To think my police complaint wasn't kept confidential?

[sowsomeseeds]

Name changed as v v outing.
A few months back I made a complaint against a Police Officer
PC was a friend of mine
They were making comments which made fun of people with disabilities on social media and I couldn’t do with the drama of confronting them directly.
Basically just jokes and memes etc on their social media.
Rightly or wrongly I filled in an online crime report form anonymously, with dates things had happened, which social media platforms etc.
I didn’t think they should be in a position of authority if they were happy to belittle the most vulnerable members of society.
Within 3 weeks the PC and 3 of their closest friends (who were mutual friends) have all deleted and blocked me on social media and refuse to talk to me.
Do you think that my details were given from the complaint (IP address maybe?) or could they tell it was me from my mobile phone.
I 100% made the complaint anonymously.
Have they just guessed or presumed it was me?
I’m worried that my details have been given even though I reported it anonymously and asked to stay anonymous and it is going to cause repercussions for me.

Anonymous complaints are cowardly

You were sneaky

I have never told a single person I don’t agree with what they are posting.
I just unfollowed them so I couldn’t see what they were posting.

What did you expect op

and then you put in a complaint!

I don't think you deserve anonymity. Making fun of people is not a crime. You have abused a process to tackle crime to try to get someone in trouble with their employer. If you want to grass someone up to their employers, own it.

But I don't think they found out. If you report something anonymously, they probably don't keep data on you. They are very careful with protecting informants because it could have serious consequences for people reporting actual crime.

There is no way their processes are so weak that any PC, without a business need, can access the details of people making anonymous reports. That would put people reporting serious organised crime at risk.

If you made an anonymous report they will not know if is from you. They will not be able to trace the IP address in this situation.

Police officers are regularly reminded of the social media policy and standards of professional behaviour. If they get reported it is not the fault of the reporter that they get in trouble. It is the fault of the person who thinks it is acceptable to put things like that on social media. Most police forces will have a mission that they will protect the vulnerable. Taking the piss out of the vulnerable is not acceptable and I don’t see how someone can deal with a vulnerable victim of crime if they don’t believe in those values. Yes they might follow procedure and do what is required but it is clear to people when someone isn’t really interested in what they are reporting and will reinforce views that the police don’t take these things seriously. The police do take hate crime etc seriously but unfortunately as in all professions and walks of life there are some unpleasant people who hold horrible and disturbing views.

I’m really not interested in the people that think I was sneaky or a snake or a grass.
I stand by my point that they shouldn’t be working with vulnerable people with that mindset.
By confronting them about it it would have caused a whole world of drama for my family, my friends, my kids who go to school with their kids. And what if they hadn’t listened and they carried on posting things, or stopped posting but still had those vile opinions?
Surely it’s better that it’s monitored closely.
I purely want to know whether they know that it was me.

Well you have made your point, walk away, have nothing to do with them

winebottle in my force we take hate incidents seriously. It doesn’t have to be a ‘crime’ and I certainly don’t want to work with people that think making fun of people who are vulnerable is funny.

I don’t think your details have been passed on. Having disdain for someone and their beliefs is extremely obvious, even when you don’t think it is, so they’ll have been able to deduct it was you from your behaviour around them in the past (even though you’ll swear it wasn’t different, it will have been, even if only subtly, and people are good at picking up on those cues).

I agree with pp that if you’ll go so far has to have a huge impact on someone’s career, you should be brave enough to not do it anonymously.

And “making fun of people” is most definitely a crime.
It’s a hate crime.

To be honest if you liked this person and valued the group friendship the best thing to do would be to call them out, or speak to another friend about your concerns.
Having recently had info shared from the police with myself and also reported a police officer for tracing information and sharing it with someone they shouldn’t have I would not put it past them to have traced the address or area it came from and identified you. I actually wouldn’t trust them at all. If this police officer was a bit of a bastard on Facebook there’s nothing to support him being a conscientious worker...

Can’t you just ask the mutual friends why you have been blocked without revealing any information about previously making an anonymous report? Maybe the PC friend just suspected that it was you that made the report and has told the mutual friends about his suspicion. Maybe the friends are waiting to see if you now mention about being blocked to gauge how you’ll react.

You don’t have to admit to doing anything but perhaps you’ll get a clearer idea of what their reasons to block you were.

Is this not something that you can discuss with your husband now -does he not also think the derogatory comments made by the police friend in appropriate too? You could mention that you’ve been blocked by mutual friends and say that you don’t know why.

Oh fuck of with the sneaky bullshit! PC is a knobhead. Clearly they have mates who agree with them. The anonymous reporting function is there for a reason. OP used it correctly.

They don’t sound very nice people, but nor do you, OP. Why couldn’t you have the courage of your convictions and speak to them about it, rather than go to the immediate, nuclear option of reporting it as a crime ?

These are the standards of professional behaviour from the college of policing that ALL police officers should abide by.

It’s akin to saying snitches get stitches. Hate that crap. Grow up.

"And what if they hadn’t listened and they carried on posting things, or stopped posting but still had those vile opinions?" What? Do you think they no longer hold those opinions because you shopped them? You can't control how people think.

Someone tried causing me trouble at work reporting something to HR that a colleague had tagged me in, it was nothing that could have been viewed as inappropriate and the person who reported us doesn't work at the same location, there's about 50 people I have on my FB through work and I just guessed it was her, I got on with her and never had crossed words but I just guessed and it turned out I was right. They may well had just guessed

Well, no, I believe they still have these opinions and 100% shouldn’t be working with vulnerable people.
But perhaps now it will be more closely monitored whilst they are at work.
I don’t know if they were reprimanded, but they definitely haven’t been suspended or sacked, they are still in their uniform in the school playground on a weekly basis.
So I’ve not got them sacked. Hopefully just monitored re their vile behaviour.

He’s been informed that someone has reported his online social media accounts, and he’s got together with his pals and reached the correct conclusion that you are the likely candidate. Perhaps they’ve often considered you to be stuck up/right on and the kind of person who would make a complaint. (I’m not saying I think you are those things, but in the eyes of a man making disablist jokes you may well be viewed in that light.)

Your IP would not have been given, if it had they'd have no way to legally find out which house it was from, and they would not have traced the complaint back to your phone.

I suspect you've either done something to identify yourself, told someone about it and had it get back to them, or you've been part of a mass cull.

Goodness me of course making fun of people isn’t a crime. I don’t think you understand what a hate crime is.

OP I’m going to be honest and say I feel like you have completely unrealistic ideas of police officers. Of course they should keep their unsavoury views off social media but of course they have them, just like the general public do. So saying you needed to report them because they shouldn’t deal with vulnerable people is a bit bizarre.

You report them because they’ve been unprofessional- that’s about it really.

The people calling the OP a “snitch” need to grow the fuck up. If you act like a vile cunt, you deserve to get called out on it. People not wanting to be a “grass” is the reason some people get away with such vile behaviour for such a long time.

“Snitching”....Jesus fucking Christ, you all belong in year 8.