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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Any police about? Need input

178 replies

MolliciousIntent · 19/12/2022 21:30

Need some information about what rights people have vis a vis the police... If they ask to question you in relation to a crime, are you allowed to say no? What can they do if you say no? What happens if you refuse to answer their questions? Can you be arrested for not cooperating?

OP posts:
stillvicarinatutu · 20/12/2022 04:00

I could probably give the same advice as a solicitor these days.

I think if I had my time again I'd probably train in law and be a solicitor- I'm pretty good on the letter if the law with a fairly ingrained sense of justice .
Hey ho !

tonystarksrighthand · 20/12/2022 04:05

No they are not @Greenshake .... it sounds like most of us have had bad experiences with police who are supposed to "care"

I had to dial 999 not so long ago because I had a load of random crack heads banging on my door at 3am, I have young children. They were scared.

What did the police do? Fuck all. And these crack heads are known to the police

There is NO trust.

stillvicarinatutu · 20/12/2022 04:18

I'll bow out .

People banging on a door is scary but not an immediate response.
No one's life was at risk .
There are 3 grades .
Immediate - life immediately at risk
Priority- theoretically should be within an hour but short staffing means often doesn't happen
Schedule- as and when we get there .

Most response shifts are are their arse for staffing so immediates take precedence.

I've personally worked a Saturday night with one other cop and a Sgt . Our shift should be 10 cops and one Sgt . I've worked with that shift with one Sgt and one cop. That's the reality I'm afraid . It's shit . No one gets the service they should .

PurpleNebula84 · 20/12/2022 05:54

That's absolutely wrong. If you have attended voluntary, they shouldn't just lock you up to await a solicitor. In an ideal world, if you had mentioned wanting a solicitor prior to attending, they should have arranged it to coincide with your interview or you could have arranged your own. They could have offered you legal advice on the telephone, which would have no doubt prompted the duty solicitor to attend anyway. But no, they should not have locked you up to wait for a solicitor.

figmaofmyimagination · 20/12/2022 06:10

@stillvicarinatutu can I ask a question please? I was a witness to a crime recently and the police were given my details by a third party. I don’t want to give a statement, for reasons I’d rather not say in here. Do I have to? There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on my part.

I have massive respect for the police btw. Of course there are some bad ones, you get that in every profession, but for the most part I think we send good people in to all the places most of us would never go, underpaid, understaffed and underresourced.

PurpleNebula84 · 20/12/2022 06:12

When you say "fuck all" did they actually come out? No offence, but what did you think they should have done? I get people knocking on your door in the middle of the night you don't know is scary, but unfortunately knocking on someone's door isn't an offence, crack head or not.

BananaSpanner · 20/12/2022 06:12

figmaofmyimagination · 20/12/2022 06:10

@stillvicarinatutu can I ask a question please? I was a witness to a crime recently and the police were given my details by a third party. I don’t want to give a statement, for reasons I’d rather not say in here. Do I have to? There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on my part.

I have massive respect for the police btw. Of course there are some bad ones, you get that in every profession, but for the most part I think we send good people in to all the places most of us would never go, underpaid, understaffed and underresourced.

You don’t have to give a statement and you don’t have to justify it. Plenty of people say that they just don’t want to get involved and that is fine.

OMG12 · 20/12/2022 06:14

If a suspect you need legal advice, if a witness you can’t be forced to say anything.

why wouldn’t you trust the police? Where are you? Do you feel in danger from others if you speak to the police?

Givemyheadpiece · 20/12/2022 06:19

I wouldn’t speak to the police about anything without a solicitor present. If I was being questioned for some reason.
you should always have a witness to the convo or similar with you if possible.

Twiglets1 · 20/12/2022 06:32

I wouldn’t trust the police. They do lie.

greenacrylicpaint · 20/12/2022 06:35

curious - what if police do a door to door after a crime/accident in your area?

figmaofmyimagination · 20/12/2022 06:41

BananaSpanner · 20/12/2022 06:12

You don’t have to give a statement and you don’t have to justify it. Plenty of people say that they just don’t want to get involved and that is fine.

Show quote history

Thank you.

Bluebottl · 20/12/2022 06:44

I think the thing to remember is there are sadly ‘bad’ (for want of a better word) people/corruption in all professions. Including professions we trust also in public sector. For example Harold Shipman and Lucy Letby weren’t a great representation of the NHS however that’s not to say everyone is like them. And the same applies for the Police. I’ve been an officer for almost 13 years and still believe in the work that I do. I’m a detective and have specialised in sexual offences and murder/attempted murder in my career. I know I’ve helped some people and helped change some peoples lives. And that’s why 99% of us do it. There are bad eggs, but there are everywhere, there’s no getting away from that.

DriftwoodOnTheShore · 20/12/2022 06:46

Say nothing without a solicitor present. Our neighbour's nephew was almost bullied into making a false confession on the promise of being allowed home.

Apparently they are allowed to lie. They said they had him on CCTV. He knew they couldn't have but thought the person must be his double. He was young and frightened and almost did a silly thing in confessing to something he didn't do.

BananaSpanner · 20/12/2022 06:48

greenacrylicpaint · 20/12/2022 06:35

curious - what if police do a door to door after a crime/accident in your area?

Then if you know something/ have witnessed something and you want to tell them, then tell them. You don’t have to commit yourself to making a formal statement. If you don’t want to speak to them, then don’t.

pilates · 20/12/2022 07:09

Op, how can people advise if you don’t give the full story? Pointless thread really. And please don’t demonise the police - there are good and bad in all professions.

IVbumble · 20/12/2022 07:09

I had an abusive ex-husband & when I finally got the courage to leave he started making malicious complaints about me to the police. Every time they would take his statement & then come to me for mine. I kept trying to say that he was abusive but they couldn't see it at the time.

[Subsequently after I complained about this they were all ordered to undertake domestic abuse training]

After the first 10 times of this I said to them that I wasn't going to let them in nor answer any questions relating to his false allegations & that if they wanted me to respond they needed to arrest me. They didn't come again after that.

FrenchFancie · 20/12/2022 07:12

I have to say I’m quite surprised by the vitriol aimed at the police here!
I’ve two dealings with the police in the last year, both were very cordial. I was the last person to see someone alive and gave details to the police about time, date and apparent state of mind of that person (it’s going to coroners court in the new year). Second was my next door neighbour being burgled where the guy had come up our drive and bunked over our fence - they were asking for the footage from our camera at the back.
both times the police have been polite, I gave a statement in the first incident and they were not good cop / bad cop like some bad TV drama but kind, polite and just went over the facts a few times to make sure my recollection was correct. I then got a follow up call after the person was found dead, to let me know and to ask if I needed any help (I did not).

i obviously don’t live in a rough area because I would always help the police if I knew something! I’m not sure where the fear of the police comes from to be honest!

TodayInahurry · 20/12/2022 07:22

Why would you not want to help the police solve crimes? Are you afraid of the criminals?

stillvicarinatutu · 20/12/2022 07:28

figmaofmyimagination · 20/12/2022 06:10

@stillvicarinatutu can I ask a question please? I was a witness to a crime recently and the police were given my details by a third party. I don’t want to give a statement, for reasons I’d rather not say in here. Do I have to? There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing on my part.

I have massive respect for the police btw. Of course there are some bad ones, you get that in every profession, but for the most part I think we send good people in to all the places most of us would never go, underpaid, understaffed and underresourced.

Nope - you don't have to give a statement or get involved in any way if you don't want to .
No one - not police - no one can enforce you getting involved. It's very very common that witnesses don't want to get involved. It's not a problem.

figmaofmyimagination · 20/12/2022 07:29

stillvicarinatutu · 20/12/2022 07:28

Nope - you don't have to give a statement or get involved in any way if you don't want to .
No one - not police - no one can enforce you getting involved. It's very very common that witnesses don't want to get involved. It's not a problem.

Show quote history

Thank you, and thank you for your service.

stillvicarinatutu · 20/12/2022 07:29

greenacrylicpaint · 20/12/2022 06:35

curious - what if police do a door to door after a crime/accident in your area?

Tell them what you know or don't - it's up to you and your conscience.

MooseAndSquirrelLoveFlannel · 20/12/2022 07:32

If you are the suspect, get legal advice.

If you are a witness, well, it really depends on whether you want to assist in justice being served or not. But if the latter, you cant moan that the police dont do anything.

Ionnn · 20/12/2022 07:35

stillvicarinatutu · 20/12/2022 07:28

Nope - you don't have to give a statement or get involved in any way if you don't want to .
No one - not police - no one can enforce you getting involved. It's very very common that witnesses don't want to get involved. It's not a problem.

Show quote history

Wrong.

The police can't force you to give a statement, but the court can still call you as a witness.

User787878787878 · 20/12/2022 07:37

I think it's a real shame that good officers (like Vicar) feel that standards have declined. I was subject to a stop and account a couple of months ago. The first time I have ever been stopped by the police for anything. I was really taken aback by how confrontational they were (two men).

I was on my own and the whole experience was really intimidating, especially when I hadn't done anything wrong. I was polite and by the end of the encounter they'd backed off but the whole thing left me feeling quite upset and like I had somehow done something wrong.

It was an eye-opener because up until then, I would have said that you should engage, support the police, they are doing their job etc. Afterwards it's made me have a lot more sympathy for people who say that they don't trust the police due to bad experiences, and therefore don't want to engage with them.