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42COMMENTWeek 2 - Summer Termscan.lusu.co.uk/commentPolicingParis Brown was a victim of the vicious pressSam SmallridgeIn an ideal world the role of‘Youth Police Crime Commissioner’or ‘youth crime tsar’would be unnecessary. The socialcohesion between young peoplein Britain and the police wouldbe harmonious and the thought ofpaying a 17 year old to tell the policehow to do their job would seemas useful as appointing George Osborneto help ease Britain’s debt.However that is far from the case.The Safer London Foundation, establishedby the Metropolitan Police,found in autumn 2012 that50% of young people believed therelationship between young peopleand the police was negative. Only17% described the relationship aspositive. This is not exclusive toLondon but reflective of urban areasacross Britain. Britain’s convenientamnesia in regards to the2011 Riots has meant the root ofthe problem has not been treatedin order to prevent any more otherunrest horrifying the nation.And while some have cried tokenismor a publicity stunt andothers vindictively set about toundermine the idea of the Kent Policeand Crime Commissioner AnnBarnes, what was a well-meaningproject has met catastrophic ends.But make no mistake about it, the17 year-old girl given the ‘opportunityof a lifetime’ which hasnow been lost thanks to a hystericalright-wing media campaignis a victim. Paris Brown could donothing in the face of the forensicresearching of the Daily Mail whoprowled her twitter feed. Quite whytweets made up to two years agowere enough to prompt Brown’sresignation really is perplexingbut if past actions are enough tocondemn people then I suspect DavidCameron will be preparing hisresignation speech this evening ashis Bullingdon days come back tohaunt him.However if we are to take theDaily Mails no doubt well-informedand researched character judgementsseriously then this ‘foulmouthedcrime tsar’, as they sopolitely dubbed the 17 year-old, isexactly the sort of person the policeshould have been talking to.Drinking, drugs and sexual franknessare, for some young people,part of teenage life. It is this factthat the right-wing newspapers areyet to get used to. It is often theseteenagers that will suffer from poorrelations with the police. This was arare open ear presented to the disaffectedyouth closed by the bullieson Fleet Street.“What could havebeen an importantrole has beenwasted”Let us also consider the denouncementof the homophobicslur that she used. This is plainlyunacceptable but it would be wrongto rage at Paris as if she was theexception. The fact is for thousandsof young people across the country‘fag’ is widely used and moreso the application of ‘that’s so gay’to mean something is bad. This isa societal problem. Homophobiainfects youth culture as it does allother cultures in Britain. Perhapswe are to expect nothing less whenit is not even 10 years since thelifting of the ban on homosexualitybeing taught in schools. This isnot to exempt Paris but to point toher as if she is an individual homophobewith a vendetta is wrong,Britain needs more education andmore years before homophobia isgiven the same revulsion as racism.If they want to help this transitionthe Daily Mail and Telegraph couldbegin by apologising for supportingSection 28.The fact of the matter is thatParis Brown was not squeaky cleanand in the face of pernicious newspapersthat is just not good enough,however no one should be as readyto jump to the same conclusions asthe British press in regards to this17 year old with 14 GCSEs whomanaged to beat 163 other applicantsto the post in the first place.What could have been an importantrole in helping young peoplein her region has been wasted. It isthe teenagers who have made mistakesthat need a strong relationshipwith the police and communities.If the police are going to listento teenagers that have never brokenthe law, tweeted irresponsibly orbeen tempted by the allure of drugsthey won’t learn anything. I can’thelp but feel that the people whohounded Paris don’t want anyoneto listen to those voices either. Thisis merely reflective of a politicaltrend which treats Britain’s futurewith ignorance and contempt.