police and court resources and the wider negative impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system ... Section 6 of the Bail Act 1976 states:

“1) If a person who has been released on bail in criminal proceedings fails without reasonable cause to surrender to custody he shall be guilty of an offence; and
2) If a person who:
(a) has been released on bail in criminal proceedings, and
(b) having reasonable cause therefor, has failed to surrender to custody, fails to surrender to custody at the appointed place as soon after the appointed time as is reasonably practicable, he shall be guilty of an offence.”

The maximum sentence in a magistrates’ court is 3 months imprisonment. If the matter is committed to the Crown Court for sentence, or dealt with there, the maximum sentence is 12 months custody ... The obligation on a person who is granted bail is to surrender to custody at the court or the police station as required ... Where the failure to surrender was deliberate, it will be relevant whether it was designed to disrupt the system to the defendant’s advantage ... Seriousness is not reduced automatically by subsequent acquittal of the original offence ... The period of time for which a defendant absconds is also likely to influence the court when considering sentence ... The following aggravating factors are particularly relevant to an offence of failing to surrender to bail:
... Offender’s absence causes a lengthy delay to the administration of justice
... Determined attempt to avoid the jurisdiction of the court ...
Surrender initiated by the offender merits consideration as a mitigating factor ... Where the failure to surrender to custody was ‘deliberate’ ... at or near the top of the range will be cases where any of aggravating factors ... are present if there is also a significant delay and/or interference with the progress of the case ...

<link to pdf:> http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/web_Fail_to_Surrender_to_Bail.pdf

[SidDithers]

1. DU rec...nt

Sid

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. x2

[Comrade_McKenzie]

2. Their fault for wasting money. nt

[dsc]

4. I call bs on this

11,000 a day? First the 250,000 pound substation is irrelevant assuming it can be reused. That leaves the 4 officers 24/7. Assume 8 hour shifts so that becomes 12. So this is 12 days salary. According to this website the salary of a police officer is 31,176 pounds for the entire year. So unless they work fewer than 36 days a year this is exceptionally inflated.

http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/faq.html go to faq number 8

[struggle4progress]

9. It's probably an average since he jumped bail

Around 50 police officers have now surrounded the Knightsbridge mansion that houses the embassy in a bid to stop the Australian escaping the building and fleeing to Ecuador ...
By METRO WEB REPORTER - 18th August, 2012
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/908940-julian-assange-saga-costs-uk-1m-as-police-surround-ecuador-embassy

This Julian Assange spectacle is ... costing us £50,000 a day
By James Slack
PUBLISHED: 05:18 EST, 21 August 2012 | UPDATED: 05:18 EST, 21 August 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2191392/This-Julian-Assange-spectacle-making-mockery-police-wasting-money.html

[dsc]

41. Well lets look at it this way

the yearly salary is 32,000 pounds. There are 2,000 work hours in a year meaning an hourly wage of 16 pounds. 11,000/16 = 687.5 hours. divided by 24 hours in a day means you get 28.64 police officers around the clock. Frankly that seem pretty excessive to watch one place. Just how big is the Ecuadoran embassy? Your second link claims between 60 and 120 officers are guarding a single doorway. that is nothing short of absurd overkill and it should be noted wouldn't cost 50,000 pounds. 120 officers would cost about 46,000 pounds. (120\28.64)*11000. Honestly if there is a single entrance it would seem to me that 4 officers would be more than sufficient and would cost 1536 pounds a day. 16 pounds per hour per cop times 4 cops time 24 hours per day = 1536 pounds per day.

On edit read below that the Prime Minister has three guards and they are using upwards of 60 to watch an embassy. Regardless of what one feels about Assange this is overkill and a waste of money. 4 guards per shift should be sufficient.

[struggle4progress]

42. There have sometimes been crowds near the embassy: multiple officers may not have been excessive

when it was partly crowd control

Nor is it appropriate to assume all costs are salary for officers watching doorways: it's quite common for hidden operational costs to increase the obvious and visible costs by a nontrivial factor

[dsc]

44. I still find both of the estimates wildly inflated

and can't think of any scenario where 120 cops would be needed as your second link stated was needed.

[struggle4progress]

47. They've had quite a few there at times:

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. It's Britain's choice. And thanks for linking to the Daily Mail again.

There's nothing like promoting right-wing propaganda rags here, but the power of vendetta runs strong.

[riderinthestorm]

8. I really doubt the Brits are paying that bill. The US is I'd bet. A million bucks already??

Its extraordinary!

And says a ton about how badly they want him either contained or arrested.... This news only re-confirms to me how deeply important he must be to the PTB in order to go to this much effort and expense.

Amazing.

[frylock]

6. GOLDSTEIN!!1

[struggle4progress]

10. You seem to have a limited vocabulary

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=248895
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=110639
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=228887
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=225004

[Posteritatis]

13. Gotta love posters you could replace with a small script of some sort. (nt)

[frylock]

25. you're replying to a bot..

anti-assange bullshit is all this poster has to offer. all day, every day.

[frylock]

22. that's the only appropriate response your two-minute hate deserves

.

[backscatter712]

26. It's time for Two Minutes Hate!

Quick! Throw something at the telescreen!

[riderinthestorm]

7. Wait, whut? I thought Assange was so unimportant to the PTB, so utterly inconsequential anymore

I mean, really, there's been the usual contingent of DUers assuring us that Assange is yesterday's news. He's of absolutely zero interest to anyone but the Swedes for questioning. There's no reason to think that the US or anyone else is even remotely interested in him - in fact, I've been told over and over and over that Assange is simply a media whore trying to stay relevant in a world that could care less about him....




(how often have the Brits EVER spent this much money guarding ANYONE else whose been wanted for questioning in ANY other country for ANY reason? Gee, kinda says something...)

[NCTraveler]

11. Assange will do everything he can...

to make sure he doesn't become yesterdays news.

[wtmusic]

29. Of course! He's staying in the embassy to...make them spend money to...become more famous!

[riderinthestorm]

33. This amount is like 100x what they'd spend on anyone else, including convicted felons!

And some folks STILL think he's 1. a media whore and 2. just some lowlife that nobody's interested in and 3. This is really just about being wanted for questioning! in Sweden.

Its a staggering amount of money. How many years will the British public allow this nonsense to go on?

The Ecuadorian consulate has offered to let Assange go to their Swedish embassy for questioning. So far? No response. Nope, the UK wants to KEEP spending millions of pounds on this.

[wtmusic]

40. I'm sure the U.S. is tossing a Milk-Bone or two their way. nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

30. so will s4p n/t

[obamanut2012]

32. lol

[NCTraveler]

51. That was good. nt.

[HangOnKids]

48. Yes He Is A Honey Boo Boo Fame Wanker!!!!

I wish I could say what I really wanted to.

[struggle4progress]

14. Governments are generally willing to expend substantial resources to ensure people take seriously

principles such as: "Thou shalt not jump bail"

[riderinthestorm]

17. LOL!!! 4 million pounds/year??? For an indefinite number of years?? For "jumping bail".

I'm not sure this comes across the way you think it does. The average cost for a UK prisoner is 41,000 pounds per year. A convicted rapist, murderer, terrorist, robber etc.

Yet they're expending millions of pounds per year to keep Assange under wraps....

[struggle4progress]

19. Perhaps they would have spent rather less on a manhunt for him, if he had simply disappeared, but

since he choose to generate international headlines, again and again, for his refusal to surrender himself, and since they know exactly where he is, the UK authorities are unlikely to throw in the towel on him, since otherwise he too visibly sets too tempting an example for all the other would-be bail jumpers

[riderinthestorm]

20. You're really serious? You think the UK government is spending that much money for an example??

I have got a primo CHOICE bridge to sell you! Step right over here. It will only cost you a bit more than 4 MILLION BRITISH POUNDS per year....

[struggle4progress]

37. Yes: governments generally don't ignore folk who flout the law with much noise and fanfare,

on the theory that such behavior might become epidemic, unless an example be made of it

The UK also does not want people complaining in court "Why did you come after me when I jumped bail? You didn't go after Assange when he jumped bail! It's biased and unfair: that's what it is!" -- as arguments with that pattern have some successful history under common law

[riderinthestorm]

38. Assange has more guards than #10 Downing St! (which has 3)

Its costing more to "guard" Assange than it is the British Prime Minister's house!

[wtmusic]

31. True...if Ecuador built an embassy big enough, they could provide refuge for all Brit bail-jumpers.

This could be a real problem.

[frylock]

45. a manhunt?!

they know where he's fucking staying!

[treestar]

21. But to the British, thumbing one's nose at their government might be consequential

If they let him do it, it send a message to others that they don't have to obey the bail laws either.

[Luminous Animal]

12. Boo fucking hoo.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Being a lapdog for the USA is expensive.

[struggle4progress]

18. Assange's crackpot claims don't become credible simply by being repeated again and again

[frylock]

23. s4p's crackpot claims don't become credible simply by being repeated again and again..

you see how that works?

[struggle4progress]

43. You don't seem to notice Assange's stories change with the fickle winds:

the women were just angry that he had gone to bed with both of them, or they were radical feminists, or they were upset he hadn't called from the train, or they were CIA agents

Assange knows perfectly well that the Swedish prosecutors currently expect to charge him: he left Sweden instantly when the prosecutors made that clear to his lawyer. Then he led the prosecutors to believe he would return to Sweden on a particular date: and then he blew them off. That's why there's a court-ordered arrest warrant in Sweden, that predates the European Arrest Warrant: and Assange knows about that warrant because he's challenged that Swedish warrant twice in Swedish courts. But he continues to misrepresent the situation: he's organized his supporters to say he's only accused of having a condom break during sex, when in fact the UK courts found that he's accused of rape; he's organized his supporters to say he's only wanted in Sweden for questioning, when in fact the UK courts found that he's wanted for purposes of prosecution

There's not the slightest evidence to support the Assangists' crackpot theories that the US is trying to get him sent to Sweden so the US can grab him from there and send him to GITMO for torture and execution: to read the news as supporting such a theory requires one to believe in a gigantic conspiracy between Sweden, the UK, and the US

[frylock]

46. those aren't assange's claims..

those are theories offered by supporters of assange. you don't seem to know fuckall about this.

[struggle4progress]

50. The claims of Assange's lawyers are, of course, to be regarded as the claims of Assange

[Nye Bevan]

16. My sympathies are with the Ecuadorian embassy staff who have to live with Assange and his ego.

Imagine, getting to work every day, and there is Assange in his PJs, robe and slippers, drinking a mug of coffee and munching on toast, pontificating about the evil Swedes and Americans. He probably only bothers to get dressed when he makes one of his balcony appearances.

[frylock]

24. do you spend a lot of time imagining that?

[Nye Bevan]

28. Not really.

But it did occur to me that there could be the makings of a sitcom here. "The wacky adventures of a guy stuck in an embassy" (probably could use a snappier title).

[99th_Monkey]

27. I want Assange to escape in the laundry truck, like in the movies? ~nt

[riderinthestorm]

34. I just did the currency converter and this works out to $6.4 million/year!!!

The Brits are paying a staggering sum....

.... for a guy wanted for QUESTIONING in Sweden. Questioning only.

You know, extrapolating the value of Assange in dollar terms, he's gold.

Someone wants him on ice very, very badly.

[GliderGuider]

49. $6.4M? Shee-it.

If he was really just some bail-jumper, they could put one PC on the front door and call it a day... probably for a tenth of the cost.

[WillyT]

35. Good !!!

[Zorra]

36. The 1% makes taxpayers foot the bill to make sure Julian can no longer expose their corrupt deeds.

They make us foot the bill for the military actions they require to protect or acquire their sources of profit as well.

And asskissing RW idiots everywhere continue to cheer on the efforts of the 1% as the 1% continues to rip them off and laugh in their brandy at the utter stupidity of the RW.

But the real punchline for the 1% is that the buttlicking RW fools applaud the efforts of the 1% to imprison those who would set them free.



The eternal $truggle for the progre$$ of the 1% continue$.



Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

[bluestate10]

39. The money can be saved if Assange steps out for a cup of coffee. nt