Page 4 | Do you still trust the police?

Soubriquet · 2023-08-12T17:38:38+00:00

When I got with my dh 11 years ago, he would laugh when I said I trusted the police. That they were someone in a position of power, who I felt I could trust. He never tried to sway me, just said, ok..you’ll see. Now…I don’t. After everything they has happened over the last few years..Rotherham, Wayne Couzens, the girl with autism and other shit like that, I do not trust them at all.

DaisyAndDonaldDuck · 12/08/2023 20:27

Of course. I don’t see any reason not to.

ShinyYellowTeapot · 12/08/2023 20:27

AngryGreasedSantaCatcus · 12/08/2023 19:49

As an institution? No.

As individuals, especially if I needed their help? Cross my fingers and pray for the best.

This

Silkierabbit · 12/08/2023 20:27

I presume they handcuffed him to stop him running from them as he was frightened but completely unnecessary esp as we live in village with very little traffic. Just a horrible police woman.

Vitriolinsanity · 12/08/2023 20:33

No.

My experience has been nothing less than traumatic. As with all profession there are very good and very bad.

The problem is, the police should be consistent. They aren't, so you don't know until things are going very, very wrong which version you're dealing with.

At that point, matters only get worse. Given that most people typically deal with the police in heightened circumstances the propensity for things to swiftly wrong is too high.

BrindleAbyssinianGuinea · 12/08/2023 20:33

Vitriolinsanity · 12/08/2023 20:33

No.

My experience has been nothing less than traumatic. As with all profession there are very good and very bad.

The problem is, the police should be consistent. They aren't, so you don't know until things are going very, very wrong which version you're dealing with.

At that point, matters only get worse. Given that most people typically deal with the police in heightened circumstances the propensity for things to swiftly wrong is too high.

This.

PurpleChrayne · 12/08/2023 20:35

Nope.

1312

medianewbie · 12/08/2023 20:35

No. I'm female. And I have Autistic kids. I've had very little interaction with the Police but what I've had, I wasn't impressed. So, I don't trust them, no.

OnRose · 12/08/2023 20:35

I do. Just because there are a tiny minority of awful policemen/women it doesn't mean I don't trust them.

Underthelightofthefullmoon · 12/08/2023 20:38

No. Multiple experiences have taught me to never trust the police. I'm a perfectly ordinary law abiding person but I can count on one hand the number of decent police officers I've come into contact with. The rest of them however...

tigger1001 · 12/08/2023 20:39

No not anymore.

I think there are decent officers in the force. But the institution it's self is corrupt.

I would have real pause if I was pulled over at night as I drive on country roads which are not very busy at night. Would have doubts about letting them into my house too.

FictionalCharacter · 12/08/2023 20:49

No. I’d be very wary of them now.

BrindleAbyssinianGuinea · 12/08/2023 20:49

I had to have a medical examination performed by police when I was quite a young child. The police doctor wasn't cruel to me but she was very cold and offered no assurance. I felt so ashamed and I was 5 year a old so didn't know why I was there or what I had done. The weird thing is I remember the police examination and the immediate aftermath but nothing about what happened before . Why I was there . And for about a year afterwards I have no memories at all.

I know the police were only doing their job but I felt they let my family down. There was no support offered to my father who was basically destroyed by what happened , they treated him appallingly . Innocent before proven guilty I say. Also I hated my father for most of my life and never wanted him around , he was an angry unstable man, but I still feel outraged on his behalf at the way he was treated. They treated him like scum. And he never forgave me because I was the one who caused all this. I know that know but as a child I didn't know what I had done and why it was wrong .

Parseley · 12/08/2023 20:51

I always had a lot of respect for them. I grew up in a funny area; one side millionaires and the other gangsters and shootings, could have gone either way and got in with a bad crowd but I felt the police kept us on the straight and narrow but not by force or anything like recent events but by de escalation and wit and presence.

No I don’t trust them now and I’m sorry for any reading but it’s because they

1: lowered the entry criteria

2: like the NHS, have decided they are no longer neutral which recents events dhow is extremely dangerous.

CremeEggThief · 12/08/2023 20:54

On the whole, no.

quietnightmare · 12/08/2023 20:57

The police deal with over 6 million reported crimes a year in England and wales, there are thousands of assaults on police and over 200 police deaths a year and there's been some shocking and terrible incidents committed by the police but it really is a minute percentage of the whole force who have done anything questionable. Get some perspective

Underthelightofthefullmoon · 12/08/2023 20:59

quietnightmare · 12/08/2023 20:57

The police deal with over 6 million reported crimes a year in England and wales, there are thousands of assaults on police and over 200 police deaths a year and there's been some shocking and terrible incidents committed by the police but it really is a minute percentage of the whole force who have done anything questionable. Get some perspective

My experiences have given me perspective. That's why I don't trust them.

quietnightmare · 12/08/2023 21:00

@Underthelightofthefullmoon
Sad for you but facts are facts

StorminanDcup · 12/08/2023 21:02

100% no.

It sets my teeth on edge when my little boys say oooh mummy I’m going to be a police man when I’m big.

No son, no you will not be. (Obvs I don’t say that! I just smile and nod)

The story about the (drunk?) woman who suspects she’s was sexually assaulted in custody and requests the cctv only to have 3 HOURS in the middle missing, makes my blood run cold.

BrindleAbyssinianGuinea · 12/08/2023 21:03

quietnightmare · 12/08/2023 20:57

The police deal with over 6 million reported crimes a year in England and wales, there are thousands of assaults on police and over 200 police deaths a year and there's been some shocking and terrible incidents committed by the police but it really is a minute percentage of the whole force who have done anything questionable. Get some perspective

To be fair we do only hear about the bad. Of course that doesn't make our own experiences less traumatic and that is the thing with trauma, it wires your brain and limbic system to feel hypervigilant (or hypovigilant/dissociated) when a threat presents itself . Most police officers are good people, but it's hard to keep that in mind when you are dealing with them as a vulnerable person.

ShinyYellowTeapot · 12/08/2023 21:03

I do appreciate what people are saying about the small proportion of 'bad apples' we hear about, compared to the rest of the individuals who make up each police force, but what about the various inquiries into different forces that have found institutional levels of racism/misogyny/etc? That means it's not just a tiny percentage of bad ones, it means the whole lot is isn't fit for purpose. Or does it? I'm genuinely asking as someone who is very conflicted by this issue.

Underthelightofthefullmoon · 12/08/2023 21:04

quietnightmare · 12/08/2023 21:00

@Underthelightofthefullmoon
Sad for you but facts are facts

Don't be sad for me. No need.

Yes indeed, facts are facts. More than happy to list a few.

AutumnIsMyFriend · 12/08/2023 21:05

Yes

Iranoutofmonikers · 12/08/2023 21:05

No. There have been so many appalling revelations and I am certain they are just the tip of a huge iceberg.

isadoradancing123 · 12/08/2023 21:05

Absolutely not

Nobble · 12/08/2023 21:05

No.
The officers I have had contact with (both male) seemed very much on a power trip and full of ego.
I would definitely trust female officers more as likely less ego bit haven't really encountered any.