The Times today

[Eliminator]

Article here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnist...

Talk about bad publicity. Seems bullying, abuse of power, etc may have taken place. Would this article be enough for an internal investigation to open?

[Spokey]

Eliminator said:

Article here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnist...

Talk about bad publicity. Seems bullying, abuse of power, etc may have taken place. Would this article be enough for an internal investigation to open?

Part of me hopes that it's an ironic article pointing out how the police like to pick on non-threatening targets rather than addressing serious criminals, but I fear that he may have been deadly earnest. Certainly, my experiences with the police have left me feeling more like I was dealing with Keystone Kops than sensible, professional people.

[lgw]

sounds like normal every day policing to me

[Kawasicki]

sad.

[Sheriff JWPepper]

Here we go again.

[TheCarpetCleaner]

Sheriff JWPepper said:

Here we go again.

Yeah can't be having a debate on a public forum can we now. After all, all police officers are perfect and never, ever do anything dishonest...

[outlaw...]

Eliminator said:

Article here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnist...

Talk about bad publicity. Seems bullying, abuse of power, etc may have taken place. Would this article be enough for an internal investigation to open?

Why am I not suprised by this story.

[streaky]

from Times article said:

"She should have had a gang. It wouldn’t have been hard to get one together with all those Cubs. Just tell them there is a badge for wilding"

Calling Wildy, calling Wildy ...

Edited by streaky on Sunday 9th September 19:39

[s2art]

The real problem is that this story rings true. I would appreciate comment from the police who contribute to this site.

[fluffnik]

I hope he gets them all sacked.

[Greendubber]

s2art said:

The real problem is that this story rings true. I would appreciate comment from the police who contribute to this site.

Sounds a bit far fetched to me.

[Dibble]

s2art said:

The real problem is that this story rings true. I would appreciate comment from the police who contribute to this site.

It's not clear whether the article's referring to fully sworn constables, or community support officers. Either way, I suppose if the incidnet happened exactly as reported, it's a poor do.

However, we've only got the journalist's side of the story, and I wonder how much artistic licence they've used.

At the risk of repeating myself (for probably about the hundredth time on here), there are good police officers, there are bad police officers, and there are good police officers who occasionally get it wrong. The last two are generally in the minority.

[Strangely Brown]

Dibble said:

At the risk of repeating myself (for probably about the hundredth time on here), there are good police officers, there are bad police officers, and there are good police officers who occasionally get it wrong. The last two are generally in the minority.

But increasingly less so it would appear. Why is that? Is it lack of training? Is it because they are not proper police officers? Is it power gone to their head and they don't like to be questioned?

I don't know the answers but I do know that I have pretty much zero respect for the police these days. Just about every serving police officer I have dealt with in recent years has been surly and [seemingly] on a power trip. It is a long time [many years] since I have dealt with a police officer who spoke to me with civility and respect.

No, I am not BiB bashing, I am just stating the facts as my own experience has them.

[BJWoods]

in my experience in the last few years they've started turning into americans. -ie don't dare ask a question, as it 'is not respecting their authority'

ie aske a reasonable question, and suddenly they get arsy and start looking for problems..

and that's me a middle class white boy, god knows how the average teenager feels when dealing with the police.

B

[fluffnik]

Dibble said:

At the risk of repeating myself (for probably about the hundredth time on here), there are good police officers, there are bad police officers, and there are good police officers who occasionally get it wrong. The last two are generally in the minority.

It is very, very important to purge the badduns though...

[Mad Moggie2]

streaky said:

from Times article said:

"She should have had a gang. It wouldn’t have been hard to get one together with all those Cubs. Just tell them there is a badge for wilding"Calling Wildy, calling Wildy ...

He must have met my wife

But there's been some daft cases recently. Jobsworthies

[Sheriff JWPepper]

TheCarpetCleaner said:

Sheriff JWPepper said:

Here we go again.

Yeah can't be having a debate on a public forum can we now. After all, all police officers are perfect and never, ever do anything dishonest...

Seems we can't, it would be nice to see some form of interesting discussion. I just grow weary of people dredging for negative media articles and then posting them for the ususal suspects to line up for a pop.

[Mr_annie_vxr]

Strangely Brown said:

Dibble said:

At the risk of repeating myself (for probably about the hundredth time on here), there are good police officers, there are bad police officers, and there are good police officers who occasionally get it wrong. The last two are generally in the minority.

But increasingly less so it would appear. Why is that? Is it lack of training? Is it because they are not proper police officers? Is it power gone to their head and they don't like to be questioned?

I don't know the answers but I do know that I have pretty much zero respect for the police these days. Just about every serving police officer I have dealt with in recent years has been surly and [seemingly] on a power trip. It is a long time [many years] since I have dealt with a police officer who spoke to me with civility and respect.

No, I am not BiB bashing, I am just stating the facts as my own experience has them.

Behaviour breads behaviour. Police officers these days are politer and weaker in my view scared of breaching human rights which is drummed into them thoughout their training. In my experience older officers are ruder and it also depends on the area they work. The reason you hear more of it is that every person who had bad service is always more likely to tell more people than one who has good service.

As usual there are two sides to any story and you only as usual get on here. As for being scared of gangs etc. I have not met an officer yet who is scared of criminals and have never heard of a real police no go area.

[Peter Ward]

Mr_annie_vxr said:

Strangely Brown said:

Dibble said:

At the risk of repeating myself (for probably about the hundredth time on here), there are good police officers, there are bad police officers, and there are good police officers who occasionally get it wrong. The last two are generally in the minority.

But increasingly less so it would appear. Why is that? Is it lack of training? Is it because they are not proper police officers? Is it power gone to their head and they don't like to be questioned?

I don't know the answers but I do know that I have pretty much zero respect for the police these days. Just about every serving police officer I have dealt with in recent years has been surly and [seemingly] on a power trip. It is a long time [many years] since I have dealt with a police officer who spoke to me with civility and respect.

No, I am not BiB bashing, I am just stating the facts as my own experience has them.

Behaviour breads behaviour. Police officers these days are politer and weaker in my view scared of breaching human rights which is drummed into them thoughout their training. In my experience older officers are ruder and it also depends on the area they work. The reason you hear more of it is that every person who had bad service is always more likely to tell more people than one who has good service.

As usual there are two sides to any story and you only as usual get on here. As for being scared of gangs etc. I have not met an officer yet who is scared of criminals and have never heard of a real police no go area.

But Mr Annie, what you describe is not what was presented in the Times article. These weren't 5 polite officers scared of breaching human rights. These were 5 officers determined to lord it over a law-abiding MoP, to the extent of making bullying statements and intimating violence. They also made incorrect statements about the parking regulations in that road.

We don't look for "service" from the police. We look for protection from criminals. Parking is not a criminal offence -- especially since decriminalisation! I realise that police priorities are set by government, and that there is no money to spend on anything other than those priorities. I'm sure policing is a frustrating job at present (like so many in the private sector as well), but that's no excuse for the type of behaviour described in this article.

I don't seek to bash the BiBs. I still believe that there are a few bad ones rather than that the whole police force is rotten. But you know my experience of the justice system, from the police via the CPS to the courts. Let's not pretend there's no problems and it's all down to the journalists seeking a sensational story.

[Eliminator]

Sherriff - I don't 'trawl' for negative articles and then seek to whoop-up the gang against Police. Check my posts (over quite some time now) before consigning me to (your) version of a dustbin.

Actually, what I asked was, is this article enough for an internal investigtion to start? As that question can be answered (largely) by serving or recent officers I did not intend to flame any officer here (why would they answer me if I did that?)

The article gives enough detail of places and events, and the individual who wrote it is contactable for verification, etc. In my profession, this article would be treated as a complaint and acted upon as such. Why?

Well :-

1. If artistic license was used to excess, a retraction would be sought. Bad press hits your 'brand' with the public. Or

2. If the article is accurate, then the individuals behaving in this way would be identified and spoken to, retrained or offered the opportunity to chase another fantastic career opportunity (as appropriate).

So, my question remains, will an internal enquiry follow?

Edited by Eliminator on Monday 10th September 12:22