British police talks to target injustice

PRESTON, England, May 15 (UPI) -- A Police Federation conference that began Tuesday will allow British law enforcement officials a chance to fight alleged nationwide injustice, a report said.

The Times of London reported that during the annual gathering in the British town of Blackpool, head police officials will discuss allegations that many recent arrests were conducted simply to bolster performance results.

Federation Chairman Jan Berry said the officials will question if the current stance toward punishing minor offenses rather than issuing warnings is damaging the national justice system.

"These examples we have compiled are ludicrous," Berry said, "but when people are being pushed to show results they will use anything they can to demonstrate they are doing a good job."

The newspaper said that among offenses being questioned are a pair of children who were arrested for possessing a toy gun and an assault charge filed against another child for throwing a cucumber slice.