Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

ED/A&E number of police officers

50 replies

timestheyarechanging · 10/06/2022 14:35

I've been in ED for about four hours (it's chaos but I expected that and expect to be here another few hours yet) and for the past TWO hours there have been FOUR police officers here with one woman who is obviously intoxicated drink/drugs and quietly upset but not at all aggressive or abusive.
Surely it doesn't take this many male PO to supervise one non threatening woman for several hours. I'm thinking there would be better places for two of them to be?!
They're mostly on their mobile phones, not radios! She's not even in cuffs.

OP posts:
comealongponds · 10/06/2022 14:38

I would assume they know why there’s 4 of them and are in a much better position to judge whether that’s appropriate than a random person in the waiting room is.

frydae · 10/06/2022 14:38

Given that you have no idea of her history I would suggest you don't try to decide her supervision and care needs.

OrangeBagel · 10/06/2022 14:38

Sounds like overkill but to be fair, none of us know the background.

Coughee · 10/06/2022 14:38

I assume there's more than meets the eye there. Perhaps she HAS been aggressive either prior to arriving or in the past at A&E.

ReachersAbs · 10/06/2022 14:38

comealongponds · 10/06/2022 14:38

I would assume they know why there’s 4 of them and are in a much better position to judge whether that’s appropriate than a random person in the waiting room is.

This pretty much sums it up

Thefailinghousewife · 10/06/2022 14:39

You also don’t know what they are supervising her from. Plus if they are double crewed they will only have one car between them, which makes it harder to just leave.

VainAbigail · 10/06/2022 14:40

Do you know her backstory op?

megletthesecond · 10/06/2022 14:40

She's probably not aggressive precisely because there are four officers with her. She may be there for her own wellbeing or have assaulted someone. Or she might have a lunatic ex who is after her.

Palavah · 10/06/2022 14:47

They could be there for her protection

MiseryWIthAStent · 10/06/2022 15:04

I would be more inclined to think that they're there for her safety tbh.

Coldilox · 10/06/2022 15:11

No police officer wants to spend their shift in A&E. They are there for a reason. If some could be released to serve demand instead of being stuck there, they would be, we generally don’t have a load of officers spare.

Georgeskitchen · 10/06/2022 15:24

An elderly neighbour of my niece was found sadly passed away at home by her carer. The street was like riot scene. One first responder car, TWO ambulances and 5 police cars. They were all there for at least 30 minutes. It later transpired that she had passed away peacefully during the night and had been deceased for many hours.
What she needed was a doctor to confirm death and an undertakers van . So maybe when you find yourself having to wait a long time for police assistance or an ambulance in an emergency, perhaps this could be one of the reasons

Cameleongirl · 10/06/2022 15:31

I had to take my Dad to A & E in April and witnessed something similar. Someone had been assaulted and two officers were with her the whole time (she was under the influence too). Then two more officers arrived with someone else under the influence.

I felt sorry for them stuck there and having four officers off the streets for probably meant that the entire area was short-staffed while they were stuck waiting. I expect it put extra pressure on their colleagues dealing with other incidents. Not sure what the solution is though.

Lastqueenofscotland2 · 10/06/2022 15:33

I know someone who had three officers with them in A&E after they were assaulted. It was for their safety while other police were looking to arrest the person who assaulted them

TabithaTittlemouse · 10/06/2022 15:34

Concentrate on yourself.

Hope you feel better soon and that you make a speedy recovery from your judgmentitus. Terribly unfortunate.

TabithaTittlemouse · 10/06/2022 15:36

Cameleongirl · 10/06/2022 15:31

I had to take my Dad to A & E in April and witnessed something similar. Someone had been assaulted and two officers were with her the whole time (she was under the influence too). Then two more officers arrived with someone else under the influence.

I felt sorry for them stuck there and having four officers off the streets for probably meant that the entire area was short-staffed while they were stuck waiting. I expect it put extra pressure on their colleagues dealing with other incidents. Not sure what the solution is though.

The solution is simple. Do not judge unless you have walked in their shoes.

WildFlowerBees · 10/06/2022 15:36

Are you there to get treated for being a judgemental busybody? Have you any idea what our police actually do? No police officer wants to be stuck in A&E believe me.

frydae · 10/06/2022 15:38

An elderly neighbour of my niece was found sadly passed away at home by her carer. The street was like riot scene. One first responder car, TWO ambulances and 5 police cars. They were all there for at least 30 minutes. It later transpired that she had passed away peacefully during the night and had been deceased for many hours.
What she needed was a doctor to confirm death and an undertakers van . So maybe when you find yourself having to wait a long time for police assistance or an ambulance in an emergency, perhaps this could be one of the reasons

The part where it later transpired is most relevant to your post.

Cameleongirl · 10/06/2022 15:40

@TabithaTittlemouse i don’t understand what you mean. Are you saying that I shouldn’t have felt sorry for the four officers stuck in A&E for hours? That’s what I was saying.

DWofMN · 10/06/2022 15:42

frydae · 10/06/2022 15:38

An elderly neighbour of my niece was found sadly passed away at home by her carer. The street was like riot scene. One first responder car, TWO ambulances and 5 police cars. They were all there for at least 30 minutes. It later transpired that she had passed away peacefully during the night and had been deceased for many hours.
What she needed was a doctor to confirm death and an undertakers van . So maybe when you find yourself having to wait a long time for police assistance or an ambulance in an emergency, perhaps this could be one of the reasons

The part where it later transpired is most relevant to your post.

Damn emergency services, wasting their own time and resources when they could've just used their psychic powers instead. They'd also waste far less time investigating crimes if they just asked their crystal ball who did it...

SickSadWorId · 10/06/2022 15:44

She might be there on a section 136 in which case the police are there to keep her safe and detained until she can be assessed. It's a traumatic thing to happen to someone, that will be why she's upset.

There's no reason to assume she's aggressive, just ill.

XenoBitch · 10/06/2022 15:46

Right now, for this patient, those police officers are in the "right place" to be.
They will be there for a reason, and that has nothing to do with you.

pushingpoppies · 10/06/2022 15:50

If I were in A&E for an emergency for my own health, which I was a couple of years ago, I would not give flying toss or pass judgement about anyone else, being too damn concerned about my own pain and health. Perhaps you shouldn't be there either?

10HailMarys · 10/06/2022 15:51

It t later transpired that she had passed away peacefully during the night and had been deceased for many hours.
What she needed was a doctor to confirm death and an undertakers van.

You do realise, though, that they would not have known upon finding her that she had 'passed away peacefully during the night'? The carer went in and found a dead body. The police can't just make the assumption that everything was fine.

Also, 'passed away peacefully during the night' does not, in fact, always mean that they just went to sleep and never woke up. It's often a euphemism used so that people don't feel uncomfortable. Someone who has 'passed away peacefully during the night' may not, in fact, just be lying there tucked up in bed with no signs of trauma.

You're hearing all this second-hand via your niece and you have no idea what actually happened or what the situation was or what state the body was in or any of that stuff. Neither you nor your niece are in a position to judge whether the response was appropriate.

Cameleongirl · 10/06/2022 15:54

@pushingpoppies i dunno, we were there for six hours in April and other people do become more interesting after a while. 😂