What should happen to police who do terrible things?

They should be charged, tried and,i f found guilty, sentenced to the same punishment as everyone else who commits the same crimes. If the law in whichever country they commit the crime in allows for a more severe punishment for people in a position of responsibility, which I assume it does if policemen or women commit crimes against the person, then obviously that paragraph will come into play during sentencing.

Why do we even need to discuss this?

I understand that there are even more important things than some very badly behaved police and grooming gangs aee among those important and truly terrible things. But we still need reliable and trustworthy police to find and prosecute those gangs. And there was a tragic case where a policeman who should have been policing a gang, instead himself abused a girl who had been one of the victims. The police are supposed to stand between us and law breakers and so their integrity matters a very great deal.

I feel all police officers have to be accountable for their actions and prosecuted in the same way as the general public are. If this results in the termination of their employment or a custodial sentence with any pension benefits being taken away form them, so be it. It has allegedly happened in Charing Cross, which falls under the Metropolitan Police Force, with the latter having their fair share of adverse publicity in the past and it appears Sir Mark Rowley is doing nothing about it and it comes across that the ongoing screening process of officers under his jurisdiction, is not fit for purpose.

I agree also, undines. On the other thread I said

"That reporter could have infiltrated any organisation and produced the same kind of "shock, horror" confessions. It's all too easy to condemn the police yet we expect them to police the situations we be scared to get caught up in."

Well said undines

Why are we having to focus on this, yet again, and not focussing on other more important matters like how we deal with the grooming gangs - which seems to have left the news, along with other serious matters, while we go on and on about racism and similar in the police? Of course people should behave properly, especially when they are in public office. However, the police are being 'bashed' all the time, there are many excellent ones (like my son) and the police have been so undermined in recent years, their numbers decimated, their salaries and benefits effectively reduced, their respect from the public and job satisfaction at an incredible low and so many of them are off sick with stress and depression the force is barely functioning. Do you think we need a police force? Because they are hanging by a thread. Maybe we should get behind them.

They should have "COP" indelibly marked on their forehead before they start their prison sentence in a very overcrowded jail.

I think as others have said that the law should be applied to the police in exactly the same way it is applied to the rest of us. And as others have said, they should be investigated by others who are not part of the police force - though I am unsure who that might be. Could it be done by lawyers?

Community service all day every day for a very long time.

You ask what should happen? They should face the consequence of their actions, and it should be known that they have been made to. Individuals such as these have no place in the police (or any workplace, come to that). They should face prosecution and probably lose their job - they appear to me to be unfit to be police officers. They make the life of decent police officers so much more difficult because they damage trust.

I worked in police admin, I worked with one officer who was protected and went to prison, another officer in the same force also went to prison but I didn't know him.

Officers get investigated, departments have different names, some get demoted/exonerated/sacked/ sent to prison. Will depend on what they've done and the evidence.

Suspending them on full pay is not a punishment ! I,ve heard of a police officer who was “suspended” for over two years .
It certainly shouldn,t be internal investigations as those investigating may well be as crooked as the rest.
It needs to be a non biased investigation by people with no involvement in the police service .
It’s disgusting that this is still evident after recent vile behaviour and the death of Sarah Everard .
Seems there aren,t the checks on police recruits and staff that there should be

WithNobsOnIt

They should'be hung, drawn and quartered.

The Ultimate Deterrent!!!

That is the phrase that occurred to me, but only metaphorically.

Personally I think dismissal is the response to evidence of egregious and continuing abuse. I would always allow for the occasional remark. Like me saying I would hang draw and quarter them. That is a remark that reflects my disgust at their behaviour while knowing that it is not something that could possibly be implemented.

A 2 strikes and you are out policy.

Applegran you can report your post (top right) and ask admin to delete it as a duplicate.

They should'be hung, drawn and quartered.

The Ultimate Deterrent!!!

Thank you NotSpaghetti - not sure what I should do about that - I did not realise there was already a thread on this subject. Maybe GN lets two threads run in parallel ? Or not? If there is something appropriate for me to do - advice welcome.

There is a thread about this in News and Politics
Called
Charing Cross Police Station