Police Officer in gun "joke" at MAN
 

From the London "Evening Standard":

"A senior police officer was barred from boarding a plane after joking to airport staff that he had a gun.

Insp John Orr made the comment as officials at Manchester airport searched his hand luggage during increased security checks following the US terror attacks.

When they confiscated a penknife they found in his case, he joked: "Watch it, I've got a gun".

A heated exchange followed in which he produced his warrant card and airline officials eventually called in police, who escorted him from the building.

Insp Orr and his wife Linda were heading for a holiday in Crete and passengers on the flight were held up for 40 minutes as a result of the fracas.

Greater Manchester Police has confirmed that an investigation into the alleged incident was under way.

A police source said: "I'm not sure what comment he made but with the current heightened state of alert any form of comment is inappropriate."

Insp Orr, who works in Greater Manchester Police's traffic division, is now at home on leave while an investigation is carried out."


:mad: :mad: :mad:

Six months in Strangeways would be about right for such asinine behaviour. It doesn't matter who you are, it's an offence under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act to make a false declaration about such matters.

Next case please!

Would you trust his judgement as a Police Officer?

What a crass remark - at any time!!!

Bue esp now!!!!! :mad:


Dunno about Strangeways 4* hotel, but def sack the ******......

What a very stupid man

Is it not clear to pax that such remarks at anytime never mind now, are just a) not funny and b) completely not on.

I may be being naive, but these sort of comments are made frequently by the "joking public" who do see them as "jokes" (God only knows why).

What does it take to get it through their idiotic skulls that this is serious ? I know to the vast majority of the travelling public comments like this are completely crass, but for the minority of idiots can it not be highlighted by bloody big posters at airports if necessary, that comments like this WILL lead to IMMEDIATE arrest and possible banning orders from future flights ??

Or as I say, am I being naive....

As for this policeman, I sincerely hope his superiors throw the bloody book at him !!!

:mad:

Was this guy not in charge of glasgow constabulary at one time or was it someone of the same name ?

Sir John Orr was the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police. Don't think it's the same person!!

I would have thought by now that even us lowly pax, not just Police officers, should know by now that you NEVER joke with airport security/customs officers! They take (and quite rightly too), every comment seriously!

Julian.

Govnor....For once I totally 100% agree with you!
Silly, silly man!
As posted, not the same guy as Sir John Orr. :)
Eff Oh.

I see he worked (or did work) in 'Traffic'. Perhaps that would go some way to explain the mentality behind his little 'joke'.


Regards
Exeng

Have you all lost your sense of proportion? The worst he can be accused of is making an unwise remark out of frustration at having his pen knife confiscated. Hardly a reason for refusing him boarding. I suspect he might be a good man to have on board during an attempted hijack.

Harpy, and what happens when something does kick off on board when all the arses out there are making these crass remarks ?? Security are hardly likely to say "Doh ! Hey guys he wasn't kidding, ****** !"

Yes ok, but when talking of sense of proportions, you don't mess around at airport security, full stop. May seem draconian, but anything less is irresponsible to the remaining pax and crew.

If I was behind this arse or persons like him at security, I wouldn't want to sit next to that type of person on board. His attitude at security would typify him as a complete wan*er anyway. And if as you suggest he was getting arsey and frustrated about having his penknife confiscated in the current climate, what type of idiot are we dealing with here ???

Harpy, couldn't agree with you more. All sense of proportion has disappeared with regards to security. Comments above such as "NEVER joke with security...." "the joking public" etc. play into the hands of jobsworths everywhere whose increased sense of power makes all our lives more miserable.

Let's face it, 99.999999999% of all flights are unaffected by terrorism. All the security in the world wouldn't have helped prevent the recent atrocities. It's just like saying if speed cameras round every corner in the land prevented the loss of just one life it would be worth installing them everywhere. Crap! Life is risky. Without actually banning ban all cars then some people will still be killed on the road, whatever preventive measures you take.

You have to balance the loss of 3,000 odd lives lost on the roads each year in the UK with which society considers acceptable (or else it would ban all cars) against the inconvenience of a disrupted lifestyle.

Same with terrorists. If you rubber-gloved every single passenger going anywhere by air, (leading, incidentally, to a massive reduction in passengers because of the hassle and huge delays, and therefore a lot of us losing our jobs as a direct consequence, which is probably already happening),you still won't be helping to prevent terrorism. These guys aren't just going to say "Fair cop, guv, we'll be nice world citizens from now on", they're going to go on and bomb the crap out of other targets, such as trains, cruise ships and city centres maybe with biological and chemical weapons.

So, following this logic,in the end we'll all be rubber-gloved the minute we step outside our homes. And what do security people know, anyway? After all, it was them telling everyone in the second WTC tower that the building was "secure" and people should return to their desks......

I prefer this sort of puplicity.

Hopefully all the would be thugs that get pissed and shout at the crew with impunity will realise that the game has changed and we are going to play hard ball with anyone who even comes close to threatening our A/c.

The days of air rage resulting in a slap on the wrist at least are over.... hopefully.

If we can get the pax to wind their necks in we shall stand a better chance of telling the difference between them and terrorists.

Gumshoe

Quote:
"If we can get the pax to wind their necks in we shall stand a better chance of telling the difference between them and terrorists."

I don't think so. A hijacker is unlikely to make a joke at a security officer's expense. That would draw attention to him. He will be very well behaved until the moment comes to act.

Julian

Quote:
"I would have thought by now that even us lowly pax, not just Police officers, should know by now that you NEVER joke with airport security/customs officers! They take (and quite rightly too), every comment seriously!
Julian."

Did you know that Customs Officers still bypass security? That IS a joke.

In a former life I worked on a passenger screening point at a terminal in Australia.

This bloke in shorts and a T-shirt sets off the metal detector and I call him over. Wave the wand over him and it goes off about where his buckle would have been. I ask if he has a buckle and he says 'no but I have this' and lifts up his shirt to reveal the butt of a '38 Special sticking out.

I took a half step back and was about to clock the bloke as hard as I could when I notice a bright police badge in my face and his smiling face behind it.

After telling the (off duty) prat what a w@nker he was he started getting uppity and at one stage tried threatening me because I was 'making trouble'.

He quietened down conisderably when I used his name that I had observed on his warrant card and took him around to the front of the machine and showed him the sign where it said that it was an offence to NOT declare those items (and it didn't matter if he was a cop or not).

After explaining the penalty unit system for such a transgression and the fact that he certainly wouldn't be able to be a cop anymore I suggested that he take his funny (also off duty) mate (who had put his bumbag through the x-ray machine with his gun in it and also didn't mention anything about it) and p!ss off before I arrested them!

Some people are just dickheads with too much power!

wonder if anyone needs "evidence" any furriners with a $3 an hour job who takes a dislike to anyone just needs to comment to his buds " HE said Gun" and the poor pax is a dead duck

Extracted from The Manchester Evening News 28-09-2001

Cop Jokes " I've got a bomb"

A POLICE officer caused a security alert at Manchester Airport and was barred from a holiday jet after joking that he had a bomb in his luggage.
Inspector John Orr was told he would not be allowed on the plane after the ''flippant and insensitive'' comment to security staff.

Today, the motorway patrol officer, who has served in Greater Manchester for 28 years, is under investigation by the force.

Airport bosses have branded Insp Orr ''irresponsible'', while a police colleague described his remarks as ''unbelievable'' in light of the terrorist attacks on America.

Police were called to Ringway's Terminal 2 on Tuesday night by a security guard amid claims that Insp Orr, who was heading to Crete with his wife, made a remark about a bomb.

Staff later told bosses that he said: ''I have a bomb in my bag.''

Apology

He apologised for the joke, but was not allowed on the Excel Airways flight to Heraklion.

It is believed the incident occurred at 8.45pm when the officer, a father in his mid-40s, had a verbal exchange with a security guard who found a small penknife when checking his hand-luggage.

It is unlikely that Insp Orr, based at Birch Services near Oldham on the M62, will be charged with a criminal offence, but he could face disciplinary action.

A Ringway insider said: ''He made a flippant and insensitive remark about a bomb. In the current climate it was sheer madness.''

An airport spokeswoman said: ''It is highly irresponsible for anyone to make threats about security while going through airport procedures and, in certain circumstances, false statements about luggage can constitute an offence.''

She added: ''Any remark made by a passenger which suggests a threat to security at the airport is taken seriously.''

Senior officers - said to be furious at the incident - have now been called in to investigate the allegations, which come amid heightened security at Ringway. Last night there was no reply at Insp Orr's home in Tameside.

A senior police officer said: ''It is unbelievable that anyone could find such a remark funny after the terrible tragedy in America.''

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman confirmed: ''An investigation has been launched.''

stupid fool!!

Max - I still stand by my comments, I dont know how you can call security 'jobsworth'! I am sure if a arab guy was stood in front of you in the queue having his penknife confiscated and he said 'Hey I have a bomb too' you would want guy the drag him aside and give in a once over, or maybe he was only joking........

Harpy - Not sure what you mean by your comment, could you expand please.

Julian.

No matter how stupid we think they are, it is a sad fact that there are some people in this World who think it's funny to cause unnecessary worry to others at times like this.

Last Friday evening I was pax'ing TFS-LGW on JMC772L.

After security, whilst waiting to board, my mother (whilst taking my young kids for a pre-flight visit to the loo) spotted a guy
(not Brit, but possibly Continental European)sitting "playing" with a penknife in the departure lounge.

She was quite worried by this, and we decided that we would try to find someone from security/police to tell - trouble was that in the 10 mins we had before boarding we couldn't find anyone!!

In fact, the airport security in TFS seemed no different to normal (no bag searching, no armed police) - which was in complete contrast to what we found on arrival at LGW.

Having said all this - full marks to JMC, who had a polite, but firm lady (just what's needed in the circumstances) advising us all of all the items we needed to remove from our hand baggage if necessary. I'm pleased to report that my fellow pax took it seriously and a lot of them also checked-in bags that they might otherwise have carried on.