Police that can’t be trusted

It really is despicable that they can't even respect the dead.
5 years sounds right.

Think a good 5 yrs would have made them think a bit more! leopard n spots come to mind, how many times prior may they have done disgusting things like this.

Hope it will stay on their records for ever.

Shameful and disgusting of them.

Not very long sentences, really.
No surprise about that, though.

I agree Sarnia that poor woman having to endure all this on top of losing her daughters. Such terrible grief.

The 2 'police officers' meant to be guarding the murdered bodies of Nicole Smallman and Biba Henry have been jailed for 2 years and 9 months. They sent their vile photos and remarks to 2 other What's App groups. The A Team group consisted of 41 other police officers and the other, with a name too demeaning to women for me to type, consisted of officers and friends. The Met should be very concerned about that. I respect he girls mother, Mina Smallman, for the way she conducts herself with dignity when she must be hurting like hell inside.

The BBC are reporting that up to 50 police officers contacted Patsy Stevenson after her arrest.

For some reason, after reading this thread I thought of a saying:
"It takes a thief to catch a thief".

LauraNorder

Many years Foxie since Orlin was a police officer. There were rotten apples even then but nothing as horrific as recent events.
Fellow officers would weed out and deal with the bad apples with the attitude that a bad cop discredited them all.
We were talking today and reflected that decent young people would be reluctant to join the force with today’s attitude to the police, leaving openings for the less than decent and dedicated.
I sincerely hope we’re wrong about that.
Morale must be at rock bottom. A very public inquiry and complete overhaul of the Met is probably long overdue in order to restore public confidence and police morale.

How do we know that rotten apples are not weeded out now? You won't hear about that will you? The Police don't go to the media and say we got rid of officer X or Y because we found out he wasn't suitable for the job. I think your comment about "decent young people not wanting to join the force" says it all. So the young people who joined and trained to be police in 2020 are not "decent"? I do agree with your last paragraph though except I think the public enquiry is required to find out exactly what happened, who knew what, how did Couzens find other officers who shared his perverted thoughts and what measures can be taken to ensure it doesn't happen again? IMV it's no accident that that we seem to get "pockets" of perversion in organisations. It has happened in children's homes, care homes etc but we don't automatically assume that everyone who works in those areas are corrupt and perverted. At least I don't!

I have relatives who are in the police. They do absolutely nothing to inspire my confidence in the force as a whole.

Sorry fat fingers and wrong thread

People with disabilities

Galaxy I don't know your exact job, and I do agree with your comments about safeguarding, but is the whole of your area routinely lumped together and condemned? Is there an acronym equivalent to ACAB which is widely shared?

Thank you foxie48, you bring comfort to this mother with your understanding.

I spoke to a family member who is in the Police Service. He told me that the removal of the woman at the vigil shown in this post was carried out following guidelines; the police are supposed to have four officers if possible to avoid any harm to the person being removed from the scene. My relative works very long hours, in a part of the service where the worst of human nature is having to be dealt with every day. I am grateful for the thin blue line - without them where might we be, in a very short time?

Many years Foxie since Orlin was a police officer. There were rotten apples even then but nothing as horrific as recent events.
Fellow officers would weed out and deal with the bad apples with the attitude that a bad cop discredited them all.
We were talking today and reflected that decent young people would be reluctant to join the force with today’s attitude to the police, leaving openings for the less than decent and dedicated.
I sincerely hope we’re wrong about that.
Morale must be at rock bottom. A very public inquiry and complete overhaul of the Met is probably long overdue in order to restore public confidence and police morale.

As I said up thread or elsewhere I work with very vulnerable children, there are people doing the same job as me who are abusive, there have to be honest been numerous scandals in the sector, I dont get upset when people talk about these issues, or look at ways to provide safeguarding in my sector. And if I did I am not sure I should be in the job.

It is precisely because of all the decent policemen that the rotten ones need to be sorted out.

Gransnet must have many members who have husbands, children and grandchildren who are or have been members of the police force. I can't help but wonder how they feel when the police is described in the way that it has been on this thread. The police do a job which most of us would struggle with, they work shifts, they miss Xmas and birthdays with their families, they are often working when others are on holiday, they deal with really horrible situations like accidental deaths/ suicides, face violent people many of whom need medical care not handcuffs, deal with so many situations which many of us would run a mile from yet there seems to be an acceptance that's it's OK to lump them all together when one of their number is found to be a sexually deviant killer. I honestly don't get it, is there an agenda that I have completely missed?

OK, well I stand by that, speculation is about forming an opinion on the basis of musing or gossip. How does that help anyone or inform? That is not minimising anything, it is a sensible suggestion surely?

It was rather your comments about advising against speculation that I thought were minimising. And I am not aware that I have said anywhere that the majority of the police force are murderers so it's quite difficult for me to provide evidence for something that I havent said. I am aware of the figures on partner violence against women, that kind of issue has always been part of my work.

Galaxy

There is always minimising when women talk about this type of thing.

I am saying that there is a minority of men currently serving in the MET that might rape and kill a woman. Are you saying that there is a majority of men in the MET who are likely to rape and kill a woman? If so, what evidence do you have for this? Putting forward what I believe to be an accurate situation is very different to "minimising" it. There are accurate statistics on the Femicide census website which anyone can read but basically a woman is far more likely to be murdered by their partner or a member of their family than by a perverted policemen whom they have never met. A previous history of abuse and control is often a precursor to the murder of a woman and IMHO this is where the police often fall short of the mark. If we want to protect woman surely it's better to focus on what will lead to better police practices rather than making male policeman the enemy? Couzens is a dangerous man, let's hope that the review uncovers how he became a policeman.

lemsip

Neen

I actually feel also sorry for all the officers who served with him. How must they feel. Some would have had leisure / personal / holidays with him etc it's a very sad situation all around .

His colleagues called him the 'rapist' as a matter of course, that was the nickname he was given so don't waste time feeling sorry for them they should be bought to book.

The rapist name was 3 years before he joined the Met, when working ina civil protection team. Colleagues with established careers there were interviewed on radio 4 after WC was sentenced. Their view was standards had slipped because of recruitment problems. Additionally the were concerned poor recruits found it easier to get into the Met because they’d worked at the civil defence.
Most of the newspapers have chronology of events . I,m defending no one but let’s try and keep up

sorry he has been charged with rape

BBC report

someone else in his unit has been charged with as well haven't they in the last few days? another bloke old enough to know better using tinder and manipulating women they meet through it. My friend said it's awful. She said she has been on so many dates (not necessarily) through tinder but online dating, where men have the expectation of sex

There is always minimising when women talk about this type of thing.

25Avalon

I appreciate what you are saying foxie48. That is the problem with DBS, that and possibly making people complacent. That’s why you need a vigorous safeguarding system running alongside. Somewhere that concerns, even the smallest ones can be taken without the person relating being afraid to do so. Afraid of not getting promotion, of being sidelined by colleagues etc. Certainly somewhere where hearing of an officer nicknamed the rapist would raise concern and action.

TBH I don't think the general public know yet what his colleagues in the police knew, that's what should be investigated as part of the review. His crime was hideous and I feel for Sarah's family but there seems to be a lot of speculation which I'm sure can't be helpful. fwiw I don't believe Couzens behaviour or attitude is "endemic" in the police but the police is a microcosm of society and there are some vile people in this world and there will be some in the police too but they will be a minority.