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AIBU?

to find the idea of a Police Commissioner complaining that protestors go 'floppy' when arrested quite amusing

50 replies

chomalungma · 16/09/2020 19:36

www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/16/extinction-rebellion-go-floppy-when-arrested-complains-senior-met-officer

Whether or not you agree with the protests, it's quite amusing to hear a senior officer complain that the protestors aren't coming along quietly when arrested and instead 'going floppy' which means more police are needed to take them away.

"House told a London assembly police and crime committee hearing: “We have asked them to stop being floppy. And that might seem like a silly thing to say, but when we arrest them and pick them up, they go all floppy, which is why you see four or five officers carrying them away. It’s a complete waste of officers’ time, and a complete pain in the neck.”
Extinction Rebellion: how successful were the latest protests?
Read more

House also expressed annoyance at how the tactic made the police look heavy-handed. He said: “The problem with them going floppy and four offices carrying them away [is that it] looks to the general public like police are overreacting here. We’re not making them go floppy. They’re just sort of being a nuisance.”

What does he think is the point of a protest?
To make a point
To take up police time
To make the State look bad and heavy handed.
It's peaceful.

Maybe he thinks that protestors should just say "It's a fair cop" and come quietly.

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chomalungma · 16/09/2020 19:48

I guess he's never had to deal with a reluctant toddler before.

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PastMyBestBeforeDate · 16/09/2020 19:51

Amused me.
And now everyone knows what to do when being arrested Grin

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JesusInTheCabbageVan · 16/09/2020 19:52

I guess he's never had to deal with a reluctant toddler before.

Grin if toddlers were in charge of protests, shit would get done for a change.

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WetdreamBeliever · 16/09/2020 19:52

He's not the first person to complain about someone going floppy instead of coming quietly.

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SimpleComforts · 16/09/2020 19:54

Well I guarantee telling them how annoying it is isn't going to help Grin

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Confrontayshunme · 16/09/2020 19:54

My friend is a vicar/Christian Climate something/XR protester who has been arrested multiple times, and the first few times they went willingly, but after praying about it and discussing it, they decided that the moral imperative was to try to vhange things, so she teaches people how to be arrested by describing a toddler who doesn't want to get into a carseat, which is PERFECT.

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chomalungma · 16/09/2020 19:55

Well I guarantee telling them how annoying it is isn't going to help

He's probably not experienced teenagers either Grin

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JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 16/09/2020 19:55

Very true, Wetdream, I was telling DS about it only this morning as I crammed him into his car seat!

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pigsDOfly · 16/09/2020 19:55

Yes, the reluctant toddler was what I thought of when I read your heading.

It's born in humans to do this when they're trying to be awkward in situations where they're likely to be picked up.

Even animals do it; cats are very good at making themselves heavy when they know it's time to go to the vet.

The Police Commissioner is being a bit unrealistic imo.

And yes, it made me smile too.

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Love51 · 16/09/2020 19:56

It is a few years since I manhandled a recalcitrant toddler into a car seat (and I've never arrested anyone) Mine used to go really stiff. It hadn't occurred to me floppy was worse (in this context!)
I wonder if he was trying to show up that they aren't really being as heavy handed as it appears. Presumably those who want to be arrested visibly already know the technique, so he's just informing us squares.

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JamieLeeCurtains · 16/09/2020 19:58

When mine were toddlers one of them used to 'starfish' and go stuff as a board, so I couldn't strap them into anything.

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pigsDOfly · 16/09/2020 19:58

Yes, stiff is specially reserved for car seat and buggies.

Floppy is more frequently used on the supermarket floor.

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chomalungma · 16/09/2020 19:58

arrested by describing a toddler who doesn't want to get into a carseat

Oh yes

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JamieLeeCurtains · 16/09/2020 20:00

Yes, floppy = floor, stiff = seat

Ah happy days Grin

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SnugglySnerd · 16/09/2020 20:01

My 3 year old has perfected the art of going floppy. We've been joking for ages that the police should use her to practise arresting people. Looks like we were right!

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newsyoucanuse · 16/09/2020 20:03

Flipping hilarious.
They could really be a bother for the police and start rioting instead...

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JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 16/09/2020 20:04

Am now imagining a protest run by toddlers.

Running enthusiastically towards the policeman shouting NEE NAW

Removing their own underwear and remarking conversationally "I got willy"

Sobbing in a crumpled heap on the floor in front of a police wagon because they weren't allowed to drive it

Hiding from the police by standing stock still and covering their own eyes, adamant that this means no one can see them

Attempting bravado by shouting "I like be arrested! I not want go home! I stay in jail! I like it!"

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chomalungma · 16/09/2020 20:05

Sitting down saying "My legs don't work" Grin

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kitkat463 · 16/09/2020 20:07

Anyone doing this is deliberately putting police officers at risk of hurting themselves. Have you ever tried to move a totally floppy adult, they are heavy! Imo this is not peaceful protest, as they are likely to cause injury to officers as much if not more than, if they throw a punch at them.

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JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 16/09/2020 20:10

Choma - or even more cunning - "I not have legs anymore"

(IP rights on that belong to DD1)

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cinnabarmoth · 16/09/2020 20:16

It made me laugh, I think the multiple uses of 'floppy' and 'flipping' were meant to highlight the ridiculous of the deputy commissioner's response. It's not a new technique anyway, my mum took me to Greenham Common and other protests when I was younger and this was what people did when they were arrested there.

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JesusInTheCabbageVan · 16/09/2020 20:19

Running enthusiastically towards the policeman shouting NEE NAW

And as any father of a toddler will tell you, their heads are at just the right height to drop any adult male like a stone.

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CircleofWillis · 16/09/2020 20:22

@WetdreamBeliever

He's not the first person to complain about someone going floppy instead of coming quietly.

Brava, WetDream, Brava!
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CSIblonde · 16/09/2020 20:28

The floppy thing made me laugh so much: its pure Rowan Atkinson as the hopeless Police guy in charge, in that Police comedy The Thin Blue Line (was that the right title?). And the toddler references here are bang on!

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Prig · 16/09/2020 20:29

Cats tend to do this too Grin

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