Speaking up for our Police

Does a country where police are armed have a lower crime rate than one that isn't ?

I think that this thread may have been started as balance to thank all the decent, caring police officers in the country, Dinahmo.
It would be a pity to let this thread be taken over by the justifiable revulsion we all must feel about those two who are not fit to be police officers.

No one's mentioned those 2 police officers Dinahmo??? There's a whole thread dedicated to that very subject!

So nice to read that the majority of people do support the police, apart from a couple that nothing would please. In every walk of life you get the odd bad apple and they are dealt with. This is one country where if you were in trouble you would call the police, I wish they knew how much they are appreciated, it must seem as if they are hitting a brick wall at the moment with some of the yobs out there.

No one's mentioned the 2 officers who were supposed to be guarding a crime scene (2 black women found stabbed in a park) whilst waiting for the SCOs to arrive. What did they do? photo the bodies and put them on line. They should have been sacked immediately but they've been suspended on bail.

With the way certain sections of the public are behaving towards the police they will eventually get a quasi-military style of policing like so many countries have.

They will then have something to moan about and will look back to the 'good old days of policing.'

When you are married to a police officer you can never be sure when he goes on duty if you will ever see him again.
That is the reality!!!
It's a double whammy when you're both police officers as we were.

Thank you.Thank you Sparkling for this thread. High time we supported the police,the vast majority of whom are decent people doing the toughest of jobs.And Vera our SIL has had a very similar experience in perusing his dream to be a serving officer.He tried for several years to become a special and after rejections wrote to the Chief commissioner for his area and finally became one.Did 5 years unpaid ,out at all hours alongside his full time job and is now a qualified officer taking a big pay drop from his previous much safer job.We too are very proud of him.He genuinely wants to make a difference.
What has infuriated me recently is the way people film the met when politely asking people to disperse and move on during Covid and are downright disrespectful and post it on social media - thinking of that oh so clever woman in the park in London.Or filming them being attacked. SIL has it where he works.Ok it's not a secret he is a police officer,but he lives fairly local to the area he works . I do worry for our DD and his security at home tbh the way things are going.
And yes there are the odd rogue officers bringing the service into disrepute.But cheers to the good ones.I wonder what the families of the dead and injured officers must feel recently.That poor young widow whose husband was dragged behind that car last year has been on my mind.They never know what they are walking into.

To address the OP of course the police do a great job on the whole but that doesn't mean that they are above criticism or do not need regulation. I've known quite a few policemen over the years, some very high up, some first response and some now in training. Possibly the one who was the strictest and most critical was the highest ranking, who recognised that policing exposed people to temptations and actions others never experienced, but that those who succombed to the temptations needed to be weeded out and discplined in order that the rest of the force was held in the highest respect. His principles always impressed me. If all officers were of his calibre it would be fine but unfortunately some aren't and they need to be dealt with, just as other people who fail in their profession are dealt with.

Any misjudgment you're on a murder charge, leave it a second too late and you're probably dead

Ain't that the truth. Literally Russian roulette.

V3ra
Well done to your Son for his persistence - wishing him well when he is a fully fledged Officer. We need people like him. ? whether they be men or women.
You must have a “calling” to do such a very difficult job. I’d be very proud of him too ?

I can't imagine that anyone would want to be a firearms officer! any misjudgment you're on a murder charge,leave it a second too late and you're probably dead! Who on earth would want to tread that fine line?

Well done your Grandson V3ra, no wonder you are proud of him, he's certainly a credit to you and your family ???.
Annie, my cousins husband was at Hendon in the late 1970's, (and I certainly agree with Police Colleges,) but they emigrated to Australia and he made his career in the Police Force in Melbourne.
I've never experienced anything but courtesy and helpfulness from any dealings with the Police, whether local or in a city,but then of course I am white, middle class (??) and very late middle age (not always!) so what would I know ?!

Too many of these cold-blooded killings have happened in this country without questions first. Police need re-training in firearms. I know an armed response officer and he asks questions first and is far from " trigger happy ".
We're not the USA.

Totally agree! Who would want to be a police officer these days. They do an amazing job having to deal with some of these total thugs!

Is it ever "understandable" to shoot someone in cold blood, Paddyanne ?

paddy....I think the best part of your post are the words
‘The whole story hasn’t come to light’. I for one, like waiting for that to happen before judging.

trisher

tickingbird fast tracking is yesterday's policing. All police officers now complete a university degree as part oftheir training. If they can't do it they have to leave or become community officers who don't have the same powers.
Callistemon Our Police and Crime commisioner Vera Baird has been responsible for considerable changes in the way rape victims and domestic abuse victims are treated by the law. She is now the Victims Commissioner. Her work is incredible and valuable en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Baird

I've heard of Vera Baird.
Perhaps some are pro-active trisher but I think many are a waste of money.

Is that within their normal remit? Should that be the responsibility of the police or the CPS and Government?

My son has wanted to join the police force since an officer visited his class at infants school.

After university he spent nine years as a Special Constable, ie working for free as a police officer with the same powers of arrest. In a situation where he was partnered with a PCSO he was the higher ranking officer. He did this alongside his "day job" and received a long service medal.

He applied many times to be a regular but the particular requirements in his force were an ability to speak various languages eg Urdu and Polish which he doesn't have.
One recruitment drive saw 10,000 people express an interest on the force's website, 4,000 people actually applied. The process lasts about nine months and has many stages. He got through to the final 150 applicants. They appointed 50.

I spoke to a female, black, detective sergeant I know and she said in that force white, male, heterosexual males were the most discriminated against group.

My son took a job as a despatcher in the call centre, allocating resources and directing the officers on the ground as the jobs came through from the call handlers. He was then being paid for being part of the police family.
To his credit he didn't give up on his dream and was finally accepted for training as a police officer. He took a huge pay cut to do this and it will be five years before he gets back to the salary he was on before.

His force is graduate entry ie you have to have a degree before you can apply. Other forces are different.
There is an enormous amount of academic work involved with the two year probation period he's currently on, having spent months doing the initial training, and his days off are invariably spent at the training centre working on his portfolio.

He loves his job. We are so proud of him.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but there are so many female police officers in our area. We had 2 of them come to speak to our old ladies group (Good old Days).
Both in full gear, drive a police car with all the gadgets etc. Definitely female. I hope they never have to restrain a big burly man.
I hope they've been taught self defence tactics.

merlot my husband went to Hendon

The sudanese man wa s an asylum seeker ,evicted from his "temporary" home by Mears ...who have a billion pound contract from WM .These PEOPLE who are awaiting appeals to stay had their meagre £5 a day allowance taken off them and were stuck in a hotel room for months .The situation is abhorrent ,its detention under another name.

The whole story hasn't come to light but I was told that it was an arguement that went bad.Three asylums seekers were stabbed,two members of staff who tried to intervene and PC David Whyte who is recovering well and has issued a statement .
This whole sorry episode is down to Westminsters immigration policies ,these people are here seeking sanctuary and are being treated in a shameful ,disgraceful way by WM's employees.There will be an enquiry into both the incident and the shot fired by an armed policeman .Rightly so,its very sad that the action was taken but understandable in that situation where lives were being threatened .We really do need to be in control of our own immigration /borders for many reasons not just this

A few of my friends joined the police force and went to the college - I can’t remember what it was called.

DGS2 trained at Hendon police college. It's now officially called the Peel Centre but in view of recent events I wonder how long it will be before it goes back to simply being referred to as Hendon!

He has a university degree in politics because he wants to specialise in cyber security. All his contemporaries have degrees although he'd be the first to agree that it's not necessary.

Police COLLEGE is the norm

Why is his death by the gun any different than others ?

Speaking about " race " I notice nobody has yet remarked on the Sudanese chap who was shot by police in Glasgow ?