Women must resist arrest by any male police officer and demand the presence of a policewoman

If I were blue-skying this, I'd acknowledge that substantial numbers of people are in search of jobs with better pay and conditions than their current one or may be facing redundancy after furlough ended today.

I'd rather like to think there's a niche job opportunity for women of a certain age to chaperone arrests and custody suites. I've no idea what the civilian rates of pay are for police roles.

What would be the job specification for such a chaperone? Would it be another body in the car who doesn't get out until someone is arrested? Or only attends an incident that is known to be non-violent (such as someone detained before arrest for shoplifting or fare-dodging)?

I've no idea of the number of women who are arrested per day, or under what circumstances, or for which crimes. I'd guess shoplifting or low-level drugs or something associated with sex work but I've no idea.

There was a while, when I did response policing, that I was the only female on a team of about 25. I had to search every single woman who was stopped or arrested.

I am sure that, outside London, there are plain clothes officers working solo but I've never known this to happen anywhere I've worked. Its dangerous for the officers as well as other reasons. (Actually I whole heartedly disagree with lone patrols, full stop, but that's another discussion).

But telling women to resist arrest is both useless and dangerous advice. It won't stop a predator preying, any more than a longer hemline will stop a rapist raping.

Being a police officer isn't just a job it's almost a lifestyle. There is no work life balance. There are many women who join the job and who are excellent officers but once they have children they leave because they don't want to miss out on their family growing up.
Rest days are cancelled at the drop of a hat, you can't guarantee that you will finish on time, you get posted across the other side of the county, or end up on mutual aid for another force. You can't just say you can't do it because you have to do it.

And part of the reason the police are in underfunded is they are not a priority in the current government.

Yet women can't vote for the opposition because they are actively dismantling safeguarding for women.

It's a rock and a hard place.

It’s only an unworkable suggestion if you accept that the safety of the woman being arrested isn’t the top priority. There are lots of ways it could be made to work if you start from that point.

Resources would have to be shifted from elsewhere with a newly deemed lower priority, and it would depend if people accepted that.

Belle- I agree but change costs money. The police have been underfunded for years. More women need to join, that to me is the answer. Sadly many leave after having children as the shifts are horrendous.

Agree 100% - and rather than shaking heads and talking about why it's not possible the police and the Govt should be immediately making it happen. I am fucking sick and tired of having to consider my safety - and that of my daughter - during every single interaction with a man (of whatever variety), every single day.

There are too few female police officers, at least where I live.

Changes need to happen to turn this around.
It's not unworkable. There are obvious solutions to every single one of your points.

Just because they don't want to change doesn't mean they can't.

Crimes must be recorded by sex not gender. The criminal justice system must be grounded in reality for safeguarding, for reliable statistics, for justice itself.

Police officers must be categorised as women or men on the basis of their sex not whichever uniform or hairstyle they prefer and the same must be applied for those who are being arrested.

There is no other way this can work. My personal sense of self does not trump your physical safety.

Perhaps a woman facing arrest should be allowed to call a relative or friend to accompany her before being escorted away by a lone policeman
Seriously?
There would be a riot with some of the feral families that roam my town if they knew a lone copper had "one of theirs"

Op, I know where you are coming from but, it's unworkable. There are too few female police officers, at least where I live. Sadly, after what happened to Sarah, you may find fewer women want to join. The reality is we need MORE women to join. Women contribute loads in the job of a police officer and have much to offer. The other difficulty being the police force is not a family- friendly job. It's hard to be a serving police officer with children, unless you have really good childcare or your partner works different hours and can help with childcare.

I know Wayne Couzens was acting as a lone wolf but I agree with pp about phasing out single police patrols. It's important to find the money. Police should work in pairs. This will help female police officers being placed in such threatening situations . And they can keep an eye on each other as well as the public at large.

Also I wonder what the actual law is around handcuffing a compliant prisoner. I was arrested once and the police officer didn't even handcuff me because I was happy to go with him and he clearly didn't feel I was a threat.

I suppose it's not in a coppers interest to not handcuff someone, particularly as in this case it was a car and not proper van where the prisoner can be contained safely.

Just musings on my part, I'm well aware of what is faced by women and girls on a daily basis but something about this case has really got to me and I want to see change.

Friend on missing children picks up runaways on their own all the time. I think is usually in uniform but don't know the rule. Will ask.
I don't know if different departments have different rules though?

Yep, totally agree OP.

We need to have loud and long public conversation about this and to let everyone know, women and police alike, that it's ok to resist arrest under dodgy circumstances.

I'm not sad. I don't feel I have any right to be sad. I'm fucking furious.

And I'm annoyed that here we are, yet again, trying to work out a solution to male violence.

Me, I'm with the op. And if I had a daughter, I'd sure as hell be advising her to resist as well.

Think about it!

Women can’t walk at night without being murdered! Sarah Everhard , Sabina Nessa… not only can’t women walk at night, we can’t even be sure the police are not the predators.

It’s a rock and a hard place. So women should just not go out at night at all? Is this the sort of society you want tk live in? After 6pm your can’t leave your home.. we already edit our lives so much as it is. The answer is to have a curfew for women so we can’t walk out at night?

That’s not workable and women should be able to be out without being raped and murdered.

People are always going to tell women don’t go out after dark.. what if we need to get something from the supermarket? What if the dog needs tk be walked? What if we want to go meet a friend for dinner? What are women realistically supposed to do?

If your answer is women don’t go out at night.. so half the population should just be confined after 6pm? That’s workable but asking for safety measures to be in place isn’t workable. I don’t know what the world is coming to.

[quote Jaysmith71]www.msn.com/en-gb/news/national/police-office-who-kicked-15-year-old-girl-to-the-ground-investigated/vi-AAOXKeF?ocid=winp1taskbar[/quote]
What an absolute prick Why didn't he just hold her back?!

Good job she wasn't pregnant, being booted in the stomach like that (article says he kicked her waist but it looked like her stomach).

She was let down by the indecent exposure crime being processed too slowly

Even if he was found guilty of this, there was a fair chance he would have kept his job

A chaperone service for arrests?

I share the anger.

I'm going to phrase this carefully although this is the 'right' section of MN and FWR.

there are fewer women committing the kind of crimes which might require being handcuffed and immediately carted off.

Many of us are aware that bad cases make bad law and this provision would be gamed in a heartbeat.

To be honest I am just so sad with how much Sarah was let down by the people who were supposed to protect her at every stage.
This was also enabled by that ridiculous covid law. He clearly chose this time because of course normally you'd be suspicious of someone who arrested you when you had committed no crime.
She was let down by the lack of foresight in implementing that law.
Sh3 was let down by the colleagues that didn't whistle blow.
She was let down by the indecent exposure crime being processed too slowly.
She was let down by the minimisation of such crimes.
She was let down by society by putting the burden of keeping safe on women.

No more.