Senior British Police Officer Questions Assisted Suicide Law

Britain's most senior female police officer has warned that a relaxation of the laws with regard to assisted suicide may allow people to rid themselves of elderly members of their family whom they view as a burden.

Barbara Wilding is the 59-year-old Chief Constable of South Wales Police who will be retiring in December after a 42-year career in policing. With Keir Starmer, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, currently drawing up guidelines regarding when a prosecution should be brought against somebody involved in assisting the suicide of a member of their family, either abroad or in Britain, Ms Wilding has decided to add her voice to the debate over possible changes to the law in respect of those who help a person to die. The guidelines being drawn up by Mr Starmer, QC, are the result of a victory in the High Court for Debbie Purdy, 46, a multiple sclerosis sufferer from Bradford in Northern England. Ms Purdy wants clarification on whether her husband would be prosecuted if he traveled with her to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, Switzerland when she was ready to end her life because of the worsening of her condition. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Ms Wilding said that abuse of the elderly is something that society, faced with a growth in that section of its population, has yet to come to terms with. And she went on to say that stories of elderly abuse that are increasingly emerging are comparable to those of child abuse that started to come to the authorities' and the public's attention in the 1970s. Adding that she feared elderly people would not be given a voice when it came to the manner in which they were being treated, the Chief Constable said of the possibility that the law on assisted suicide may be revised:

From a policing perspective we need to be very careful on this to make sure it does not become a way of getting rid of a burden. I will be watching any change in legislation very carefully

Miss Wilding also criticized the current government, and politicians in general, for creating a divide between the generations in Britain in their rush to appear "tough on crime". ‘"Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" is a phrase widely associated with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and he coined it whilst he was still in opposition. Without specifically using the word demonization it is one that seems to fit well the process that Miss Wilder believes is happening in society when it comes to young people. A group of young people merely walking down the street are likely to find themselves reported to the police on the grounds of anti-social behavior. Asserting that young people have as much right to be walking down the street as "elderly people going to collect their pension", she said that the mistrust of young people displayed by older generations produced a lack of respect in return. Acknowledging that clearly there were young people whose activities warranted the police being involved, Miss Wilding seemed to be of the opinion that the excessive issuing of ASBOs (Anti-social Behaviour Orders) was making young people who may not truly fit the description in to criminals in the eyes of the law. ASBOs were first introduced in 1998 and the range of offenses for which they can be issued was extended by a subsequent act passed in 2003. Expressing her concerns that society did not have sufficient resources to deal with the increase in the elderly population, the woman who will bring to an end over four decades of service to her community later this year, said too that the police were having to deal with more suspects aged in their 50s and 60s as society undergoes quite dramatic changes. In conclusion Miss Wilding, who was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006, uttered words that may make some people feel distinctly uncomfortable. But they are coming from a woman with vast experience of the world of policing and its evolving challenges. Her opinion was that:

policing cannot just do enforcing on its own, it has to get involved in social engineering