Things I Hate - A Comedic Rantesse

[jturner]

My view of the police plummeted after that, plod and pig are now common usage for describing them; they never used to be.

It's really sad. I feel for my friends who are in the police. I've known them for years and they are plain, decent people trying to do a tough job. Their reactions to this report was telling, and who can blame them?! Who'd want to be tarred with the same brush as the Met?

[Noggin the Nog]

My dad was in the police for 25 years and was frequently in trouble for doing the right thing- like booking a very senior officer for driving offences - which is probably why he remained in the lower orders until the last couple of years he served when they shipped him off to an obscure village station (total no.of serving officers , one).
Him and his friends (real ones) worked hard to persuade me not to join the force.
Interestingly, our son wanted to join but decided to give the Specials a try first. He liked it, applied to join but was ignored for some time before one of the instructors said he had little chance as they were already getting his services for free. That meant the budget could be used to push through graduate officers to make the force look good.
He now has his own internet business.

[notdeadyet]

My view of the police plummeted after that, plod and pig are now common usage for describing them; they never used to be.

It is a thankless job and one that I wouldn't do and one I'd be very grateful for when really needed. Like everything, individuals are OK, it's when taken as an entire culture that problems happen. For decades ethnic communities have been saying they have so little trust in the police that they would not speak to them unless they really had to. I guess now it's starting to affect middle class white people it's now being taken seriously which also says a lot about our society. People like to pretend this is all new and didn't happen 30 years ago. Listening to Stephen Lawrence's family talking the other day it's pretty clear it's not news and we're still facing this same issues from 30 years ago. I remember when I was a kid in Glasgow you absolutely did not speak to the police about anything you could either fix on your own or live with the consequences of unless you had to. There was no trust then but policing is one of those political issues, like defence, that has been too immune from criticism for too long. If you criticised them you were a leftie do-gooder or had to be guilty of something/anything or, worse, it might mean you are brown. But it goes to prove that when you leave minority/marginalised communities to eat shit then eventually it ends up on everyone's doorstep like what has happened with the Met.

I'm sure it won't affect Cressida Dick's eventual appointment to the Lords, though.

[Chrisch]

.... If you criticised them you were a leftie do-gooder or had to be guilty of something/anything or, worse, it might mean you are brown. ...

I often critisise the police.

But to be fair I am a leftie do-gooder and I am guilty of something.

[steelemonkey]

I often critisise the police.

But to be fair I am a leftie do-gooder and I am guilty of something.

Everyone is guilty of something.

[jamesp]

It's really sad. I feel for my friends who are in the police. I've known them for years and they are plain, decent people trying to do a tough job. Their reactions to this report was telling, and who can blame them?! Who'd want to be tarred with the same brush as the Met?

Guy I`ve known for 30 years, recently left the police after 19years, mainly as traffic; to drive trains, it pays better.
He was on what would be considered not bad money by most people anyway; especially given his lack of education/skills post 16.
His wife is CID with another force.

[Neilwood]

Guy I`ve known for 30 years, recently left the police after 19years, mainly as traffic; to drive trains, it pays better.
He was on what would be considered not bad money by most people anyway; especially given his lack of education/skills post 16.
His wife is CID with another force.

I considered the police for a while and I know a number of people who are serving officers. Not a job I would consider now when you take in to account the hours (including shifts), lack of control around holidays ( I know a number of them have had to cancel holidays due to "operational requirements" ie they were told that they needed to work, the fact that you are never really off duty, etc. That and the incredible amount of double standards that appear in a number of forces (not tarring all with the same brush).

[MarkP]

...but decided to give the Specials a try first.

That's the trouble when you're in a ghost town and you've done too much, much too young.

It is a thankless job and one that I wouldn't do and one I'd be very grateful for when really needed. Like everything, individuals are OK, it's when taken as an entire culture that problems happen.

I agree about the job - I wouldn't want to do it, but I take issue with "individuals are OK" and would preface it with "most". I used to know a few policemen and the variation in attitude was astonishing. I would trust some to stop a situation escalating, then deal with everybody completely fairly. Others just wanted to crack heads; one in particular wishing he'd been on duty when a peaceful but noisy demonstration went past where we were teaching people to ride motorcycles, just because he thought there'd be a bit of violence. Mind you, his career ended when he was badly beaten, with his own truncheon (shows how long ago this was), and spent a long time in hospital before being invalided out of the Met.

For decades ethnic communities have been saying they have so little trust in the police that they would not speak to them unless they really had to. I guess now it's starting to affect middle class white people it's now being taken seriously which also says a lot about our society.

All my black friends and colleagues have been stopped regularly for the crime of driving while black. I have never been stopped (apart from when I was nicked for doing 64 in a 30, but I was bang to rights guv'nor and no mistake.) Once, when I was teenager, I was walking back from a gig in the middle of a cold night when I'd missed the last bus home and a patrol car stopped next to me and asked what I was doing. When I told them they gave me a lift home without any further questions. Mind you, they did watch until I'd let myself in with a key!

Guy I`ve known for 30 years, recently left the police after 19years...

A colleague (and now friend of mine) was a copper but had to leave because the culture was so rotten and despite trying he couldn't make a dent in it. He became a security guard at Channel Four and ended up becoming a television techie like wot I is.

[Noggin the Nog]

We had a chap come along to take a job as assistant warden at the Wildlife Trust. He left when he found out he couldn't actually arrest/detain people who'd transgressed on site, dropping litter or climbing fences. Heaven help us if he decided to join the police.

[notdeadyet]

All my black friends and colleagues have been stopped regularly for the crime of driving while black.

I remember when covid was just beginning and if you were walking along the pavement and people saw you coming they'd cross the street. Or when the lift door opens and the person on the landing says "I'll wait for the next one" rather than get in. Without thinking about it for a moment, I mentioned it to a mate (who moved here from the Caribbean in 2005 and is black), how weird a feeling it is to be instantly looked on with suspicion by strangers. Then felt like an utter tit when he said "now you know what the last 15 years have been like".