..to think society thinks assault on police is acceptable?

[Felix125]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10341407/Police-officers-attacked-80-times-day-2021-new-figures-reveal.html#comments

I know its the Daily Mail - but the comments at the bottom are unreal?

Doh, experience of the police...

@SheikhMaraca @VladmirsPoutine @JohnSmithDrive

🤦🏾‍♀️

It's unacceptable to assault anyone, whether a police offer or other emergency worker or no.

But equally there need to be stiffer consequences for police officers (and others as applicable) when they behave in a way that is criminal or unacceptable. The officer who killed Ian Tomlinson in 2009 basically got away with it. The police have been involved in many miscarriages of justice and have not been properly censured for it. In the US, it's even worse. Until the police are held properly to account, things will not get better.

It's good that people are finally starting to see the truth about policing through some very devastating and unfortunate incidents as of late. But some of us grew up knowing that we should not speak to or engage with the police at all. We knew they aren't our friends and given even a minuscule chance they would gleefully ruin our lives.

@Broads93

The police think its acceptable to assault us, especially women! We literally can't trust anyone let alone coppers, look at what's happened in the UK this year alone. They made their career choice, that's their problem.

That's it - lump all rogue police officers together! I did 20yrs in The Met. Dealt with all sorts of shitty incidents. I did not join & expect to be assaulted! Let's hope you don't need assistance from the police in the future.. 🙄

Generally in America the perception seems to be if officers kill a suspect they are automatically in the wrong.

In the Daunte Right case, that perception is spot on.

Let's hope you don't need assistance from the police in the future.. 🙄

To be fair unless you are rich, famous, or white middle class the police aren't there for assistance.

@Bucanarab

Let's hope you don't need assistance from the police in the future.. 🙄

To be fair unless you are rich, famous, or white middle class the police aren't there for assistance.

This.

The penalties for assaulting a police officer should be no more or less than for any other member of society. Decent people do not think it's acceptable to assault the police. However, I don't think the consequences should be any greater for assaulting a police officer than anyone else.

@Bucanarab

Let's hope you don't need assistance from the police in the future.. 🙄

To be fair unless you are rich, famous, or white middle class the police aren't there for assistance.

This is exactly it. In my middle class world the rare occasions I've had dealing with the police have been polite, professional and cordial, although not always as prompt as I would have liked.

In the world my clients live in the police are far more likely to do them harm than to help them. They wouldn't dream of asking the police help no matter how desperate they were.

So to snarkily say "Let's hope you never need police assistance" just proves their position.

That's it - lump all rogue police officers together! I did 20yrs in The Met. Dealt with all sorts of shitty incidents. I did not join & expect to be assaulted! Let's hope you don't need assistance from the police in the future

This comment absolutely sums up the issue for me, and displays the massive blind spot the police seem to have.

Police like to talk about a lone ‘bad apple’, but even a single bad apple in the barrel spoils the all the others, that’s the meaning of the idiom.

We know that the police as a whole contains individuals like Wayne Couzens, or the two that have recently been imprisoned for sharing photographs of the murdered sisters, but we have no way of ascertaining at first glance whether the officer standing in front of is one of those or not.

Therefore, the only logical option for the public is to assume the worst of each officer.

Poor Sarah Evarard gave the police the benefit of the doubt, and look where it got her.

Never again.

Society seems to think being abused and assaulted is part of the job for those that work with the public unfortunately. Thousands of shop workers, hospitality workers, nurses, railway staff, bus drivers, ect are assaulted and or abused every single day in the UK

@Broads93

The police think its acceptable to assault us, especially women! We literally can't trust anyone let alone coppers, look at what's happened in the UK this year alone. They made their career choice, that's their problem.

What about female police officers? What category do they fall into it?

Yes you make a career choice to be a police officer knowing that it comes with an element of risk that you might be assaulted but it should NEVER be accepted or ignored.

I have been punched in the throat (by a male), spat in the face (by a female), headbutted (by a female), kicked multiple times (by males and females), among many other assaults in my career. Some have been during an arrest, some have been when I've been assisting a victim and the victim has turned on me. Some of these incidents have landed me in hospital.

Does that make it okay because of my career choice?

I also find the very negative attitudes to the police very upsetting. I have spent 15 years dedicating my life to public service and trying to help people but sometimes when I read comments similar to what's being said on this thread about how the police can't be trusted, abuse their power, are corrupt, do nothing about crime etc etc it makes me wonder what is the point?

These threads always go this way - hating the police - it's a bit like all social workers should be strung up because a baby has died at the hands of sadistic parents.

@YourenutsmiLord

These threads always go this way - hating the police - it's a bit like all social workers should be strung up because a baby has died at the hands of sadistic parents.

It’s not at all the same thing.

…but you know that.

Perhaps, just perhaps the reason these threads always go this way is because of the conduct of the Police themselves?

The police in this country (along with the courts) are seen as a soft touch now.

40 years ago it was different

I don't think anybody deserves to be assaulted, but I struggle to empathise when police officers turn a blind eye to the behaviour of their colleagues.

I can go with the analogy of social workers. Some police are crap so all are, some children fall through the cracks so social workers are to blame. I think we have the services we ask for, so much paperwork and in the end its a waste of time. Seeing the results of many of the prosecutions I wonder why the police bother.

It's nothing remotely like social workers. It would be if social workers started from the premise that they want to actively harm the children that have been assigned to them. It would be similar if social workers actively took joy in seeing the kids on their watch being abused. It's not remotely similar.

@Bucanarab

Let's hope you don't need assistance from the police in the future.. 🙄

To be fair unless you are rich, famous, or white middle class the police aren't there for assistance.

I spent most of my time in the 'rougher' parts of the neighbouring, dealing with neighbour disputes over parking, kids playing in the street, name calling on social media, someone hasn't repaid ten quid & they want them arrested for theft.. the list is endless!

@CorrBlimeyGG

I don't think anybody deserves to be assaulted, but I struggle to empathise when police officers turn a blind eye to the behaviour of their colleagues.

Police officers don't turn a blind eye. Who do you think arrested, investigated & charged Wayne Couzens? The army? Yeah, supervisors massively fucked up by not taking his warrant card off him when he was suspended. But he was being investigated for other incidents when he killed Sarah Everard. As a female officer, I personally want to see him hang. He & other male officers have royally screwed up. Now the rest us are tarred with the same brush.

The good law abiding officers are mortified at these tongue officers being arrested left right & centre for sex offences. We're questioning how they got through vetting.
But don't forget, we shouldn't all be tarred with the same brush.
There's a female teacher who's been jailed for sexual offences against a 13yr old. Are all teachers untrustworthy pedophiles? Absolutely not. Are you going to stop sending your kids to school? Most likely not. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@LemonViolet

The penalties for assaulting a police officer are less than for standard assault, it’s a separate offence. So actually yes society does literally deem assaulting a police officer as a lesser offence (so more acceptable, or at least less unacceptable?) than assaulting anyone else.

No they aren't.

Longer sentences for the assault of emergency workers was brought in a couple years back. Stop spreading misinformation.

And OP - the Daily Mail comments section is not representative of the public as a whole. No most people do not think it's acceptable to assault the police, overall the public is supportive and trusting of them - a little too trusting, in fact.

Considering what they get away with (“mistaking” a gun for a taser 🙄 Yeah how dare they be treated as wrong for murdering people ffs), considering how quick the “good ones” are to defend or remain silent about the bad ones, and considering you 1. actually get punished for hurting the police unlike the other way around and 2. punishments for hurting them are worse than if you hurt someone else, because they expect to be treated like gods, I don’t feel sorry for them.

And no. I wouldn’t call them if I was a victim of a crime. They’d probably show up and shoot me.

Police do turn a blind eye to their colleagues though. Whenever a video surfaces where a police officer has been less than professional there always others there who did nothing to stop it. Even knowing they're being filmed doesn't stop them.