following today's news...to say police should not be allowed to arrest women when operating solo

[RBKB]

Just that.... what tragic and terrifying news regarding Sarah Everard's murder. I am so angry as I gather the force minimised earlier reports of sexually deviant behaviour by this appalling man.

Police should always operate in pairs anyway for both their safety and the publics, but the reason they don't is largely down to budget cuts- anything to save the £££s.

@thinkningaboutit I find your comment somewhat alarming. We CAN trust some men… totally unfair to brand all of them as untrustworthy just because of one awful case!

@x2boys

So your a, women on your own, and somebodys trying to break into your house, you ring the police and they only have a lone male officer to despatch, what are you going to do say no thanks?

I can see the you think you’ve pulled a great ‘GOTCHA’ on all those idiots not as smart as you here. What’s less clear is why you think that’s an appropriate thing to do on a thread of this nature.

You must see, though, that there’s a world of difference between requesting police attendance via a centralized number where the identify Id the officer dispatched and his/her reason for being so is known and traceable, and being picked up by police at random? Totally different situations.

In fact I’m unclear on the motivation of everyone who’s responded sarcastically, rudely or as if they simply grasp the situation more clearly than the OP. Very disappointing responses from people who are presumably much more thoughtful than they appear here today.

Posted this on another thread...another police officer who finds it difficult to understand women saying no yet apparently remains employed www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/19611948.pc-kenneth-brogans-final-warning-gross-misconduct/

In a lot of police forces officers cannot transport a prisoner single crewed. They can arrest and detain but need to wait for a van and always transport in pairs. However that’s uniformed response officers, whereas in this situation he was pretending to be an undercover officer.

@Clocktopus

Are domino's drivers also not allowed to deliver single crewed to females?

Stupid comparison really. Dominoes don't tend to carry handcuffs and are not in a position of authority where they could force a woman into their car under the pretence of arresting them. They don't even stay at the door nowadays, they put the pizza on the doorstep and then retreat to their car.

Would you like to pay the extra taxes to fund the additional police officers required to ensure double crewed patrols? If yes, crack on

It doesn't have to be double crewed patrols. If a police officer has reasons to arrest a lone women then he detains her at the scene and radios for assistance, once they arrive then they remove her to custody. I also think lone women should have the right to request waiting at the scene for a second officer if their arresting officer is a lone male.

Totally agree.

Don't let a doctor treat you, could be a Harold Shipman. Don't take your child to hospital, that nurse could be a Beverley Allitt. Don't take your child to nursery, that nursery worker could be a Vanessa George. Religious leaders, well I won't pick on a particular religion because issues in most if not all. Don't date a musician, he could be a Sid Vicious.

Honestly you can't judge a huge group of people by the actions of one. What he did was horrific but we need police officers, where will we be if men are too afraid of the backlash if they join the police.

I’d extend it to just anyone on their own - no one is really truly safe from men like this, not even other (especially young and vulnerable) men.

Also would it not protect the officers themselves to be in at least pairs at all times

@ancientgran

Don't let a doctor treat you, could be a Harold Shipman. Don't take your child to hospital, that nurse could be a Beverley Allitt. Don't take your child to nursery, that nursery worker could be a Vanessa George. Religious leaders, well I won't pick on a particular religion because issues in most if not all. Don't date a musician, he could be a Sid Vicious.

Honestly you can't judge a huge group of people by the actions of one. What he did was horrific but we need police officers, where will we be if men are too afraid of the backlash if they join the police.

What backlash? Are women now not even allowed to be afraid of police in case it hurts policemen’s feelings?

The Met have a lot to answer for here and we need not just a review and promise to do better, but tangible actions that err on the side of safeguarding rather than hurt feelings of an officer or protecting the force.

Absolutely. There needs to be an inquiry, and meaningful action to challenge an internal culture of misogyny.

My personal experience of this is having a friend who was the victim of emotional abuse, coercive control and marital rape by her husband, who was a police officer in the Met. They do seem to see themselves as untouchable, and to some extent that's true.

@Ploorfuzzle

Police should always operate in pairs anyway for both their safety and the publics, but the reason they don't is largely down to budget cuts- anything to save the £££s.

I think even if there was enough money, and that isn't likely, there is also the question of attracting enough suitable candidates. Even now they are clearly letting some rogue people in, if we had some mass recruitment I'd worry about them lowering standards to hit a quota.

It is a difficult situation, I've worked with some brilliant police officers, I've also worked with 2 who ended up in prison but that is 2 out of hundreds.

Have you seen what West Midlands Police have posted?
Women are not responsible for what men do FFS!

What backlash? Are women now not even allowed to be afraid of police in case it hurts policemen’s feelings? The backlash of seeing all male police officers as a threat. Hardly makes it an attractive career choice for a decent young man, I fear it will end up lowering standards.

@ancientgran

What backlash? Are women now not even allowed to be afraid of police in case it hurts policemen’s feelings? The backlash of seeing all male police officers as a threat. Hardly makes it an attractive career choice for a decent young man, I fear it will end up lowering standards.

So we’re supposed to pretend we don’t feel threatened?

@middleager

Have you seen what West Midlands Police have posted? Women are not responsible for what men do FFS!

I said that to my DD when she went to uni.

So it's fine to let dangerous women go free while they wait for backup? Don't be daft. If someone is going to attack a woman, they'll do it anyway. Preventing lone police arrests will not make the situation any better.

middleager wow, that's impressively tone deaf.

So we’re supposed to pretend we don’t feel threatened? No we are supposed to realise that we can't easily identify who is a risk, it isn't as easy as saying policemen are a risk or priests are a danger to kids. If you focus like that you won't see the wider picture and where danger might be coming from.

@thinkningaboutit

I think that's entirely reasonable. We can't trust men.

Well that's a ridiculous statement. All men are not responsible for this one man's actions. Most men are trustworthy. The hatred for men on here is absolutely baffling to me.

My heart broke reading the details of the trial. Can’t imagine the fear she felt when she realised something was wrong and he had tricked her. She went willingly because he was a police offer who showed her the warrant card, she complied and did not resist arrest because of course she trusted him because he was the police. Just sickening.

@Kindleswitchface

Would you like to pay the extra taxes to fund the additional police officers required to ensure double crewed patrols? If yes, crack on.

Yes I would.

I think you are right. No male officer should be able to arrest a woman alone. I’d go with that.

@ancientgran

So we’re supposed to pretend we don’t feel threatened? No we are supposed to realise that we can't easily identify who is a risk, it isn't as easy as saying policemen are a risk or priests are a danger to kids. If you focus like that you won't see the wider picture and where danger might be coming from.

The culture of the police is terrible actually. You hear stories time and time again. And time and time again they don’t change.

So yes, it’s important to focus on certain professions which should be held to much higher standards.

This sort of thing shakes my believe in a decent state - we don’t have one thanks to the Tories gouging everything out. The nhs, schools, the police, local authorities… welcome to 2021 shit Tory Britain.

@ancientgran

What backlash? Are women now not even allowed to be afraid of police in case it hurts policemen’s feelings? The backlash of seeing all male police officers as a threat. Hardly makes it an attractive career choice for a decent young man, I fear it will end up lowering standards.

NAMALT (not all men are like that) is the reason why the men who are "like that" get away with it, because female socialisation pressures women to put the wants of men over the needs of women.

The root cause of this issues is how the Met vet potential recruits, encourage reporting of inappropriate behaviour and investigate the behaviour of current officers (and where appropriate suspending them, removing their warrant cards/uniforms etc).

Worrying about "nice young men" not joining the force is a moot point and women shouldn't be collateral damage because the Met can't get its ass in gear re: safeguarding for fear of its reputation, upsetting officers or recruitment appeal.

Fix the problem rather than focus on issues that are the result of not fixing it.

Yes we need more police yes that will cost more money yes we need to be able to make the effort to create systems that allow women to be able to spot if a police officer is acting lawfully. It seems pretty simple. Police man alone attempts to stop you- not lawful don’t stop.