A question only for those who work/have worked with violent offenders...

[Pograze]

I know there will be a lot of us...

Have you ever witnessed behaviour like that of the Manchester police officer who kicked a man in the head?

What is your opinion of what happened?

There's been a lot of talk on here about it but I'm curious to know the opinions of others who have worked similar jobs.

I was a prison officer for years in a cat b men's prison. Of course the risk of weapons was not the same as in the general public, however they did have homemade shanks, glass, and some other quite terrifying weapons, such as jam heated in kettles and buckets of excrement. We had batons (I remember them being drawn possibly 4 times ever, used once, very rare and led to immediate suspension upon investigation, even if justified). No pepper spray or tazers. Often only 3/4 of us on a wing of 180+ prisoners, many of whom were murderers/violent offenders. I never saw anyone kicked in the head or assaulted (other than by other prisoners).

I'm shocked by the number of people who are justifying it, stating 'that poor police officer, imagine how he felt'. I was kicked in the face by a prisoner once, my tooth was cracked and blood pouring out of my mouth. My colleagues continued to restrain him in the way we were trained, take him to segregation, and it went through court. Still had to work on a wing with him. He apologised and I had to crack on. He got his extra time and that's what I feel should happen every, single, time. I didn't feel like his actions would have justified a kick to the head and I'd have been horrified if that had have happened.

Anyone here who works in a similar role with an opinion?

Praying for no hijacks!

I am coming up for a decade working with violent offenders, and I am a Police wife as well. I have never come across anything like this before and think it’s totally unacceptable. My husband feels the same way.

I've seen some unacceptable police behaviour. I've worked with very very marginalised people in places like the West Midlands during the very bad days. And in other countries.

I've also seen police officers and prison staff respond to dreadful events with calm, patience, empathy and strength.

Only the second set of people should remain employed. And indeed sometimes free from prosecution. People who can't do it shouldn't do it. I work in the same environments without stab-proofs or tasers. We have to remain calm and non-violent. As do SWs, nurses, youth workers and on and on.

SO sorry to hear about the assault. Just awful.

This is really reassuring to read.
It shows that self control is both possible and essential in these situations.

What happened is totally unacceptable and fortunately also not the norm.

I hope the victim is ok.

Thank you and good to see this, totally agree.
the point is that people in control, ie police, prison officers should only ever use the necessary force, and not attack and this man did.

30 year Police officer here. There are zero circumstances that justifies an officer stamping on an offender’s head and kicking them in the head. The red mist clearly descended. I know the female officer had been attacked. That doesn’t justify that response. If you can’t control your temper then being a Police officer, particularly an armed one is not the job for you. I’m on a fb retired officers page and it’s amazing how many people, mostly men on there are trying to justify that behaviour. It cannot be justified.

The officer's behaviour was entirely unacceptable and unprofessional. Hopefully a full investigation can be carried out. I can't see any justification for that level of aggression towards an individual who was (as far as I can see) not posing an immediate risk to anyone (they were lying on the floor).

(Background: healthcare worker with experience in prisons and conflict zones)

I've worked in criminal justice for nearly 20 years, prisons, CJMHT, probation, MDT, police. I can't see a reason for kicking someone in the face and then stamping on their head unless they're coming at you with a gun maybe, you only use force to disarm/restrain. What you see in that clip is anger and a loss of self control, not what you want in an officer. My colleagues are unanimously disgusted by it.

Ex police here, can’t see any situation when stamping on someone’s head is acceptable, in fact we were taught about the ‘red’ areas of the body to avoid in training (the head being the main one). When you can’t control the red mist you need to step back

I'm very glad to hear the verdict is unanimous amongst your colleagues.

Prison officers are taught the same. Never go for head, neck, genitals, joints etc unless you're on your own and are severely threatened, aka you vs prisoner with a knife and no backup. Self defence only. It was incredibly rare. As I said, only happened once and the officer was completely justified as his life was at risk, prisoner was fine after.