Police bashing!

[signtalker]

Originally Posted by mickey house

I don't think many people will dispute that the police don't earn their money or deserve their pension etc, but there are people in many other jobs who also have to deal with danger and abuse every day and they don't even earn as much as the police do or have pensions as good as the police get, plus they don't have the instant police response a copper gets when they need back up.

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Try working rural , when your back up can sometimes be 20 minutes away, and your force has a single crew policy .

Not sure there are many husbands out there who would want their wives or partners in that situation

Jules

[BnDamo]

Moorland man’s recalls out worst example, but Staffordshire also has some good officers working in the most difficult of circumstances. It’s a job I could never do and I have total respect for those who serve
Those who criticise probably wouldn’t have taken the time to watch the TV series “Cops like Us” featured on the BBC earlier this year.
Unfortunately the series is no longer available on iPlayer but can still be seen here dailymotion/video/x7udoz4

It’s not an easy watch.

[Hopefulholiday]

I have a close family member in the Met and I absolutely think it’s hysterical how people seem to complain, criticise like they have even an inkling of understanding what the job is like.
There isn’t always back up close by, even in the cities. Numbers have been drastically cut and where they are recruiting the training is less rigorous so you have less well trained and less experienced officers dealing with serious situations. They are dealing with things on a daily basis that many of us don’t encounter in a lifetime, most of them horrible. Because of the cuts to other services they have to pick up where social services and mental health services are no longer there. Deal with stabbing every week, telling families their loved ones are dead. Personal injuries and verbal and physical assault regularly. I could go on and I only know a tiny bit of it because my family member wouldn’t openly talk about it and I actually don’t really want to know. The buck also stops with them, they have no one else to call except their colleagues.

They’re not perfect, they make mistakes. So do people in my line of work but no one is likely to die as a result. The salaries in London, like many other key workers, are ridiculously low in comparison to many other jobs in the area, I have no idea why they would want to do it now but thank goodness they do!

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by Hopefulholiday

I have a close family member in the Met and I absolutely think it’s hysterical how people seem to complain, criticise like they have even an inkling of understanding what the job is like.
There isn’t always back up close by, even in the cities. Numbers have been drastically cut and where they are recruiting the training is less rigorous so you have less well trained and less experienced officers dealing with serious situations. They are dealing with things on a daily basis that many of us don’t encounter in a lifetime, most of them horrible. Because of the cuts to other services they have to pick up where social services and mental health services are no longer there. Deal with stabbing every week, telling families their loved ones are dead. Personal injuries and verbal and physical assault regularly. I could go on and I only know a tiny bit of it because my family member wouldn’t openly talk about it and I actually don’t really want to know. The buck also stops with them, they have no one else to call except their colleagues.

They’re not perfect, they make mistakes. So do people in my line of work but no one is likely to die as a result. The salaries in London, like many other key workers, are ridiculously low in comparison to many other jobs in the area, I have no idea why they would want to do it now but thank goodness they do!

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People have the right to complain about the police or any other public service they pay for if they want to, and sometimes their complaints are unreasonable/unfair and other times they are well founded.

I have been in more court rooms and police stations in my previous job than I could possible remember and to the Met training centre in Hendon many times (not as a police officer) and I have met some very professional police officers and sometimes some unprofessional police officers. I have cringed in courtrooms when I have seen police officers blatantly lying and been caught out for doing so, and I've also been impressed at other times at how professionally some officers have come across in courtrooms.

Most people can become a police officer as they don't have a special DNA or require a particular high intelligence or education level, and as with all jobs some will be excellent officers, some okay and some not so good (because they are all human beings).

I personally know/known some really genuine/decent serving and ex police officers, and a minority who I've not been so keen on.

With almost everyone having video cameras on their phones, and the police having body cams, there is no shortage of videos on youtube of police officers behaving unprofessionally, and unfortunately some people will purposely set out to wind them up for a reaction, and some officers allow their ego/emotions to get the better of them even though they know they are being videoed (clearly they are in the wrong job).

The police sergeant in the video below that was recently put on youtube knew he was being recorded and his behaviour is frankly shocking (imagine what he's like when he's not being recorded):

[Wazza]

Originally Posted by mickey house

People have the right to complain about the police or any other public service they pay for if they want to, and sometimes their complaints are unreasonable/unfair and other times they are well founded.

I have been in more court rooms and police stations in my previous job than I could possible remember and to the Met training centre in Hendon many times (not as a police officer) and I have met some very professional police officers and sometimes some unprofessional police officers. I have cringed in courtrooms when I have seen police officers blatantly lying and been caught out for doing so, and I've also been impressed at other times at how professionally some officers have come across in courtrooms.

Most people can become a police officer as they don't have a special DNA or require a particular high intelligence or education level, and as with all jobs some will be excellent officers, some okay and some not so good (because they are all human beings).

I personally know/known some really genuine/decent serving and ex police officers, and a minority who I've not been so keen on.

With almost everyone having video cameras on their phones, and the police having body cams, there is no shortage of videos on youtube of police officers behaving unprofessionally, and unfortunately some people will purposely set out to wind them up for a reaction, and some officers allow their ego/emotions to get the better of them even though they know they are being videoed (clearly they are in the wrong job).

The police sergeant in the video below that was recently put on youtube knew he was being recorded and his behaviour is frankly shocking (imagine what he's like when he's not being recorded):

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Agree, there are bad individuals in all professions and yes they should be criticised. But they shouldn’t be used to critythe whole profession.
Also criticising with the whole story helps no one. Two threads on another board criticising number of police attending specific incidents. Most of those weighing in and have digs have absolutely no idea of the whole story

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by Wazza

Agree, there are bad individuals in all professions and yes they should be criticised. But they shouldn’t be used to critythe whole profession.
Also criticising with the whole story helps no one. Two threads on another board criticising number of police attending specific incidents. Most of those weighing in and have digs have absolutely no idea of the whole story

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Unfortunately my wife is a government worker and professional in her role, but some people will tar all government workers or her particular area with the same brush.

If I was a police officer going to a gym full of body builders who I was going to give fines to, I would want as much back up as I could get

[sparklegirl]

My husband is a retired BTP DC and his patch covered everywhere north of Perth in Scotland. That was just him and another DC for Perth,Dundee, Inverness, Aberdeen and all in between and beyond to the end of the isle. I have lost count of the times when he called just before end of shift to say there had been a fatal at Aviemore (2hrs drive) or Nairn (3.5 hrs drive) when he set off to deal with what ever he found then the undoubtedly bereaved relatives. He has now retired and I can assure you his pension is not what people think it is, his exhaustion in his mid 50’s is. I will never cease to wonder at his ability not to cause me to fret with the dreadful and tragic things he saw day on day. Police officers are rarely present at the happiest times of someone’s life. They are mostly there for death, harm, danger and times of stress. I have a huge amount of friends who are serving and retired officers and I thank them every day for doing a job I didn’t.

For those who decry the pension being taken at potentially 48( rarely now) tell me how long would you expect a human to sustain the stress that comes with the repeated exposure to lives most traumatic times and having to deal with those on a day and daily basis.

For those that have quoted officers that offend. The person offends not the job. That person would have been a peodophile or sex offender no matter the job, they would have found their way the fact they are an officer makes it worse but doesn’t make it the reason!

Please be kind because very time you bash an officer you do so to their families as well and we are rightly proud and extremely defensive of them.

[123]

Originally Posted by Gingerlife

Why is it everywhere I look, be it the news, the papers or social media all I see recently is police bashing.
Nobody seems to appreciate what a hard job it is and particularly how difficult it has been during the current situation.
The information and guidance given to them by the government is next to useless but they are expected to get out there and police it.
They are spat at, coughed on and assaulted daily all while trying to protect and help those people who insist on abusing them.
They have had rest days cancelled at the drop of a hat, no extra pay for it and are regularly late off duty having to give the first half hour for Queen and country.
They could attend anything from a shop lifter to a sudden death of a baby during their shift, all with the threat of coming in to contact with members of the public who could be infectious not to mention the emotional toll.
People are very quick to comment on snippets they see in the press without knowing the full story or understanding police procedures, and are very good at being arm chair police officers.
I say if you think you could do a better job of it become a special and give up your time to help out the already overstretched frontline.

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I agree, I wouldn't want to do it, it's a thankless task.

However I can see why people do bash them...

Stories like

"Great news we've been looking in trolleys and people are only buying essential items not Easter Eggs"

"We've put our drone up over a countryside walk and we'll show pictures of people - now accepted to have not been breaking the law - over the internet and imply they are covidiots and also breach their rights to peace and anonymity"

So the police need to get better first before they can expect the public to treat them with the respect they undoubtedly deserve.

As with anything the service is only as good as the worst people in it...

[tocpe321]

[QUOTE=123;14709887
So the police need to get better first before they can expect the public to treat them with the respect they undoubtedly deserve.

As with anything the service is only as good as the worst people in it...[/QUOTE]

Your statement is completely unfair.

I don't know what line of work you're in but if some people in your profession were unprofessional or criminal, would you like to be reduced down to the lowest common denominator?

Would you like it if all people in your profession were classed as unfair because you're being unfair?

[123]

I see your point in the main.

However the examples I used where all from chiefs (the main bosses) who should have known better