Why do you think people don’t like the Police?

I have very mixed feelings about the police.

1) My brother was walking (stumbling) home from a night out at about 3am, took a shortcut through an alley and a police van and car were parked in there, all three officers were outside of the vehicles having a bit of a chinwag.

As my brother passed them they gave him a bit of chew and he gave them the same back, this prompted them to try to drag him into the back of the van, he resisted and a bit of a scuffle ensued, they hit him with the pepper spray stuff and he went mental he broke one officers jaw and 3 fingers on another officers hand before they managed to control him and get him tie wrapped.

They used so much spray on him that he has scars still after 7 years, he had to go for treatments for months afterwards.

In court the judge thankfully backed my brother after deciding that the police officers were unjustified in their actions and had instigated the incident and that 3 officers should have been able to control one person in a more civil fashion.

He was awarded £700 for loss of earnings.


2) My shed was broken into and some power tools taken, the police basically told me that they knew who had done it but they couldnt do anything about it, i found out a couple of weeks later that this person was giving information to the police about drug dealers.

I should mention that we live in a small village and most people know each other so for these type of things to happen with the local constabulary is annoying as we see them all the time.

The flip side of all of this is that i believe that 99% of the time the police do a good job and do the best they can within the rules they also have to abide by, such a shame that the 1% is the bit you remember.
 
That is the point though, motoring are such minor offences that were it not for by-passing the judicial process the police would not bother with them otherwise.

Perhaps SINCE they are such minor offences they should not bother with them, or use the full judicial process if they feel they are an offence major enough to justify the costs.

While there may be something in not prosecuting minor offences it will depend how minor - what is the de minimis level? A value of £20, £50, £200, £1,000, £5,000? How do we evaluate the cost of the crime, is it purely the monetary amount to set it right if possible or some legal scale if it is not? What about the harm to society that is caused and how do you price that?

Do you suggest we don't prosecute vandals? Often their actions may result in fairly cheap clean up requirements e.g. whitewashing a wall or replanting some flowers so the cost value may be less than £100 - significantly less than any trial costs could be. If you are not in favour of vandals being ignored by the judicial process then why are you so in favour of motorists being largely exempt from it?
 
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I have nothing against the police, in fact, all police I've come across have been pleasant enough, even when I was arrested.

They are just doing a job like anyone else, and to be perfectly honest, I think they've got every right to be arsey when met with hostility day in day out. I know I would.
 
Because they won't take a bribe :rolleyes:

Honestly, I've dealt with a couple of decent officers, but the rest have been less than professional at times, young ones with a god-awful attitude, just hoping that I would bite and take the bait so they could do more than just a traffic ticket. The first time I was pulled over, a skin headed coppa with a gap between his teeth asks "what are you doing driving a car like this?", not the usual "is this your vehicle, sir?" that I expected.

If they used a little more discretion, instead of giving me a fixed penalty for driving through a deserted pedestrian zone in an unfamiliar town at 4am on new year's day, looking for something to eat for my smashed (pasty) girl and I, being breathalised (not a drop the whole night), then having the young officer remark "now if you were ****ed I could understand why you did that", I would probably have a little more respect for our police service.

:D:D

What the **** do you smoke in such vast quantities every time you decide to post?

You just thought you'd drive through a pedestrian zone in a town at 4am looking for something to eat? And because the police disagreed with you doing that, and didn't give you the immensa respect you felt you deserved (while driving around a pedestrian area at 4am) you can't respect the police force?

I've been interviewed by the police when someone pulled a knife on me, I've given witness statements to the police, and I've been arrested and interrogated by the police, and at all times I thought they did a great job.
 
I have to deal with the police within my job & what I don't like is you get ones that care & ones that don't.

It's just so random if they are going to solve your problem or not,

For the same crime some with what to thow the book at them while others will do all they can to get you to change your mind.

That's what I don't like about the police
 
I have to deal with the police within my job & what I don't like is you get ones that care & ones that don't.

It's just so random if they are going to solve your problem or not,

For the same crime some with what to thow the book at them while others will do all they can to get you to change your mind.

That's what I don't like about the police

They're human, just like anyone else and to a lot of people, it's a job like any other. So of course you are going to get those that can't be arsed.

I'm not condoning anyone's negative behaviour/attitude, but, like I say people are only human and everyone is different. Some people are prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty and some are just going to take the easy route to get the job done.

If the police force started getting rid of all the "negative" officers then they'd be pretty stretched and then everyone would start complaining about the lack of police on the street.
 
While there may be something in not prosecuting minor offences it will depend how minor - what is the de minimis level? A value of £20, £50, £200, £1,000, £5,000? How do we evaluate the cost of the crime, is it purely the monetary amount to set it right if possible or some legal scale if it is not? What about the harm to society that is caused and how do you price that?

Do you suggest we don't prosecute vandals? Often their actions may result in fairly cheap clean up requirements e.g. whitewashing a wall or replanting some flowers so the cost value may be less than £100 - significantly less than any trial costs could be. If you are not in favour of vandals being ignored by the judicial process then why are you so in favour of motorists being largely exempt from it?

Speeding is a victimless crime though, in fact it is only a crime because someone somewhere decided to set an arbitrary number with no scientific backing behind it.

Vandalism is not a victimless crime as it is someone's property that is damaged.
 
A very small minority of Coppers can be complete arses, which ruins the image of the rest of them.

Generally I have great respect for the Police, I can't stand arse holes, be them in uniform with authority or not.
 
I've seen some absolute ****s get into the police force. A catholic fella who told me in a bar one night he would have me, my brothers and my mum, who was a prison officer at the time, shot by the provo's is now in the PSNI. That's the wonders of 50/50 enforcement.

That is quite alarming.

Is he still in ? I would hazard a guess that he will not last long.
 
When my old motor was smashed up and broken into outside of my house, I called the police and they tried to pin drink-driving on me because I had a few beers in front of the telly. This is the worst experience I've had of them, but they've all been extremely unpleasant and they really do try hard to make the victim feel like the culprit. Little petty things like pulling you over and being asked why you're driving an MX5 at age 19 and then not letting you drive off for a good 45 minutes. Putting you in a cell 20 miles away from home with no lift because you were yards away from a brawl in a bar and despite reporting it were considered 'part of the issue'.

They're a right bunch of nobheads. Yes they do an important job but all my dealings with the police in general leaves me greatly unimpressed.

Maybe I'm unlucky or something, but I've dealt with about 15-20 different coppers in my lifetime and every. single. one. of. them. were a complete dick. Maybe it's just the nature of the policing and the job screws normal people up into complete bar-stewards.

They all have targets and quotas to hit and they don't care how YOU feel because at the end of the day they need to get paid and that means they need to look like they've done something. I've paid the price way too much for their unscrupulous dealings.

Ugh. Hate the police. Hate hate hate.
 
Did you ever consider the complaints process KNiVES ?

The_Sophisticate said:
Because they won't take a bribe.

That's generally the idea. :D

I must confess to accepting a box of M&S biscuits a couple of years back when I dealt with a bag snatch from an elderleyish lady. The culprit sorted the job out, told me where the bag and items were and she was so made up when she got her things back she sent in a box of biccies with a letter of thanks to the Chief Constable.

They were bloody good bisuits as well although i did share them out with the shift.
 
I must confess to accepting a box of M&S biscuits a couple of years back when I dealt with a bag snatch from an elderleyish lady. The culprit sorted the job out, told me where the bag and items were and she was so made up when she got her things back she sent in a box of biccies with a letter of thanks to the Chief Constable.

They were bloody good bisuits as well although i did share them out with the shift.

I hope you passed that via PSD before you accepted it. :rolleyes::p
 
I was going to Burnsy ... erm, but errrr never got around to it.

I wouldn't care as my old shift inspector when I first joined and who I still speak to occasionally is now head of PSD. He would have a field day. ;)
 
That is quite alarming.

Is he still in ? I would hazard a guess that he will not last long.

No idea. The guy was a tool. My younger brother was a few people down the bar when he said it and duly proceeded to empty him. We moved away from the area when my mum left the prison service, since we didn't need to be near the prison. I know another catholic in part of the family I have no dealings with that was nick-named "officer green-card" for obvious reasons. Played it like the race card. And got quite high up doing it.
 
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