It is located outside of the Harlow Police Station in Essex. The photo wasn't taken by a concerned party, aghast by the shear existence of such a device, but rather was posted to Facebook by the Essex Police, who are quite proud.
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“Cookie Monster no coward! Cookie Monster just love COOKIES!”
WTF for sure!
Look, the UK police forces are populated by passive officers after years of targeting the wrong kind of people. Gone are the days Of giving someone a kicking as a warning. Of course they believe crims will pop over and drop their weapons in this stupid bin because they don’t live on the same planet we do. They still think larking about with Joe public and being eco friendly stops crime.
I guess I’m a coward then.
All I carry are broken beer bottles and sacks of door knobs. How the hell am I supposed to cram those through that tiny hole?
Yeah and how is William Wallace going to throw in his claymore when he finally surrenders his freedom to the English?
Go to police.uk and read about the “possession of weapons”. In its entirety, the law and guidelines are counterintuitive.
When seconds count, hope is only minutes away. Ask the families of people who were killed or injured in the last attack. Most people were resigned to throwing chairs, bottles or glassware.
I’ve been to parts of London and the surrounding areas where I needed to transit and would never do so without a very sharp 3 inch knife that you could mostly get away with. Mostly.
Criminalizing weapons used for self defense only guarantees one thing. The criminals will be the only ones with weapons.
Was your 3″ knife a folder or a fixed blade?
Folder with a locking mechanism. Fixed blades were generally a no-go and could get you nicked.
What kind of folding knives are you allowed to purchase and carry? Any restrictions on length, etc?
Just start throwing random stuff in there that still has life/limb dangerous effects and see what happens.
Shiv cookie monster for a cookie
Socialism at it’s finest.Thank God for the American Revolution.
Should say thank God and many brave American patriots.
Might help is that sign was in arabic
^and boom goes the dynamite.
I see the logic, but doubt it will work. Britain and the US function so differently as to make imposing ones perspective on the other a waste of time.
Et dire que ces crétins (a.k.a. “limies”) nous ont battu à Trafalgar – la honte m’envahit … Bref, ces conneries ne datent pas d’hier (ex. 2005) : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4581871.stm
Search online for “basic flintknapping techniques” to understand the uselessness and futility of that box.
or go to a hardware store?
sure hope it’s srewed down well, otherwise…
Yup, this is real. When I used to go to RAF Mildenhall on TDYs we would get briefed to not carry any knives off base to include multitools. I know a crew chief that was stopped outside of the perimeter by Brit cops and they took his Leatherman.
“Only cowards carry”? Yeah…come over to our side of the pond and say that ya wankers!
I find when someone calls an armed person whose trained a “coward” it’s usually because their intent doesn’t bode well for the person whom they’re calling a “coward” #SorryToDisappointTheWolves
What a spit in the face of every soldier, sailor, airman, intel agent, or police officer on any continent. This sort of thinking makes more victims than it does safety. How about kindly asking the Islamic terrorists to give up their weapons, cars, trucks, bombs? This is a great example of why we will never visit GB or any nation so screwed up.
This from the country that has riots over football matches. England is doomed.
Dear American’s, please don’t take this as an affront to the liberties that you enjoy in your Country.
This campaign and the slogan is aimed at encouraging kids not to carry knives on the street that’s all, nothing to do with soldiers or airmen!!!
I do agree it’s a bit lame!
Peace and love from the U.K.
I have to laugh at most of the responses posted by our American cousins.
Let me clarify a few things:
1. Britain is not a socialist state, although it has some centre-left views and institutions (Such as the National Health Service) which are supported by the vast majority of those with right wing views.
2. There is almost no support for the relaxing of very strict firearms laws, nor is there much support for arming the UK police force (this includes Tasers).
3. To answer one point made by someone who clearly has no idea about the UK: there have been no “football riots” in decades.
4. Many in the U.S seem to believe that our refusal to arm the people of Britain makes us more susceptible to terrorist attacks. Whilst it’s true we’ve had a few high profile cases recently, it’s worth noting that A. The vast majority of plots are prevented. B. In the recent attacks, armed police where on the scene within 6 minutes ands C. Numerous members of the public and police officers, all of whom were unarmed, took on those terrorists and prevented further atrocities being committed.
5. We in the UK do not fear our government, our police or our armed forces. If we feel the need to “overthrow” our government, we do so at the ballot box, because that’s what a civilised society does.
6. The only reason to carry a weapon is because you have no faith in your ability to beat your opponent without one, so I would suggest that the “Only cowards carry weapons” slogan is pretty accurate.
I do not want to get drawn into a pissing contest about which country has got it right, mainly because the U.S and the U.K have different cultures and different views on how we each live our lives.
I live 10 miles away from Essex and I applaud Essex Constabulary for their knife/ended weapons amnesty box, which have historically lead to a large number of weapons being handed in.
I was mostly with you till the cowards point. Just to be friendly, let’s assume that you are correct and that we carry weapons because we “…have no faith in your ability to beat your opponent without one…”
A smart man would then choose to carry a weapon, thinking that he can’t win without it. That is not cowardice, either in the British or American forms of the language.
Now, for those of us who feel confident in our ability to beat our opponents, the question becomes one of scale. A single opponent, unarmed? Multiple armed opponents?
It is not cowards, but rather fools, who choose to go unarmed. Or Subjects.
“The only reason to carry a weapon is because you have no faith in your ability to beat your opponent without one, so I would suggest that the “Only cowards carry weapons” slogan is pretty accurate.”
Easy there there Jean Claude Van Damme. I’m not sure what kind of ninja badass you are, but last time I checked, weapons were tools created for the purpose of beating adversaries that were stronger, more skilled, more numerous, more ranged, etc than you. I reject entirely your notion (and that of those Essex functionaries who seem to have entirely forgotten, if they ever even knew, Peel’s Principles.) that weapons are “for cowards.” Is it cowardly when a 100 lb woman uses a weapon to stop a 250 lb rapist? Or when a homeowner uses one to defend against three individuals violently breaking into his home. Etc. Etc. To go about thinking that a world in which people must rely purely on their own physical prowess is somehow a more “just” or “civilized” society is just plain wrong headed. Weapons are what allow the weak and the meek to defeat the strong and the brave. Yes, that does have the less desirable effect of empowering the Ephialtes’ of a given society. But it also allows for a society in which individuals don’t have to rely on either their own physical size and prowess, or that of a third party they can call upon for assistance. While it is indeed cowardly to arm oneself in order to commit crimes, doing so for defense of self or others is not at all cowardly. Indeed, I would suggest that failure to do so, while still intending to defend oneself or others rather than merely submitting to the aggressor, is stupid.
SLG & Pete,
I respect your answers but again you are coming from a U.S standpoint. The majority of violent crime in the UK (including sexual assaults and murders) is committed without any weapon being involved. The majority of times where weapons are involved are in criminal vs criminal cases. In fact the current issue the UK is facing are so called “acid attacks” which happen quickly and without warning and no gun/knife/”ninja skills” can prevent someone from surprising you and throwing acid in your face.
As I said before, we are two different cultures with vastly different types of crime and so, in the UK at least, it is only cowards who carry weapons.
The fact that you felt you had to defend your nation’s indefensible stand shows EXACTLY where formerly “Great” Britain is.
Sickening.
Vince, he;s not defending anything really, he’s more just making things a little easier for people that are a big ignorant to understand.
Boy, thanks for the clarification. Clarify for me, if you would, why the British Army needs to be armed in their occupation of Northern Ireland? Your pissing contest has already been lost. I’ve carried knives since age 5, and never stabbed anyone or viewed it as a weapon, rather, a tool. Your conjecture that the only reason to carry a weapon is that one has one is the lack of faith in the ability to beat your opponent without one causes a reflexive eye roll here. My use of real weapons for self defense has resulted in ceased escalation. Every time. Civility has ensued every time I’ve expressed the ultimatum that, without words, says “If you continue your criminal threats, consequences are likely…”
Outlaw more stuff, that will fix your violence issues. Maybe pillowcases full of doorknobs should be next on your wankish legislative agenda. Good luck disarming your tots. Sesame Street characters should help.
OK Rob, I’ll clarify. The British Army are no longer deployed in Northern Ireland and haven’t been for a decade, but when they were, they didn’t occupy the provence but needed guns to protect themselves and the public (The majority of whom wished to remain within the UK) from terrorists groups who were supplied for many years by donations provided by misinformed supporters such as yourself in the United States.
You tell us you don’t want an international pissing contest while also calling us cowards and implying we’re uncivilized.
I don’t trust my government because there was a time when your government was our government and those of us that payed attention learned our lesson. Our government fucked us over. Many of us tried and failed to resolve our disagreement peacefully from inside the system. We finally resorted to war and we won.
You can’t rely on the ballot box alone. Tyrants can come to power democratically. Mugabe did. Erdogan did, Maduro did. Tyrants will also rig elections to give themselves the appearance of legitimacy. This is likely what occurred in Venezuela recently.
Peaceful solutions are preferable to violent ones but sometimes you run out of better options.
I doubt the Essex Po-po paid for the rights to use Cookie Monster’s likeness? “Hey kids, pocket knives are against the law; but copyright violations are ok!”
You don’t need to ask permission to use a trademark for educational purposes. So no, they probably didn’t, because they didn’t have to.
Also, if you check out the website on the top of the structure, you’ll note that it’s the Only Cowards Carry Weapon Awareness charity which is using Cookie Monster, not the Essex police.
UK murder rate by 100,000 inhabitants: 0.92
US murder rate by 100,000 inhabitants: 4.88
And that’s despite the UK’s mass immigration issues.
Just sayin.
I don’t doubt it, wouldn’t mind a citation though.
Here you go:
– Raw data: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/dataportal/PublicationReports2017_1a.xlsx
– Visualisation portal: https://data.unodc.org/ (you’ll have to browse to it, there’s no direct link, but it’s straightforward)
UNODOC is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Your post wasn’t blocked. First posts must be approved to avoid spam and other forms of mayhem.
No worries! That’s understandable.
I replied but the reply was blocked!? Maybe it was because of the link in the comment?
So without posting the link, the source is the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Their numbers are up to date up to 2015 – so those stats above are from 2015.
Sure, but more general violent crime is 2-5 times more statistically prevalent in the UK depending on how it is calculated. Of course, there’s also the fact that generally somewhere around 2/3 of the US murder rate can be attributed to gang stuff most of which occurs between prohibited persons in extremely firearms restrictive districts (and if firearms are involved they are generally old – avg ~10-12 years since last recorded legitimate sale – see FBI “time to crime”).
The bottom line is that both societies are, unless choose to associate with a certain element, very safe places to live. So much so that we can have all of these memes and such making fun of our (mostly urban/suburban) younger generations’ lack of martial prowess and inclination. Police response times and the state of Emergency Medical Care in both societies would be a thing to behold for any Briton or Yank from even 40 years ago nevermind 100.
Choosing to depend on that response time is not a choice I would personally make, and not one I could countenance subjecting my family to, but to each their own.
As to the comments about violent overthrow of the government vs the ballot box – don’t be churlish. Of course we Americans resort to the democratic process as well. Prevention of a monopoly by the government on the means to the use of force is enshrined in the US constitution. There are all sorts of arguments that can be made about the pros and cons of that, but lets not be silly – we don’t exactly go all Guy Fawkes every election over here.
My problem with this is the assumption that all knives are weapons. I know non-locking folders less than 3 inch are legal to carry most of the time in the UK, but just because a knife blade has a lock for my safety it doesn’t automatically make it a weapon.
You’re correct, but I don’t really see here how that’s a problem. This isn’t a legal definition of weapon, just a drop box…
Heck most knife-wielding jihadis were using large kitchen knives – the ceramic ones – because they’re harder to find in the typical screening machines.
Damn shame. This isn’t new or certainly not the only one. Google “knife surrender bin”. I am always very cautious about someone who has unreasonable fears of inanimate objects and we won’t win this war by disarming the good guys.
Note which three items are on the Essex badge…
Good “point”
Unarmed VICTIMS are so much easier o rob, rape and murder. To say nothing about SUBJECTS being easier to subjugate.
Just to put this in perspective, this campaign isn’t a new idea and reappears every few years here in the UK whenever their is a spike in teenage knife crime. This normally happens after government pressure forces the police to reduce its number of ‘stop and searches’ which are seen by certain ethnic minority communities as being directed ‘unfairly’ at them. Then when a number of young ‘talented footballers’ (They’re always talented footballers) get stabbed to death, almost always by some ‘cowardly’ shithead from the same ethnic minority group, there is a public outcry demanding to know why the police aren’t stopping and searching enough kids and taking their knives off them. So while the UK does have very strict laws relating to the possession of bladed ‘instruments’ and firearms that apply to all of its citizens, this type of campaign is very much directed at kids who think that carrying a knife makes them cool. Of course the hardened criminals and Jihadis won’t pay any attention to a request from the Cookie monster or anyone else but the Police have to be seen to do something and these ‘Amnesties’ along with other tactics allow the ‘Old Bill” to lay out a few meat cleavers, box cutters and ‘Zombie’ knives, normally chucked in the bin by concerned parents that have confiscated them from their kids, for the press to see.
my wife and I were attacked on our date night about 2 months ago. me being quick with my fist taught a painful lesson to our would be attacker. feeling confident in my fighting skills lasted about 30 seconds when I looked up to see another 2 dudes approaching wondering why I dismantled their buddy. A quick flick of the wrist and I was home with my 4 kids and beautiful wife. that maybe cowardly but my kids would rather hug a chicken then pray for a hero.
Yep. there’s no other explanation than that you are a coward, just ask JF. Anyone who carries a weapon is a coward. So using his logic, the police that are armed with firearms are cowards. The British military is filled with cowards. The Queen’s Guard is filled cowards. Hell, everywhere I look there are cowards. JF told me so.
Seems fair enough, I mean Brits don’t have the need to defend themselves from freedom loving, gun-totin’ Americans on a daily basis.
Umm, how am I supposed to fit my Ford van in there??? Or my pickup??? Idiots. Make a bigger box. Next time a criminal tries to rob me or attack me with a knife I will politely explain to him that in certain cultures, using a weapon is an act of cowardice. Of course a civilized criminal would immideatly realize his errior, go home and ponder his actions.
I may be wrong, but didn’t the US NRA send thousands of privately owned firearms to the British so they could defend themselves from possible (and very likely at the time) Nazi invasion? Didn’t the British also beg the US to send firearms because they had given theirs up? If I can remember correctly, the British Government were so desperate for weapons to defend against the Nazi invasion threat, that they were issuing copies of weapons from the Middle Ages (pikes, swords, truncheons, etc.) to their home guard? You’d think after that embarrassement, they would have learned. What will they do next time?