to have felt this was unnecessarily aggressive

[nickytjj]

ok so this happened some time ago but I still think about it and feel it was an inappropriate and aggressive response.

I live in Ireland and at the height of the pandemic the whole country was in heavy lockdown. The rules were clear from the top and we all had to follow them. I worked in schools and they were very strict with masks having to be worn, staff having to be in separate staffrooms etc.

Bars,gyms and restaurants etc were long term closed. It sucked but that's the way it was and as somebody who was in the UK for some of the pandemic I can say that Ireland appeared to be stricter and the lockdowns were longer and more severe ime.

Anyway one night I was out for a sit in the park in the and two police men came across a guy loitering nearby. They seemed to know the guy and I think he was homeless. The guy was not doing anything untoward so it wasn't an emergency situation where they had to act fast. They approached him and began searching him. They weren't wearing masks or gloves which I thought was going against the guidance.

After they searched him I politely asked them are they not supposed to be wearing masks and gloves for the pandemic to stop the disease spreading? 1 of them aggressively shone his torch right in my eyes and shouted (actually shouted loud) ''go mind your own business.''

AIBU to think this was a needless act of aggressiveness and abuse? As a teacher I can't imagine the trouble I'd get in if I were to address a member of the public like that who were questioning a procedure in the school that was going against appropriate and safe behaviour and indeed breaking government legislation.

Well I, for one, am with you OP. For me the COVID restrictions highlighted the difference between 'power corrupts', as per normal circumstances, and 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' as brought out by people's responses to the pandemic. Police were being extremely heavy-handed to the point of asking people what they were doing out of doors, bawling them out for sitting on park benches, peering into other people's shopping baskets to ensure their purchases were essential, not to mention neighbours dobbing on other neighbours and sending snotty anonymous notes to those not clapping on their doorsteps like performing seals.

I think that your particular story highlights broader issues with an increasingly draconian, authoritative police force which was going there anyway but exacerbated through that abuse of power. Ireland isn't alone here. We are talking of particular forces going down the route of policing Twitter and phoning citizens to 'check their thinking', not to mention the horrendous responses of the Met to the mistrust in police fostered through the Sarah Everard case and their OTT handling of the vigil.

Yes, it was aggressive: the whole system is ramping up aggression against those who happen to exercise a bit of criticality and independence of thought. In this climate it must have come as quite a surprise to them to be challenged in the first place. As for this bothering you to this extent afterwards, I don't rightly know. I can agree as far as my trust having gone straight down the pan, and I shan't forget the behaviour of the curtain-twitching neighbours and informers etc either (a disclaimer, I haven't personally been on the receiving end but I don't have to be to know I abhor such behaviour).

It's a case of once seen, can't unsee.

I mean, if she had posted immediately afterward some MNers would have said, "And you instantly felt the need to come here and make a thread?!" If she'd waited three days they'd say - "You're still thinking about this days later?!" At the end of the day, people will talk about you no matter what you do, so you may as well just do whatever feels right for you.

This has reminded me of something I had forgotten. At the same kind of time, I was queuing outside a local supermarket. All socially distanced and in masks. There was a homeless man sitting near the queue and asking for money (not aggressively). This is in central London, so not unusual in any way. A police car drew up with three policemen and they went over to him and quite forcefully got him to move on. I asked them (paraphrasing here, it was a while ago) if they couldn't just leave him alone as he was doing no harm and there was nowhere for him to go. I got a similar, very aggressive response. Along the lines of (again, paraphrasing): 'Get your beak out you have no idea of what we are doing or why.' I, too, wish I had pursued it. I felt quite cowed in the face of all three of them and their hostility. And, as you know, it was a nerve-wracking time, so I probably started off from quite a shaky psychological position!

It has left me feeling very unsure of and untrusting of the police. I didn't feel like that before.

Granted, this wasn't Ireland, but where I am, the police were exempt and did not wear masks when out and about on their beats because they did not want half of their faces covered up when interacting with the public. The face covering dramatically reduces non-verbal communication cue's, and in public safety situations, they needed every ability to communicate.

You're being totally unreasonable in this instance. Why on earth should this person be allowed to hassle people for money, when they're stuck in a queue and can't leave? And it's highly unlikely the man had nowhere to go. I worked with some of the borough councils during the height of the pandemic, there was a massive drive to make sure everyone had somewhere to go, huge amounts of money were spent on hotels etc. You really should have kept out of it.

I think they spoke to you in that way because they knew that how they were treating the other man was wrong.

*Your interfering could have ruined some type of undercover police job and set them back months in solving a major crime.

Or they were being arseholes.

We don't know.

You don't know.

Get over it.*

But should Joe Bloggs on the street really be complacent in light of the some of the despicable behaviour displayed by the police during the pandemic?
Obviously it happened in England rather than NI, but have people so quickly forgotten the aftermath of Sarah Everard. Cressida Dicks publically victim blamed a highly intelligent young woman for her own death for complying with the request of a Police Officer rather than hailing down a nearby bus for assistance!? If the Police CBA to adequately background check their own recruits, then why should we blindly ignore behaviour from the Police that goes against what is socially acceptable?

@JonahAndTheSnail I said "get over it" because it happened almost 2 years ago. If the OP was so worried about it she should have done something then. It's a bit late now.

YANBU OP.

It was aggressive and intimidating and completely unacceptable.

However, quite normal behaviour for police, which is why it's important to report it.

Of course it was the OP's business: police are public servants in public employ; it's everyone's business to check others, particularly vulnerable people, are treated properly; it's everyone's business to check the law is being upheld; it's everyone's responsibility to step in if another's health or safety might be at risk; it was the OP's business to ask a question about a law that affects her.

It was aggressive and intimidating and completely unacceptable.
However, quite normal behaviour for police, which is why it's important to report it.
Of course it was the OP's business: police are public servants in public employ; it's everyone's business to check others, particularly vulnerable people, are treated properly; it's everyone's business to check the law is being upheld; it's everyone's responsibility to step in if another's health or safety might be at risk; it was the OP's business to ask a question about a law that affects her

Agreed I'm baffled as to how people are taking the cop's side here. He sounds like a bullying shit.

I said "get over it" because it happened almost 2 years ago. If the OP was so worried about it she should have done something then. It's a bit late now

the time frame is not really important though. Also its aibu, posters usually post about an incident in which they should have done/said something at the time but didn't but are reflecting on it. You could apply your advice to basically every post.

I'd like to hear their version of events

This is a bit odd after all this time

You can’t spread a virus you don’t have.

And many medical professionals will tell you that masks and gloves are pointless unless worn correctly and changed often.

I’m sure you’re aware that many of the “rules” surrounding COVID were not about health but about control.

And they were right to tell you to
mind your own business. Maybe the approach was wrong (if it actually happened that way) but the message was correct.

You can’t spread a virus you don’t have

they might have had the virus though-that was the whole point.

And many medical professionals will tell you that masks and gloves are pointless unless worn correctly and changed often

which the police and all front line workers were supposed to be doing.

I’m sure you’re aware that many of the “rules” surrounding COVID were not about health but about control

oh ffs really? Tell that to my 37 yo neighbour who was fit and healthy and died a horrible death from it. Tell that to her 3 children she left behind.

And they were right to tell you to
mind your own business. Maybe the approach was wrong (if it actually happened that way) but the message was correct

it was everybody's business to stop and control the virus.

You were hardly polite yourself, shouting out at policeman trying to do their job. They probably wanted to put you firmly back in your box, you have no idea what they were dealing with, but I am sure it didn’t need your “help”.

You were hardly polite yourself, shouting out at policeman trying to do their job

The op said she ''politely asked'' so why are you putting your own spin on the thread rather than um reading it?

policeman trying to do their job. They probably wanted to put you firmly back in your box

ok so when a member of the public makes an inquiry be it to a teacher, nurse etc over an issue that affects everybody, we have to be accepted to being intimidated into silence rather than having a voice?
God bring back Hitler.