To be angry that the Chief Constable chose the words..

[seeker]

"gentle" and "a chatterbox" respectively to describe the two women police officers who were murdered on duty yesterday.

Can you imagine those words ever being used to describe a man?

The point is 2 police officers were lured to a house and murdered.
For those of us that have to deal with this situation, you are being disrespectful. As said the family will have approved his statement.
Is that wrong, that the family felt it was appropriate?

I am angry that two people have lost their lives.

Quite aside from that though, yes - the words used to describe these two brave professional women killed in the line of duty were pretty crass. Using 'bubbly' to describe both of them was less than impressive.

I was a mother at 23, and I certainly would have found it patronising to be referred to as a 'young girl'. Would you call a 23 year old man a 'young boy'?

Reading the Grauniad's link it also stated they were brave and courageous - but then they are also described as "girls" at 23 and 32 which struck me as odd. Very sad for their families .

You know being bothered by the language doesn't preclude caring about the tragedy too. WE can manage both.

I agree with OP, the language was terrible. "Young girls" and so on. These were hard working professional officers doing their duty, they were not young girls to be described in such ways as chatterboxes. It demeans them and it demeans the job they died doing.

"It's just icky to be talking about this not 24 hours after they've died though seeker"

No it isn't. They were professional women doing a job and should be recognised as such. Not "young girls in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I would equally upset if a 26 year old police officer who happened to be a man was described as a "bubbly young boy"

And 23 is not a young girl!

If it had been two male police officers then it is possible that they wqould have been described as "Gentle" and "talkative".

Look, I'm a feminist and I'm pretty vocal about shit like this but this is so far from being inappropriate as to be a joke.

I was actually thinking about this yesterday when I read the 'young girl' comment, because it made me angry to see these professional, brave women reduced to a state of, I dunno, childhood? Not sure i'm explaining it well. But then compare that to the descriptions of soldiers killed in service, and how at even 18 they are referred to as 'men'. To me, 18 is a boy, but there is no way the media would refer to a soldier as such.

I was taken aback to hear two professional women described as young girls. They were not young girls. They were professional woman killed in the line of duty and should be shown the respect they deserve.

I think you are gettting your knickers in a twist and splitting hairs.
I don't know if it is a Northern thing but women in their 40's and 50's are often referred to as girls as men are called lads.
It is not an insult or a derogatory term, just an expression we use.

I am 47 and use the term a lot as to do friends and colleagues and so did my MIL up to her death at the age of nearly 80!

I think it's very odd to pick up on that as it was clearly a personal statement rather then a vague sweeping statement of '2 hard work working young women - dedicated to their jobs' etc.

I'm sure the families aren't up in arms about their wife, daughter, sister etc being described as 'gentle and a 'chatterbox' - I'm sure these are just many of the characteristics they loved and will dearly miss.

If you want to be offended by everything that is your choice.

Someone gave these descriptions to the spokesman, whether family, friends or fellow officers.
It came from people that knew or loved them.
How can that be a bad thing?

I thought the comments from all involved with the police have had a very good balance of remembering their proffessionalism aswell as the fact that they were people outside of the force.

Do you know what, there are those of us who face this risk every day there are those of us who have partners that face this risk every day. I cannot see the point in arguing about words and phrases such as bubbly, chatterbox and young girl.

The person who said 'she was a chatterbox' was a colleague. To their colleagues they were not just police officers, they were friends, someone they relief on for back up when dealing with incidents.

Let the people close to them grieve in their own way, describe them in their own words. If a you say about this tragedy is criticism of the people closet to them then it's disgraceful.

Tis wasnt a colloqual term used in everyday chat. This was in the national news. I have never heard a male policeman who has been murdered described as a young lad when he was in his 20's or 30's. Instead more professional respectful words are used. And the same should have happened here.

Yes, we are offended by everything Puppies, satin and teabags, we can't move for taking offence.

OR, we are sensible adult women discussing things that matter to us an respectful manner.

We aren't their families, and we can have opinions on this and anything else we like, thanks all the same.

I think it was perfectly reasonable to underline the fact that these were not just a couple of machines to be written off but two young people bleeding to death on the ground.

The words used to call them by in the aftermath of the appalling crime are not important.

I agree with you seeker. It's a poor choice of words. The expressions may have come from the family though. There will be so many other words to describe these officers.

This wasn't a personal statement from family or close colleagues- it was what the Chief Constable said.

I am amazed that people don't seem to think these professional women deserve respect.

Yes, it grated on me too

Do people not listen when the tributes to soliders are read out? They are often called 'young lads' or 'boys'.

Christ, it really is coming to something when families, friends and colleagues can't talk from the heart when a loved one is killed, just incase they offend someone!

Well tbh if it was me they were talking about I would have looked down happy on the sentiments given.

If my son was described in those terms I would be happy and proud.
Like others have said it was a balance of talking about the situation they were in and the person they were.
Now more importantly - why does the law allow headcases who are up on a serious double murder rap out on bail? Let's get angry over shit like that.

I don't think anyone is saying anything of the sort.

ah, I know where you are coming from ...

But, gentle could be used to describe a man, and chatterbox I see as a term of endearment.

Quite possibly that is how the family would have described them.

Oh it is so sad and my heart goes out to their families.

I think it was to help remember them as the people they were, not just police officers ... Although they deserve the complete respect for their profession and the fact they were killed in the line of duty, and this to me goes without saying.

They were someones daughter, fiance, friend, they are not just defined by their job