The wording of this really pissed me off. Police letter regarding flasher

[BlackMirror]

It just seems to make it into a bit of a joke and really annoyed me. He could go on to rape, who knows? Aibu

YANBU at all. And I suspect anyone who has been on the receiving end of this kind of behaviour would not find it amusing either. It's appalling

It just goes to show how police really think about sex crimes. Or crimes against women. I suppose this thread is hysterical.

It's pathetic. It looks like a challenge to write about masturbation without actually using the word.
Why not just state the facts in a professional manner.

Seriously, aren't there studies showing that 'flashers' tend to escalate

To me this is evidence that yet again sexual offences are not being taken seriously.

I will say in defence of the police this seems to be a region by region issue, our local police are great, take any sexual offences very seriously.

"It's pathetic. It looks like a challenge to write about masturbation without actually using the word.
Why not just state the facts in a professional manner."

Because then no one would react to the post, and the Facebook page becomes useless.

Not saying it's right, but it is what it is.

For a FB page to work people have to like, comment on and share the posts. If they don't Facebook algorithms will make sure no one ever sees future posts

Lure them in by joking about sexual offences. Nice tactic there.

No need to beat around the bush.

Quite literally it seems.

I agree OP, it's a sexual offence, it should be reported factually to warn the public, not made into some kind of joke.

Jeez that is not standard at all!! All it needed to say was that it's being taken seriously and extra attention will be paid to that area. Whether anything comes of it is a different matter. An offence of indecent exposure has been committed and does fit a particular profile.

Have they taken it down? I've just been on their page to comment my disapproval and there's nothing there about it?

Absolutely disgusted by this attitude. This happened to my DSis when she was only 13 and it messed her up for years. It's not a joke.

YABU - they have said to call 999 if anyone spots him again, which sounds as if they are taking it v. seriously without causing unnecessary alarm.

Don't believe that's genuine for one second.

You should correct it and send it back. Via the chief.

This article was written by a police officer. I have posted a few paras:-

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/from-eighteen-years-as-a-police-officer-i-know-indecent-exposure-isnt-taken-seriously-9624093.html

I’d be the first to admit that the police haven’t always taken this offence as seriously as they might. In the ‘bad old days’ of New Labour’s target culture I’ve known flashers receive an on the spot fine - a questionable practice I used to think of as Pay and Display Looking back it’s hard to believe that that could have ever been the correct way to officially deal with a sexual crime.

But do all flashers intend to shock? Jane Warding-Smith, an experienced psychosexual consultant who specialises in sex addiction, told me that that’s not necessarily the case. “The most common client group I deal with are the guys that strip off and perhaps go for a drive in the car. These people don’t necessarily even need to be seen’ she explained ‘It’s the risk of being ‘caught out’ that gives them the thrill they’re seeking.” She went on ‘”The flasher who masturbates in front of people is primarily seeking their sexual gratification from shocking people”.

In America they have a clinic to treat this ‘disorder’. One of their methods is for women to be employed to completely ignore a man whilst he sits masturbating. A rather radical take on Supernanny’s ‘Naughty Seat’ perhaps; but if effective in cutting the rate of reoffending, then potentially worth consideration.

We all need to change our attitude towards indecent exposure. This is not a cheeky chappie having a bit of fun. We need to lose this ‘harmless seaside postcard’ image of a flasher that sadly all too often still seems to prevail. We’re talking about people that may go on to commit serious sexual offences.

No need to go round the houses with the flowery language like they did, which just made it all into a bit of an unprofessional joke.

They could have simply said that there had been reports of a man committing a sex act* and/or indecent exposure in the park and for anyone who had seen similar or knew anything to contact the Police.

• This is the wording our local Police etc use to describe what I assume is masturbation etc

I've just looked on FB and done a Google search and can't find anything from the Met Police on Forty Hill Park. Not sure if I'm missing it, if it's been taken down or it wasn't there in the first place and was a fake.

If getting this post shared as much as possible is the strategy, Dothehokeykokey, then it's a shitty trade-off: the price of a wider awareness of this one guy's behaviour shouldn't be that the crime itself is trivialised. Even more so when this type of offense has a history of being dismissed/minimized.

It's definitely difficult to imagine this strategy being used to raise awareness of other types of offense.

'It has been brought to our attention that a local gentleman, having partaken of one too many ales, decided to pootle home in his motor vehicle on Friday night and clipped the pedestrian barrier near Main Street. We're sure he meant no harm to any particular individual, and we hope he'll partake of his end-of-week festivities in a more responsible fashion in future. If you do see him behind the wheel, give us a call.'

Well they don't know the difference between 'wonder' (sense of amazement) and 'wander' (to walk about) for a start...

I'm more offended by the spelling and grammar than by the content
Ditto. But I get what the OP means - it does seem to be taking a slightly too light-hearted tone. There are ways of putting it without it being a joke or a potential rapist. But then police forces seem to be adopting this whole jokey banter routine a lot online.

It is genuine but was posted in a closed group so you can't search for it.

Glad majority thinks it's minimising. Really irked me.

Hey neighbour JonSnow

Agreed snuggle. Wanking in public is a sexually aggressive act. It's intimidating and sends the message that someone is asserting sexual power whether you like it or not.

YANBU at all.

YANBU, the tone is dreadful and 'ardour' is inappropriate.

yanbu.

BlackMirror have you complained about it? I hope they do receive plenty of complaints and take it down.

It is genuine but was posted in a closed group so you can't search for it.

Yeah right. Why would they post a warning like this only in a closed group.

I agree britbat23 this looks like one of those fake posts which gets spread around facebook for likes and shares.