to find the idea of a Police Commissioner complaining that protestors go 'floppy' when arrested quite amusing

[chomalungma]

www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/16/extinction-rebellion-go-floppy-when-arrested-complains-senior-met-officer

Whether or not you agree with the protests, it's quite amusing to hear a senior officer complain that the protestors aren't coming along quietly when arrested and instead 'going floppy' which means more police are needed to take them away.

"House told a London assembly police and crime committee hearing: “We have asked them to stop being floppy. And that might seem like a silly thing to say, but when we arrest them and pick them up, they go all floppy, which is why you see four or five officers carrying them away. It’s a complete waste of officers’ time, and a complete pain in the neck.”
Extinction Rebellion: how successful were the latest protests?
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House also expressed annoyance at how the tactic made the police look heavy-handed. He said: “The problem with them going floppy and four offices carrying them away [is that it] looks to the general public like police are overreacting here. We’re not making them go floppy. They’re just sort of being a nuisance.”

What does he think is the point of a protest?
To make a point
To take up police time
To make the State look bad and heavy handed.
It's peaceful.

Maybe he thinks that protestors should just say "It's a fair cop" and come quietly.

@WetdreamBeliever

He's not the first person to complain about someone going floppy instead of coming quietly.

Lololol!

Yes the Thin Blue Line was very funny and quite apt here

It's not a new technique anyway, my mum took me to Greenham Common and other protests when I was younger and this was what people did when they were arrested there

It's even older than that. It's what I was told to do if I got arrested when I went to my first demonstration, against the war in Vietnam, in 1969 or thereabouts.

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

Am now imagining a protest run by toddlers.

Running enthusiastically towards the policeman shouting NEE NAW

Removing their own underwear and remarking conversationally "I got willy"

Sobbing in a crumpled heap on the floor in front of a police wagon because they weren't allowed to drive it

Hiding from the police by standing stock still and covering their own eyes, adamant that this means no one can see them

Attempting bravado by shouting "I like be arrested! I not want go home! I stay in jail! I like it!"

I would pay damn good money to see this .

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

Am now imagining a protest run by toddlers.

Running enthusiastically towards the policeman shouting NEE NAW

Removing their own underwear and remarking conversationally "I got willy"

Sobbing in a crumpled heap on the floor in front of a police wagon because they weren't allowed to drive it

Hiding from the police by standing stock still and covering their own eyes, adamant that this means no one can see them

Attempting bravado by shouting "I like be arrested! I not want go home! I stay in jail! I like it!"

Omg,I really want to see this 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I have lurked for 8 years reading Mumsnet and never once posted. But I had to in order to salute Wetdreambeliver - a comment that makes me wish I was in a pub hearing that line delivered.

Leaving now and see you in 8 years!

If you, err, go stiff, you may be accused of resisting arrest. Floppiness puts you in a safer legal position.

“We have asked them to stop being floppy”

Bless ‘em

This thread has made me happy

So next time I run the risk of arrest I can just start shouting I'm going floppy now, I AM GOING FLOPPY, and I want the policemen who eat the Haribos to come here NOW.

Excellent.

So the commissioner wants the protesters to make it easier to arrest them, and he’s annoyed that they passively resist? I wonder if he came across many cooperative crims in his days on the beat?

This is the best thread :)

It's made me laugh. Refreshing change to hear someone having an exasperated rant like that.

What would be the legal issues around wrapping them tightly in some kind of blanket and transporting them in a wheelbarrow to the nearest police van?

If they were particularly slim vegan types you might fit a couple in one trip?

I've got a vague memory that's what they do in Japan with people who are drunk/disorderly. They wrap them up in a futon and take them off to the cells to sober up.

I read it earlier and couldn't stop laughing. I'm pretty sure the Guardian journalist couldn't believe their luck and used every single quote that featured the word 'floppy'.

I think the police commissioner will probably never live this down, I can just imagine the nicknames.

Oh gosh, the stiff starfish Loosening the straps to their fullest extent to fit around stiff-as-a-board toddler. Waiting for them to take breath between outraged wails so I could cinch the strap another fraction tighter. Whispering obscenities under my breath between trying to pacify the little darling... I have sympathy with the police chap!

@WetdreamBeliever

He's not the first person to complain about someone going floppy instead of coming quietly.

That's a great line!

If my DS did the 'stiff starfish' now, all six feet three of him in full Leonardo da Vinci man outstretched mode, the police would really struggle getting him the back of the van.

As you say, @SeasonallySnowyPeasant, the trick is waiting for them to breathe.

Or offer them a 99. Maybe the Met need to run their own ice cream van.

I wonder if he was trying to show up that they aren't really being as heavy handed as it appears.
If he cares to ask the general public how they wanted XR handled, I suspect that "heavy-handed" might well have quite a bit of support. We all saw the video of what happened when a couple of them climbed onto an Underground train...

Such a funny thread! They could have used dd1 at 4 years old as a floppy and stiff trainer! Now just dreading dd2 getting to that stage.😖

@LakieLady I thought it probably predated Greenham.