Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: forster on 03/04/2006 18:53:24
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Folowing on from Wolram's topic on the uk police and how effective they are I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone thinks of our police service,in terms of attitude towrds them, like em? hate em?. Has anyone had any expieriences with them that changed your opinion of them for better or worse[:)]
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My opinion has gradually changed over the years. This is mainly due to my own observations & experiences. There seems to have been a shift in the role of the police. Whereas when I was younger, the police were there to prevent crime, these days they seem more interested in finding things they can charge people with. They no longer give the impression of serving or protecting the public; rather they appear to have become more of a political tool, the main function of which is to keep the public in line.
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I guess you could say that the police are becoming more intrusive with the methods they use within the pulbic, whilst their methods of being friendly with the public, like just chating to people and knowing who their local residents are has declined.
What you rekon are the current police methods that give you your impression of them? what methods is is you rekon have declined that showed them as protecting the public, and should perhaps be brought back?
Its interesting cos perhaps through that process of stoping their current methods and bringing back old ones they could move backwards and get public support back
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I cant help you with your question as the last time i spoke to a policeman was years ago.
However i would like to know why almost all policewomen have big bums, seriously next time you see a policewoman have a look and you will see its true, but why is it true.
NOT THAT THEIRS ANYTHING WRONG WITH A BIG BUM[:)]
Michael
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guess i've got nothing to say of the UK police forces, but my experiences here in teh US reflect what CocBeaver said 100%.
Are YOUR mice nude? [;)]
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quote:
Originally posted by MayoFlyFarmer
guess i've got nothing to say of the UK police forces, but my experiences here in teh US reflect what CocBeaver said 100%.
Are YOUR mice nude? [;)]
COCbeaver!? grrrrrrrr [:(!]
(Actually, isn't cocbeaver a bit of an oxymoron?)
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I think policing by its nature is complicated, and over the years I have met police officers and ex police officers in various circumstances.
As has been said, the modern police force is more focused on the criminal and less on the ordinary member of the public. In one sense, some people could regard this as improving the efficiency of the police, since their role should be about preventing crime not about helping little old ladies across the street, but the flip side of this (although I suspect there was always an element of this) is that their view of the public is that everyone is either a victim or a criminal, because that is the only way they often get to see the public. With their ever greater targeting of criminals, they have become ever more detached from ordinary members of the public.
In a different context, I do have some friends (not myself I should add) who have in the past been politically active in things like the trade union disputes of the 1980's, and I do hear stories of indiscriminate police violence emanating from that (I don't use the word unprovoked, because in situations such as that, it is always difficult to see who started it all, but what is plain is that the police have often acted with violence against those who clearly were not involved in any violent activity, and hence can reasonably be accused of being indiscriminate in their response). Again, this is consistent with what might be regarded as the siege mentality that comes about from an 'us' and 'them' attitude of the police.
To be fair, it is natural that in any job, one tends to have a narrow view of the world that is shaped by the job one does; but if you are a civil engineer, or a ballet dancer, this does not have the same impact on society at large as it does if you are a police officer. In the modern world, with the emphasis on specialisation of function, this narrowing of one's field of view is merely exaggerated (and this is also apparent in the field of politics, where the contact between the reality the politicians perceive and the reality that the rest of society sees is totally divergent – again, something that has been exaggerated by the rise of the professional politician).
George
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sorry. "DOC"Beaver is what I meant. My apologies.
Are YOUR mice nude? [;)]
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quote:
Originally posted by free4440273
the other point to make is this: there is crime out there, and the police know where it is located. but they would rather lazy around in their bloody police cars marooning the streets, pretending to do things, when in fact very often they do sweet f-all!!! or am i just being too harsh?? i don't think so [:(!]
I am not a police officer, and have absolutely nothing to do with the police, but yes, I do believe you are being grossly unfair.
Firstly, the average bobby does what he is told to do, and if he spends his time patrolling in a police car, then he is doing that, not because he is being lazy, but because that is what his masters are telling him to do.
Secondly, the raison d'etre for police to travel around in police cars is that they can be more productive (i.e. cover a greater distance, and respond to situations more quickly) in a police car than on foot. Many would argue that a bobby on foot patrol in a very unproductive bobby. Ofcourse, that apparent unproductiveness has many intangible benefits, such as providing a deterrent value to against crime (but crime that is deterred never shows up in the crime detection statistics because the crime never happened), improved community relations, and improved intelligence; but none of this is obvious to the pen pushers who are looking at how reactive a police officer might be.
George
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I have to say that as an Irish person I always have a healthy respect for the UK police. Like most police forces the world over they are a thin blue line between us and the bad guys. But they are human too with all the faults and predigests that all of society has. In the end when I did finally come in contact with them I got a hug for saving a women from being mugged in kings cross station in London. I was very glad when they arrived on the scene to help me. I know that Irish people have been accused of things they did not do and have spent time in jail for it too. It would be easy to condemn all cops for the bad work of a few just as it is bad to thinks that all Irish people hate the British.
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
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Here is one crazy example, our local police station in southam, is only (maned) at certain times, if one wants to see a police man one has to
telephone the stratford upon avon station fithteen miles away, whereas
the southam station is only five miles away, the southam station has a
telephone outside the door linked directly to the s on a station, when i needed a policeman i went to the southam station found it (closed) used
the telephone the officer who ansewered me conntacted the southam station and low and behold an officer opened the door, it seems
the southam branch is used purely for paper work, and pesky crime can
wait, from my arrival at the southam station it took about 15 mins of
fannying around before i could see a policeman.
A born optomist
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Another example, a single woman arrives home to find a drunken man there
she phones the police and they ask her if he is violent, she tells them not at the moment, so they tell her, there is nothing they can do, it is only after several hours when he did become violent that a few locals
tossed him out.
A born optomist
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Another example, an old gent who lives in a flat above a shop telephones
the police to report it is being broken into, by the time the police arrive another shop and club have been robbed and the thieves are long gone.
A born optomist
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I could tell you why i was (banned) from sitting on the low wall that
surrounds the southam police station car park, but i am a reformed character now.
A born optomist