The Thin Blue Line

ncurd · Nov 16, 2023

Saintjay said:
The biggest skill a cop needs in communication, verbal and listening. You don't need to be a hard man you need to be both robust and compassionate.

People also never seem to take into account Police Officers are still just people. You can have all the training in the world to deal with specific situations. Yet when your on your 7th straight night, you've finished late four shifts on the trot, you've a new born child, you and your partner are worrying over money. Yet here you are 3 in the morning and some tw@t in Rushden has decided to pull a knife on you and a colleague. Your nearest back up is ten minutes away.

You've got to make the right decision. What use of force is acceptable, get in wrong you might end up suspended and in court yourself.

Welcome to the modern world of policing.

I think that example is one those that once the investigation is in place that very few of you responses to subdue the guy is going to be unacceptable. Excessive force has to be completely disproportional to the problem at hand.

Still you break a guys arm and yeah it has to be investigated that is part of holding police to account. It might of been fine but you can't give those of authority carte blanche to do what they like. Otherwise it will get led to abuse.

Saintjay · Nov 16, 2023

ncurd said:
I think that example is one those that once the investigation is in place that very few of you responses to subdue the guy is going to be unacceptable. Excessive force has to be completely disproportional to the problem at hand.

Still you break a guys arm and yeah it has to be investigated that is part of holding police to account. It might of been fine but you can't give those of authority carte blanche to do what they like. Otherwise it will get led to abuse.

You are right regarding that scenario. The use of force was justified. On the police escalation model prior to the wide spread issuing of taser. You would have been justified in the use of a baton to a red area. This would include striking the head....... The problem with that would have resulted in being suspended and investigated. That thought process rightly or wrongly also goes into the decision making when justifying use of force.

Policing is hard work, often you deal with the worst of society and the most horrible situations. It can make you very jaded, cynical and world weary. The detectives in child protection deserve so much more. Because they see and deal with cases that truly are equally horric and heart breaking even by general police duties.

The police get a bad wrap due to the bad apples. But the majority are hard working decent guys and girls. When like most government jobs they are under paid, under staffed and the demand on services is constantly increasing.

Vieux Talonneur · Nov 16, 2023

Saintjay said:
The biggest skill a cop needs in communication, verbal and listening. You don't need to be a hard man you need to be both robust and compassionate.

People also never seem to take into account Police Officers are still just people. You can have all the training in the world to deal with specific situations. Yet when your on your 7th straight night, you've finished late four shifts on the trot, you've a new born child, you and your partner are worrying over money. Yet here you are 3 in the morning and some tw@t in Rushden has decided to pull a knife on you and a colleague. Your nearest back up is ten minutes away.

You've got to make the right decision. What use of force is acceptable, get in wrong you might end up suspended and in court yourself.

Welcome to the modern world of policing.

Great post.

On the force point they've always been allowed to use "reasonable" force. Excessive force should always be called to account, of course it should, but what is actually reasonable in the moment can be made to look awful when dissected by the microsecond by lawyers with all the time in the world in a court or disciplinary hearing. And of course the other party will be sitting there suited and booted as if butter wouldn't melt.

Abuses of office must attract appropriate sanction. But the 97% of officers who are conscientious and hard working need public and political backing to do their jobs robustly.

Bada-Bing! · Nov 25, 2023

Derek Chauvin, convicted of George Floyd’s murder, reported to have been stabbed in prison

It is understood the former police officer was stabbed by an inmate, according to reports citing anonymous sources

www.theguardian.com

Reiser99 · Nov 25, 2023

Bada-Bing! said:
Derek Chauvin, convicted of George Floyd’s murder, reported to have been stabbed in prison

It is understood the former police officer was stabbed by an inmate, according to reports citing anonymous sources

www.theguardian.com

While he fully deserves to be there, the American prison is a complete disgrace. More prisoners per capita than any other country and the prison system is a for-profit model that doesn't encourage prisoner safety or rehabilitation.

Bada-Bing! · Nov 25, 2023

Reiser99 said:
While he fully deserves to be there, the American prison is a complete disgrace. More prisoners per capita than any other country and the prison system is a for-profit model that doesn't encourage prisoner safety or rehabilitation.

Yep and no wonder coppers don't want to go inside there especially for a high profile racist murder.

Which Tyler · Nov 25, 2023

Reiser99 said:
While he fully deserves to be there, the American prison is a complete disgrace. More prisoners per capita than any other country and the prison system is a for-profit model that doesn't encourage prisoner safety or rehabilitation.

It's how USA survives without slavery - it allows slavery for anyone sentenced to prison.

ETA for some "comedy" clips:

John Oliver has (unsurprisingly) done a lot more segments on it than that one.

Bada-Bing! · Dec 27, 2023

Police to attend burglaries within an hour, under new rules

Charges are brought in fewer than 4% of burglaries, Home Office figures for England and Wales show.

www.bbc.co.uk

Ragey Erasmus · Dec 27, 2023

Bada-Bing! said:
Police to attend burglaries within an hour, under new rules

Charges are brought in fewer than 4% of burglaries, Home Office figures for England and Wales show.

www.bbc.co.uk

My dad's house was burgled and the police had absolutely zero interest in any evidence that could be presented implicating one of the families in the same village. Turned up, looked around, left and didn't say anything more about it. Given the TV was found in the garden along with the remote and other stuff, it looked like they scarpered just before my dad got home. Had the police actually turned up, they may have caught them.