What are people's views on the Police?

[PeteC 10]

well i'm shutting up last time i spoke o this i got banned for 2 days

[medusa 16]

The overall thing that strikes me about people's opinion of the police is that no matter what they (by this I mean the police force in general) do, they are in a position where they can't win.

 

If police arrest people to further their enquiries then they're harassing people, if they don't then they aren't 'doing their jobs'.

 

If they are visible on the streets then they 'obviously won't be available if you ring 999' and if they aren't visible on the streets then they don't care.

 

Somewhere there has to be a balance where the majority of people let them get on with their jobs in peace and stop complaining?

[Tony 10]

You make a good point there Medusa.

 

I reckon that the root of it is that the man on the street thinks that he has too many rights these days, and with that he thinks that he's more important than the Police and that somehow obeying the law becomes optional in certain circumstances! Consequently, the Police get the double whammy of losing respect while bending over backward to help people.

 

Have a think people. When the brown stuff hits the rotating cooler who you gonna call? Clue... Chevy Chase won't be in attendance, but plod will turn up to sort out your problems.

[Echelon 10]

to everyone slagging of the police why dont you go to georgia or russia and see what the police is like over there. they dont know the meaning of the words human rights, they are extremely vilent and abusive. when i first came over here i coudnt believe how polite and helpful and friendly the police are. britain probably has the best police in the world. In most other parts of the world the police are either too trigger happy( like in usa) or just a bunch of savages. im talking from experince here. british police are the best

[Scrutineer 10]

The British Police should be more like Russian or the US. Then there would be a different reaction off the public..

[VARB 10]

Anonymous v The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, High Court, April 2006

Very substantial damages and apology were agreed in the Sheffield High Court in respect of the assault, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution of the claimant arising from an unlawful and racially motivated stop and search. The case raised novel and complex issues of causation in respect of the psychiatric illness developed by the claimant after these events and the level of damages achieved together with the apology, reflected acceptance on the part of the Chief Constable that his officers’ actions had caused the claimant severe mental health problems.

 

Nobody was sacked in relation to the above case

[King Rat 10]

I personally have not had any problems with the Police, however I do think a lot of people who slag off the police are not fully aware of the restrictions in place & aware of how under funded they are from central goverment or are criminals. It's the same for any service if it's well managed & funded properly the service is obviously going to be better, but I think the main problem is are people willing to pay more tax for a better sevice?

[Pingpang 10]

The British Police should be more like Russian or the US. Then there would be a different reaction off the public..

 

mmmm yeah i wish we lived in more draconian conditions

 

all this so called freedom is giving me the heeby jeebies

 

please nanny gvmnt scare me more with ur tales of terror so that i beg for you to lock me up and throw away the key just in case i'm one of those you purport to seek

[fr8neck 10]

'The Police' should be abolished.

 

The 'police function' should be performed by a form of national service by all adults 'of good standing' between, say, 20yrs and 50 yrs. e.g. : 3Mnths every 3 yrs or similar.(vary according to desired number of police.)

If national service is good enough for waging 'world wars', and policing the soldiers doing that, why not for civil policing?

 

The present state of manifest uselessness is satisfactory to no-one but our political masters, why continue with it?

[Pingpang 10]

'The Police' should be abolished.

 

The 'police function' should be performed by a form of national service by all adults 'of good standing' between, say, 20yrs and 50 yrs. e.g. : 3Mnths every 3 yrs or similar.(vary according to desired number of police.)

If national service is good enough for waging 'world wars', and policing the soldiers doing that, why not for civil policing?

 

The present state of manifest uselessness is satisfactory to no-one but our political masters, why continue with it?

 

good idea, national service but for the police not the army!

 

small periods of service from people of varying ages and experiences

 

politics & politicians should be run like that too

[simondjuk 10]

In my opinion the police do a very good job, its the courts that let everything down. The sentences are far too lenient in a lot of cases.

[tallpaul 10]

to everyone slagging of the police why dont you go to georgia or russia and see what the police is like over there. they dont know the meaning of the words human rights, they are extremely vilent and abusive. when i first came over here i coudnt believe how polite and helpful and friendly the police are. britain probably has the best police in the world. In most other parts of the world the police are either too trigger happy( like in usa) or just a bunch of savages. im talking from experince here. british police are the best

 

You're absolutely correct..

 

But you've got to realise that when forum members like VARB are slagging the police off...they don't really know any better. Poor education and a lack of social awareness manifests itself in the very posts which that member writes.

 

The problem is that in the UK there are too many people who are seemingly happy that the criminals have more rights than the victims. People spend more time bleating about a police officer that perhaps wasn't as polite as he should have been..instead of complaining that victims rights seem to have been overshadowed by the rights of the offender.

 

If you are a victim of a crime, you'll have little or no support professionally. (other than an ex WRVS lady now working for Victim Support - Sweet Tea & Biscuits in abundance)

 

However, if you are a criminal, there's people queuing out of the door to offer their support to you: legal aid solicitors, social workers, probation officers, drug rehabilitation workers, etc etc