GMP new chief stands up against wokeness

"The police should act without fear not favour. They take an oath to act impartially."
is there any chance you could link? Sadly my abuser is one of them (hence bravery of his colleague) and I think he has used this very wording........
Apologies for derail.

"by encouraging the opposite of hate!""

no. I think that's where we go wrong. As Orwell noted with his Ministry of Love.
police officers are not there to be our friends. Nor are doctors, nor are judges. They have roles in society.

The police should act without fear not favour. They take an oath to act impartially. Doesn’t matter who they deal with, they should not prioritise one group or another. They are there to uphold the law. Not be actively pro anyone.

"I don't really know, but surely part of their job - preventing and solving crime - is to dissuade hate crimes by encouraging the opposite of hate!"

But isn't it utterly extraordinary that we don't know? It's all very well us having individual views about what the police force is and what it does but surely everyone ought to know from primary school onwards? otherwise how can we engage with this powerful force in our lives?

Because everyone should be treated equally and with respect in a democratic society.
I totally agree.

But this should be done without elevating one group above all others, which is of course the polar opposite of equality.

To be clear - being pro trans rights is about not bullying trans people, instead treating them with respect in person - I am not saying that the political aspects of the insane TRA movement shoule be included in LGBT rights that the police support.

..... so "GMP new chief stands up against wokeness" can't really be right. If the chief has the power to make these decisions, he's just made a decision to change the culture and is changing it.
If he doesn't have that power, or has a discretion, it's a bit different.

But the police chief doesn't "stand up to" anyone. Individual brave officers do - but they are standing up to their own bosses and trying to be true to their mission, surely?

"The police - as the "force" of a democratic state - should be actively pro LGBT rights
Why?"

What are the police for, constitutionally I mean? I understand they have an overriding duty to investigate crime, but how does their community cohesion/community interaction/fostering of good relations stuff work?

I have been directly affected by this - I think - in that a police force that seemed indifferent to my plight (save for one brave female officer) contacted me a week after Sarah Everard's death to ask if I would support an application for a restraining order against the abusive man in my life. "My" officer hadn't changed but it seemed as though some new policy had been handed down (as happens in schools,etc) after Sarah's death that gave "my" officer more power.

The police lost their impartiality when they were prepared to put the boot in during the miners’ strike of the 1980’s. Many of us with long memories have never forgotten nor forgiven their willingness to be Thatcher’s boot boys.

gosh this is tricky. There is such a risk of being caught in a bad backlash.

as to taking the knee I greatly admired the sportsman who began it in the US. It was his deeply felt protest and he suffered for it.

These things have an authentic moment but once they are organised and people who aren't affected join in, that moment passes. It can degrade the meaning of the original protest and oddly becomes disrespectful.

The police - as the "force" of a democratic state - should be actively pro LGBT rights
Why?

I have mixed feelings about this. The police - as the "force" of a democratic state - should be actively pro LGBT rights and anti-racism. Equally they should not get into the politics of BLM, or into anything about LGBT rights beyond "we are here to serve everyone in society, everyone deserves respect and equality as an individual".

This obviously presents problems - to what extent is a rainbow flag an LGB equality symbol, and to what extent does it represent the current TRA insanity?

I felt quietly optimistic, reading what he said

I think it is a really important statement too.

This was a really important statement. Officers are entitled to their private views but on duty they have to be seen to be impartial.