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Challenge plain-clothes officers, Met Police says

Good to see at least one women getting justice after appalling mistreatment by the police:

https://novaramedia.com/2022/01/24/...rip-searching-me-i-dont-believe-a-word-of-it/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...es-to-academic-for-sexist-derogatory-language

The video on The Guardian website is worth watching in full: treat her like a terrorist, indeed.

It's upsetting to read how she was treated by the police. All because she tried to hand a card to a child being arrested informing him of his rights.

If it takes a very determined academic eight years to get an apology from the Met what hope does anyone else have?

The sergeant on duty has already been cleared of any wrong doing. It appears there are no consequences for this sort of appalling behaviour.

It's hard not to agree with Dr Duff when she writes:

“The crucial issue is that racism, misogyny [and] sexual violence, are normalised in policing. And the way in which they treated me, the fact that’s normal is shown by the way that at every level of the system it was rubber-stamped for eight years.

Because the scrutiny is always placed on the person who has been subject to violent policing, looking for something about them which means that they deserved it. Any way in which you have not complied, or you have stood up to them, or you have resisted, is taken as a justification for an escalation of force and violence against you.”
 
Good to see at least one women getting justice after appalling mistreatment by the police:

https://novaramedia.com/2022/01/24/...rip-searching-me-i-dont-believe-a-word-of-it/

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...es-to-academic-for-sexist-derogatory-language

The video on The Guardian website is worth watching in full: treat her like a terrorist, indeed.
That account sickened me when I read it. If they don’t dismiss the culprits, they further wreck confidence in the police.
 
Horrendous. Unfortunately I’m coming to the conclusion the police are unfit for purpose and little more than a tool of an increasingly oppressive right-wing state. Corrupt, racist, misogynistic, evasive and politically motivated. I know there are many decent officers serving within, but as an institution it has issues that are rooted right at the top.
 
I have a few friends in the Police. All are normal people doing a job they hope will help society.

They take shit daily from scum.
 
I have a few friends in the Police. All are normal people doing a job they hope will help society.

They take shit daily from scum.

I have no doubt that most officers are doing their absolute best in what is a very difficult job.

But a simple question: do you consider what happened to Dr Duff is acceptable? Or do you acknowledge that perhaps there's a problem?
 
I have a few friends in the Police. All are normal people doing a job they hope will help society.

I do too. pfm has several very decent folk in that precise category. I do think there is rot at the top though, e.g. Cressida Dick is clearly politically partisan, unjust, evasive and entirely unfit for purpose. When corruption exists at that level it becomes incredibly hard for decent people to rise through the ranks. We’ve seen this so many times over the years; institutionalised racism, the New Cross fire, the miners strike, Hillsborough, Damilola Taylor, Jean Charles de Menezes, sharing corpse pics on WhatsApp etc etc etc. The force is continually found wanting, there are endless enquiries confirming this beyond any doubt, yet the situation persists year upon year. When will it stop?
 
I have a few friends in the Police. All are normal people doing a job they hope will help society.

They take shit daily from scum.
But at least there are compensations, like being able to strip search and sexually assault people! Imagine if the job was no fun at all!
 
I have no doubt that most officers are doing their absolute best in what is a very difficult job.

But a simple question: do you consider what happened to Dr Duff is acceptable? Or do you acknowledge that perhaps there's a problem?

I'm sure there is a problem, I was just pointing out that I know several serving officers who don't exhibit the characteristics being described on here.
 
But at least there are compensations, like being able to strip search and sexually assault people! Imagine if the job was no fun at all!
I don't know any police, or indeed anyone, who would consider those things fun. Our views on what constitutes fun are very different.
 
I am acquainted with some serving cops. We have passed the time of day with them in our local. Their banter is rather sexist, with hints of violence after another customer called them out for the sexist banter. I am glad to say they don't come in very often ad the atmosphere can turn sour in their presence.
 
I'm sure there is a problem, I was just pointing out that I know several serving officers who don't exhibit the characteristics being described on here.

The problem is a cultural one within the force. The question is whether the decent officers feel they can report other officers who do this sort of stuff, whether they are then ostricised and their career effectively ended - is there a whistleblower process in place that actually works? You only need a few bad apples and a culture that closes the ranks when challenged to produce the sort of results that the above video highlighted.
 
I'm sure there is a problem, I was just pointing out that I know several serving officers who don't exhibit the characteristics being described on here.


All the serving officers you know do not exhibit those traits in your presence, what they behave like with what they consider “scum” is unknown to you. The case with Dr Duff is significant as it shows that it was not an individual officer but several and no one thought it was untoward, that points to a systemic problem and not one of a “few rotten apples”.
 
The problem is a cultural one within the force. The question is whether the decent officers feel they can report other officers who do this sort of stuff, whether they are then ostricised and their career effectively ended - is there a whistleblower process in place that actually works? You only need a few bad apples and a culture that closes the ranks when challenged to produce the sort of results that the above video highlighted.
To call it cultural suggests it could all be made right with a shift in attitudes and a few organisational tweaks. ISTM the problem is much more fundamental: the police are not accountable to the people they "serve", and they're not accountable because of the function they perform, which is to keep these people (or "scum") in line. The Met are a particularly grim example of modern policing but it's not like they're unique. It's just the police doing what the police do.
 
Accepting that wrongdoing is a minority it cannot be right that police take photos of victims, take part in WhatsApp groups celebrating abuse, rape and murder women, beat up female protestors at a vigil for the woman raped and murdered by one of the police. Those in power to protect us are seemingly using that power solely to control and punish ordinary folk and protect the rich and crooked. This country is an apprentice failed state at best, we really need to wrest control from the corrupt and venal and become a modern, fair, legitimate democracy.
 
Sounds like there is an urgent need to apply a bit of that to recruitment. Have you listened to the audio upthread?
Seriously, don't you think all involved should have been out on their arses?
An absolute ****ing disgrace.

Do not be under the misconception that officers and staff are not prosecuted, and in some cases dismissed for gross misconduct issues. The fact that all cases are not made public can be for a variety of reasons.

The specific case above is clearly wrong on so many levels. I have agreed on numerous occasions in that past what where abuse of office is clear, then the law should be applied.

What never has sat well with me is anyone making a sweeping generalistic comment that tars all with the same brush - whether it be the police or any other occupation for that matter. Hence why I do pop on here sometimes and add a comment, but more often than not I’ll walk by.
 


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