Police Officers denied use of a toilet (with inevitable outcome)

[Waters]

(Not an easy thread to find, this one!)

I recently read the story about some officers having to wait more than six months for overtime payments from last year's games and, by co-incidence, my sister has recently started dating a police officer. I didn't mention all this stuff to him but he volunteered an amazing story about being on duty in central London at the time of the Tour de France race.

He said that after a long duty, the officers who had been on duty were taken back to a base in Whitehall for refreshements/sandwiches and more importantly, comfort breaks, but when they got there, it was a portakabin with sandwiches being handed out from a table and two, yes TWO single toilet facilities to accommodate all the officers!

He said the queue and the wait were unbearable and he said he was in severe discomfort himself and that one of his colleagues got as close as it was possible to get to embarrassing himself in the queue.

It puts the original story into some sort of perspective, I suppose and suggests that even in downtime, police officers don't have it easy.

 

[Greebo]

This is ridiculous!! A grown up would use a toilet with or without permission!!
I honestly don't believe that these officers wet/soiled themselves.

This is sensationalist nonsense. "Mammoth" 14 hour shifts?? 14 hours is hardly "mammoth" or even uncommon for a police officer to work, and most officers would be grateful for the overtime.

Sounds like there's some politics behind this ramp up rather than actual news.

Ive worked 14 hours many times in my life

 

[stopper]

Is it lawful to work for that long without a break?

Yes as that is up the individual. Legal is the word you were looking for, which it's not.

 

[dowie]

He said that after a long duty, the officers who had been on duty were taken back to a base in Whitehall for refreshements/sandwiches and more importantly, comfort breaks, but when they got there, it was a portakabin with sandwiches being handed out from a table and two, yes TWO single toilet facilities to accommodate all the officers!

Were they not allowed to go into the police station and use the bogs there? Seems very random, like the sort of BS you'd put up with in a very badly managed army unit.

 

[Waters]

Were they not allowed to go into the police station and use the bogs there? Seems very random, like the sort of BS you'd put up with in a very badly managed army unit.

No idea. From what he said it sounded like it was just a portakabin in a street near where their coaches were parked.

 

[Werewolf]

Were they not allowed to go into the police station and use the bogs there? Seems very random, like the sort of BS you'd put up with in a very badly managed army unit.

If it's a lot of officers it may have been at a nearby staging point, rather than any station.

I suspect it's far easier to setup in a large carpark than arrange for potentially hundreds of officers to get temporary passes etc to a normal station, and much less disruptive for the station.

 

[wildman]

Just pull out your man weasel and take a slash up against the advertising hoardings, then claim mental stress afterwards no.................. ??

 

[markus782]

All over the local press - and now I see some of the Nationals, too - about an unfortunate pensioner who had an accident after not being able to find a shop which would let him use their loo. It's a disgrace etc, claim the press/public.

The same thing happens to a police officer and it's seemingly ridicule and oh well, it's part of the job. No big deal.

Is there a difference?

 

[robgmun]

As a sufferer of chronic ulcerative colitis, the loo situation in the UK while you're out and about is stupid. We used to have public loos everywhere when i was young but they've all but closed down. Nowadays i when i'm in trouble i have to find the nearest pub/starbucks and sneak past the owners. very few underground stations have loos too so sometimes i have to hold it in for 10-15 mins until the next stop where i can get off and it's incredibly painful and sometimes i don't make it

 

[XeNoN89]

As a sufferer of chronic ulcerative colitis, the loo situation in the UK while you're out and about is stupid. We used to have public loos everywhere when i was young but they've all but closed down. Nowadays i when i'm in trouble i have to find the nearest pub/starbucks and sneak past the owners. very few underground stations have loos too so sometimes i have to hold it in for 10-15 mins until the next stop where i can get off and it's incredibly painful and sometimes i don't make it

Yeah toilet situations are quite bad in some places. I still outright refuse to pay to use any toilet like the ones in train stations etc. Luckily I don't have any health issues so i'm able to wait until I find somewhere else but it must be a nightmare for others!

 

[Maccapacca]

As a sufferer of chronic ulcerative colitis, the loo situation in the UK while you're out and about is stupid. We used to have public loos everywhere when i was young but they've all but closed down. Nowadays i when i'm in trouble i have to find the nearest pub/starbucks and sneak past the owners. very few underground stations have loos too so sometimes i have to hold it in for 10-15 mins until the next stop where i can get off and it's incredibly painful and sometimes i don't make it

Yeah I've got UC and it's horrendous really the lack of decent facilities anywhere. I tend to plan my journeys based on the availability of toilets . I have a radar key and know pretty much all the decent loos between my house and work. I'm lucky, even though I have UC it's under control.

I have a camping karzi https://www.tauntonleisure.com/kampa-khazi-camping-toilet/p9845 in the back of my car just in case

 

[ColdAsIce]

As a sufferer of chronic ulcerative colitis, the loo situation in the UK while you're out and about is stupid. We used to have public loos everywhere when i was young but they've all but closed down. Nowadays i when i'm in trouble i have to find the nearest pub/starbucks and sneak past the owners. very few underground stations have loos too so sometimes i have to hold it in for 10-15 mins until the next stop where i can get off and it's incredibly painful and sometimes i don't make it

As a crohns sufferer I know your pain.

I haven't used them but you can get a card from the NHS that can be handed to shop owners etc so they are aware of why you would need access to their toilet.

You can also get access to a key that opens any disabled public toilets around the UK as far as I know.

"Radar NKS Key

Price: £4.50
To order a region list with your key please follow this link.

The National Key Scheme (NKS) offers disabled people independent access to locked public toilets around the country. Toilets fitted with National Key Scheme (NKS) locks can now be found in shopping centres, pubs, cafés, department stores, bus and train stations and many other locations in most parts of the country. Alternative costs: With VAT - £5.40 European delivery - £5.40 Rest of world delivery - £6.50"

 

[robgmun]

Thanks guys

My dad is registered disabled and he handed me his radar key, it's saved my life quite a few times in the last few months.

I've heard about the NHS card before, what's been the reaction when you hand it over? I've always had the image in my head of either staring blankly at it and still refusing you entry or needing an explanation when you're in a desperate hurry