Sarah Everard on bbc iplayer

Going back to the 1950s my godmother was a civilian worker at her local police station. When she entered a relationship with a divorced officer she had to leave her job because they couldn't be seen together at work. Things improved slightly when they got married and she could at least be seen to exist. What her husband would have thought of some of today's officers I can't imagine. He was so punctilious about doing things properly and keeping to the rules.

Cossy

It’s utterly horrifying and a sad indictment on vetting processes!

I worked with some great police officers, know a couple socially and many of them are dedicated people undertaking a horrendous profession.

Me too Cossy - many are in it for the right reasons.

Reported.

Disgraceful on this thread. 😡

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

I wonder if there is any research on personality type in terms of those men who choose dangerous jobs.
There are certain professions which attract a greater percentage of psychopaths for example, I think surgeons are near the top of the table.

It’s utterly horrifying and a sad indictment on vetting processes!

I worked with some great police officers, know a couple socially and many of them are dedicated people undertaking a horrendous profession.

My businessman father told us not to trust the police from his experiences in our south coast town with corruption among the local police right up to the top. They were exposed many years later.
Not heeding advice I dated a young policeman in the late 1950s and was shocked to discover that my father was correct. Corruption was laughed off as normal behaviour.
Of course there are good policeman who joined the force with the best of intentions but then at least they looked the other way if they wanted to keep their jobs.
I couldn’t watch the film about Sarah Everard. I wept for her but I have 4 teenager/young 20s granddaughters and I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Iam64

flappergirl, I don’t believe every officer is rotten, There’s clearly a huge problem with culture, with disgusting behaviour being unchallenged

Of course every officer isn't rotten but, as per my post, there is at least one a week being hauled up for something horrendous. That's a lot of coppers and they are only the ones that get caught or reported. There is obviously an endemic culture running through the police that makes them feel secure or justified in this vile behaviour. This will impact the "good guys" who will be afraid to speak out through fear of victimisation or bullying which ultimately will affect their ability to act professionally or will force them to quit.

Imagine working in an office where the hierarchy turns a blind eye to sexual assault, employees watching extreme porn on their computers or where jokes about rape, race or gays is the norm. Would you challenge it, would you leave? Probably the latter. Many former officers are now bravely speaking out saying they felt compelled to quit for these reasons.

Deedaa it shocked even more given the reason for the vigil and the fact her murderer was a male Met officer. I lost all respect for Cressida Dick at that point

I never really saw anything of the vigil at the time, but I was appalled watching it now. Yes it was an illegal gathering, but the sight of all those men manhandling women armed only with candles was horrific.

And of course disgusting behaviour existing

flappergirl, I don’t believe every officer is rotten, There’s clearly a huge problem with culture, with disgusting behaviour being unchallenged

Witzend

Horrendous. Didn’t want to watch it, but dh did, so I stayed put.
It’s no consolation, I know, to realise that there are bad apples in every organisation, but to think of the police harbouring such a one is particularly dreadful.

But he wasn't one bad apple. Every single week without fail there is another report of a police officer being suspended/sacked/investigated for not only illegal but utterly vile practices. Filming dead victims, sharing extreme porn with colleagues as well as misogynistic, homophobic and racist views that would've looked out of place in the 1970's. The whole barrel is rotten.

Dee1012, I share the conflicted feeling you express. My work over 40 years involved frequent joint work with police .
Add to this, my dad was in the police, retired after 33 years as a senior cid officer. He was a lovely man, good dad and family person. He’d no more have allowed this kind of misogyny than I would.

Is it a reflection of our increasingly polarised society, where dangerous men like Andrew Tate influence some people>. Cousins seems a stone cold psychopath. It’s beyond belief that his sexual offending/including indecent exposure wasn’t investigated and prosecuted. I have daughters. I find myself wondering how Sarah’s mum manages

Delila

The programme reminded me again of the murdered sisters, Biba Henry and Nicole Smallman, and the reprehensible behaviour of the police in their case.

The systematic racism and police indifference on that case is unforgivable.. their poor mother has so little support or help

The programme reminded me again of the murdered sisters, Biba Henry and Nicole Smallman, and the reprehensible behaviour of the police in their case.

Hard to say what I found most chilling about the programme.

Possibly the WhatsApp group where Couzens and his police mates swapped vile messages about women.

Or maybe the fact that in 2015 while serving as an armed officer with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary he was suspected of commiting indecent exposure. Kent Police receive a report of a man driving around Dover naked from the waist down. A witness gave an accurate description and the vehicle registration. He was caught on ANPR cameras. He was never even questioned. Why?

Lady Elish Angiolini: There was a woeful absence of proactive investigation and the matter was hastily dropped.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/03/indecent-exposure-flashing-sarah-everard-wayne-couzens

couldn't watch this as it's too fresh in mind..

so very sorry for sarah and her family.

I really struggle with this as I work with many Police officers on a daily basis and quite honestly have found the majority to be kind, compassionate people who are trying to do an extremely difficult job in equally difficult circumstances.

Two weeks ago, I sat with one who was so distressed at the sentence passed on an individual after a huge amount of work had gone into the case and the distress wasn't for themselves, it was for the victim and their family.

However - then I think, are they allowing the behaviour of others to carry on unchecked?, are they laughing at the jokes, looking at the grubby messages etc?

Cf" ChocolatelovingGran"

"The truly astonishing conclusion for me , as a 70 + woman, is that I would no longer offer instant obedience to a police officer. I could not have imagined feeling this way in the past"

AGREED; Unbelievable and sad. Isn't it? I was brought up to respect the Police who I perceived as doing a difficult and dangerous job, sometimes with little or no thanks, to protect us all.......

I commented to DH that the DCI in charge of the case looked so young to be in that role. Good to see how far on we have moved since Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect when it was unusual for a woman to be in a high ranking position.

And it sounded like the DCI’s boss was another woman also.

I agree, it feels more dangerous now than in our younger days.
I’d be interested in the use of pornography by Couzins and others like him. Obscene pornography that degrades abd abuses women and children isn’t hidden away and difficult to access. There it is on your smart phone

I just cannot watch it as I have 3 grand daughters in their teens and I dread to think what it will be like for them.

We have always grown up to trust the police and now I don’t trust them one bit. They cannot all be tarred with the same brush but each day something else comes out about another police officer or police force.

I feel so sad as a woman aged 71.

I only saw the second half, deeply upsetting especially hearing the words of her mother. What a wicked man Wayne Couzins, how could he so casually go and pick up a drink from Costa and ring the vet just after he'd murdered Sarah and act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened,. Defies belief along with all the missed opportunities of nailing him for his continual flashing The culture of misogyny amongst some of the police as exposed in their awful texting was shocking. I think women have to put up with a lot of hassle on the streets these days which goes way beyond the extremely annoying cat calling I remember from my youth, it just seems more dangerous

It was harrowing and alarming viewing. The truly astonishing conclusion for me , as a 70 + woman, is that I would no longer offer instant obedience to a police officer. I could not have imagined feeling this way in the past. The police force has a great deal of work to do to regain our trust. And a message for those officers who " looked the other way" - shame on you .