There are so few police!

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Just watched some videos of the riots on at the moment - really struck by how there is literally just a thin line of police against a mass mob of adrenaline fuelled men looking for aggro.

It must be terrifying for them!

Just want to give a big up to the police women and men at this time trying to hold that line.

My sister is riot trained and has been dealing with these idiots. She's being posted off all over the place and working alongside forces from all over the country as well. It's scary stuff, but they're also arresting so many of them.

Police are legends - they have to hold the line whilst the politicians push their pens and their words .

There was height restrictions decades ago. They were abolished in the 90s. So you are correct that they seemed taller. Some forces had a minimum of 6ft, some 5’8

You still can't taser people in a crowd , regardless of their behaviour. It's too dangerous both for the subject themselves , and for the officers who then have to remove an inert person from a highly volatile situation . We still have a duty of care to the person taserec and added to that , they will probably also be detained . Which means getting them transported out of the situation, bringing further resources into danger , and then taking the officer who has arrested them off the street to deal with the prisoner and write up their notes , and do the case file etc because PACE states that all persons arrested must be dealt with expeditiously ( and there's a clock running ) so you can't just arrest , and go back to the streets .

@SquashPenguin is she OK or is she concerned.

For the first time in a very long time I saw a police car driving around my road today.

They are so thin on the ground how can they cope?

It's all been teachers /doctors and so on in the media but not enough praise for our police.

I think a lot of them are exhausted. The riot trained ones will get called up at last minute, potentially going anywhere and there's obviously no clocking off time! Then it's rinse and repeat the next day. It's terrifying but I think the adrenaline gets them through. From what I've heard so far the police dogs and horses are doing some great take downs and charges, lots of pathetic individuals screaming because the nice doggy has ruined their best tracksuit 😄.

What is clear from the Bristol riot a few years ago is anyone who took part in that still isn't off the hook- people are being arrested for that even now. So these idiots bums will be twitching at every knock on the door for a while yet!

Ask yourself if you would do it.

I definitely would not want to be put in that much danger.

I think that might explain why there are so few police officers.

I've seen images of the riots in Birmingham today and people were getting beaten up and cars attacked with not a single police officer in sight.

What annoyed me about Rotherham was the yobs breaking into the hotel or walking down a residential street and smashing people's windows with the police just kind of monitoring them. The police were there but powerless. On the night when the yobs were gathering in Westminster the police presence was huge and interventionist. It worked in suppressing a riot. I just wish ordinary people and their homes were seen as much worth protecting as politicians.

I really hate the argument that using the army would look like a loss of control. So what? People are getting their heads kicked in, their homes trashed and their local businesses and services burnt down and politicians are still worried about protecting their own reputations? I also don't buy the idea that the army aren't trained for this. I'm pretty sure our soldiers could quell a few oiks on the streets of Plymouth without instigating a massacre.

In my home country there would be pepper spray and water cannons and an army of police that would disperse these idiots in an hour. I feel so sad for the officers, how outnumbered they are and how unsafe it is for normal locals. 14 years of cuts and daylight robbery from our national services is the reason why they were outnumbered and crime rates high.

there will be even less on the streets now to deal with all the other issues going on because numbers have been taken to man the riots and protests.

And yet last year they could spare five police officers to go to Darren Brady's house and arrest him for misgendering someone on Facebook

I for one am very grateful for all those police officers and those who have family members in the police and support them . I can see it is a thankless job and I note as others have said their leave has been cancelled as they have to deal with the rioters .

Like other professions / occupations , yes there will be some there who joined with not the best intentions and may be racist / misogynistic etc . But the vast majority are in it for the best of reasons .

I think we owe our deepest respect to the police , and other emergency service whose role is to run to danger rather than away from it . This was clearly seen at Stockport and also with the brave members of the public that did the same .

It was so so sad in Stockport and the awful incident faced by the families and the community . It was then awful to see the very same police officers being attacked by rioters .It is appalling to see those inciting the rioting and as others have said even bringing their children along and then the same in other cities , towns across the UK .

There is a real level of hate being shown towards the police and to the non white members of communities many of whom have lived here for generations .It is sad to read on other posts about people being frightened to go about their daily lives and have to think twice about holidays and other plans .

I hope that things settle down soon . However I think that it has sadly shown our society is a divided one and I don't think there is a short fix answer to this .

There is so much good out there and it is great to see local communities coming together to do positive things .

I would like to give a very un mumsnetty hug to all those affected .

Before these riots there have been so many threads over the last few yrs slagging off the police. Yes there are issues but I am grateful people do the job, it’s not something I would want to do.

I've seen images of the riots in Birmingham today and people were getting beaten up and cars attacked with not a single police officer in sight.

What I’ve read about Birmingham is incredibly concerning. The last thing we need

On police in op they are bearing the brunt of very poor decisions and fortunately for us they still keep turning up, for most of it anyway.

The pressure must be immense, it’s easy to say some strong words far less so to be in danger holding the line

Same with the PM just because they are not filmed or not seen in person does not mean they are not there or working

What is this constant 'I can't see it so it is not happening'

People must surley realise things happen away from cameras?

Although these what simple things the public can't seem to grasp is no surprises really

From DH who is level 2, Officers, whether taser carriers or not, do not carry on a level 2 deployment as it is too dangerous in a dynamic crowd situation.
thank fuck he no longer works for the police and has not had to go to this.

All I could think watching them stand for hours was how heavy those bloody shields are!

Mumsnet is usually very anti-Police so it's nice to see some support for a change.

Though that typically happens when the shit hits the fan.

I know they’ve got rid of this because of discrimination but honestly it should be brought back. Front line policing is or can be a very physical job. Being tall is an asset.

I agree there are not enough of them. I do hope their command is not shy about getting back up from other areas. Rotherham did not look very well resourced in particular.

Because the thugs were looking for a reason to start a full on battle, and tasering ‘one of their own’ would have given them exactly the excuse they were looking for.

This is a good point because these are local police and in part they will be policing their own communities (yes there are an extreme right faction who travel too). Absolutely putting the boot in will have long term consequences. When you are policing your neighbour then there is the bigger issue. The local police will not want a Starmer task force or similar. They will be thinking about what happens after this is over and they have to manage the streets.

Lots of pressure on local commanders.

@Userbongbongbong

You do realise that it’s individuals online? All with different opinions? That those emaulporting the police are not necessarily those slagging them elsewhere?

And if you are bothered by lack of understanding and support of the role of the police, slagging those you are supporting the police as ‘hand wringers’ seems an odd tactic.

Why does anyone want to be a copper these days? Thankless task

Agreed. It cant be underestimated the amount of cuts the amount made to public services