Arsenal and London cops show Glasgow the way in crime and punishment.

Last updated : 29 March 2011 By FF.com

No more than 48hrs after the 'Banana' incident, Arsenal, in co-operation with the Metropolitan Police, have identified the guilty party and solved the 'crime'.

Now, there are many things that spring to mind when considering Brazilians and the Metropolitan force, and efficiency possibly isn't near the top of the list.

But there we have it: force and club have worked together, studied CCTV and positively identified a tourist as the culprit. Easy when you have the means and the will.

As with cameras designed to, if not catch motorists, then at least act as a deterent against speeding, many areas of the UK where CCTV has a presence are completely unfit for purpose: the cameras aren't switched on, or are so dated or ineffective that the footage is almost useless when it comes to crime detection and prevention.

Arsenal's relatively new arena, the magnificent 'Emirates Stadium', is clearly a model to emulate.

One cannot help wondering why those who have commited crimes at, let's say, Celtic Park have not been so easily identified. Fernando Ricksen; Nacho Novo; to say nothing of Hugh Dallas: the list of people attacked or victim to thrown missiles is longer than the list of those caught and punished. Perhaps those who dragged the name of Celtic Football Club into the gutter with their Poppy protest display have indeed been dealt with and re-housed in the political prisoner wing - Anti-H Block, seat 1916 -  of the Maze that is the Main Stand.

You may recall a lunatic throwing a plastic cup at 'Stan' Petrov of Celtic while he celebrated a goal at Ibrox. You no doubt recall that the Club found and punished the perpetrator within days. It's now beyond disturbing that Strathclyde Police and Celtic cannot between them seem to curb and correct the acts of violence and mayhem so regularly witnessed at the stadium.

We can only hope that it is simply a case of a 'CCTV blackspot' - ranging from one end of the stadium to the other - rather than a deliberate lack of will and effort; a political bargain to deplore and then disregard when the initial attention has cooled.

Arsenal and London have shown the way: perhaps Scottish football and Scottish life would be safer if we had some jobsharing or exchange programme between the cities, in the absence of a Porfiry Petrovich of our own.