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AIBU?

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I just don't trust any police officers..aibu

117 replies

Ihateboris · Yesterday 08:16

Yet another predator in the police force. If we can't trust the police, who the hell can women trust?

www.lbc.co.uk/article/police-officer-arrested-lbc-grooming-probe-5Hjdjbx_2/

OP posts:
Noodledog · Yesterday 17:27

Calmestofallthechickens · Yesterday 10:34

It’s a large profession made up of individuals, statistically some, but not all, of whom will be predators.

It’s never possible in any profession to find/remove all the people who might abuse the system. The system should be set up so that individuals don’t have the opportunity to abuse power; that doesn’t always happen and it’s by no means a perfect system. I think if you spoke to most police officers they would agree that the organisation has some issues (not only in this area, but in many).

I think it’s sensible to take reasonable precautions for your personal safety - I lock my front door at night, I ask for a chaperone at the doctors, I know my legal rights with regards to the police - but I also think it’s important to keep our perception of risk in proportion. A police officer is more likely to be a safe person to approach than say, a random bloke in the street; and it’s offensive to those officers (the vast majority of them) who are not predators and take on considerable personal risk and sacrifice, to do their job for the good of society.

People don't just randomly pick professions to go into though. A key part of being in the police is having power over others and being able to physically restrain them (think Wayne Couzens as the most egregious example). It would be naive not to see that there will be a significant number of people who will want to join the police because of the power and control they would get over others.

And to OP, no, sadly I no longer trust the police at all. And would try to refuse to get into a car with a male police officer.

bababamama · Yesterday 17:31

There’s bad apples in every profession, it’s like saying I don’t trust plumbers because there was a case (local to me) of a plumber taking spare keys and returning to break into houses. The vast majority of police officers are amazing humans doing a difficult job

ForTipsyFinch · Yesterday 17:40

bababamama · Yesterday 17:31

There’s bad apples in every profession, it’s like saying I don’t trust plumbers because there was a case (local to me) of a plumber taking spare keys and returning to break into houses. The vast majority of police officers are amazing humans doing a difficult job

That isn’t the same because plumbers don't form a powerful institution with state approval to restrict liberty, plumbers have no such power…and secondly if it were genuinely about ‘bad apples’ there wouldn’t be such a large amount of data which underscores the toxicity of police culture. I don’t really understand what people hope to achieve by pretending that this evidence doesn’t exist - even people within the police who have now left are very open about it.

A systemic problem is not simply about good or bad individuals within a system, it encompasses a whole range of factors within the given ‘culture’ - this is just how it works.

TFImBackIn · Yesterday 17:44

afaloren · Yesterday 10:33

An off-duty female police officer saved me from a very scary situation in a petrol station once. I got in her car and she drove me home. If it had been a male officer I wouldn’t have gone with him and I don’t know what would have happened to me. Very sad that it’s so hard to trust nowadays.

I'm so glad she was there. I suppose all you can do if a male police officer was there - as you'd be desperate to get out of that situation - is to message a friend with a photo of the police reg plate and of the police officer himself. It's outrageous that we don't feel safe to have a lift off a police officer in a situation like that.

ChimpanzeeThatMonkeyNews · Yesterday 17:48

Badbadbunny · Yesterday 11:49

Yes, but there are institutionally inherent problems in police forces, where the "decent" officers still don't feel able/willing to report the bad apples, presumably for fear of reprisals. Police officers work together mostly, in pairs, teams, etc., so I find it pretty hard to believe that the decent ones are blissfully unaware of the bad apples they work with on a daily basis. If they're not reporting their concerns, then we need to find out why. Perhaps there needs to be a whistle blowing system where the officers reporting are guaranteed protection from reprisals?

It's not just sexual abuse, it's all kinds of crimes including being too "cosy" with known offenders, letting "friends" off when caught committing offences, etc.

I was in the police for a relatively short period of time in the late 80s, and although I didn't see any overt sexual abuse or other criminal acts by colleagues, I really did have strong suspicions about some of them, simply by the things they said, their attitude, and there was a lot of sexual innuendo towards both female police officers and station staff and women in general - all passed off as "banter". When the sergeant and inspector also engaged in that kind of "banter", you really don't know where to report to as they were the two immediate "line managers" and more senior officers barely ever attended our station.

Jackie Moulton became a DC in the 70s, and she said (in a Lady Killers podcast), that the male detectives took her knickers down, spanked her bare backside.

You could hear Lucy Worsley’s jaw hit the floor.

Cardhey · Yesterday 17:50

So do you trust doctors and nurses as there are some killers amongst them… shipman and letby as just two examples!m?

Ihateboris · Yesterday 17:58

Cardhey · Yesterday 17:50

So do you trust doctors and nurses as there are some killers amongst them… shipman and letby as just two examples!m?

Well I can ask for a chaperone if I feel vulnerable or uneasy. A police officer yields a great deal of power, which is probably one of the reasons they become coppers in the first place

OP posts:
Yetanotherone12 · Yesterday 18:00

Cardhey · Yesterday 17:50

So do you trust doctors and nurses as there are some killers amongst them… shipman and letby as just two examples!m?

the Cornell 7- one or of them is premed or medical student. I wonder what attracts them to a profession where they have access to unconscious females…

ThePeppyOpalScroller · Yesterday 19:00

SockPlant · Yesterday 15:38

Are you ok with that?

And if this is the case I am more than happy to reiterate that I don't trust the police.

It's the same with every profession. And it wouldn't change anything. Then police hire people, not officers. There is absolutely no way to predict who will be a danger.

Ihateboris · Yesterday 19:40

Howmanycatsistoomany · Yesterday 15:42

An ambulance. For the intruder (I have a Malinois) 😂

Off topic, but oh my God, Malinois's are the most amazing dogs. You must feel very safe at home. I've got a Labrador who would probably lick an intruder to death 🤣

OP posts:
VerifyYouAreHuman · Yesterday 20:09

Are there more wrong 'uns getting in now than used to and if so how and why is that happening? They consistently see the results of human nature at its worst and that's got to mess with your head...

Ihateboris · Yesterday 20:29

VerifyYouAreHuman · Yesterday 20:09

Are there more wrong 'uns getting in now than used to and if so how and why is that happening? They consistently see the results of human nature at its worst and that's got to mess with your head...

Based on the standards (or lack thereof), of the police these days, I think basically anyone can get in.

OP posts:
Calmestofallthechickens · Yesterday 20:48

Ihateboris · Yesterday 20:29

Based on the standards (or lack thereof), of the police these days, I think basically anyone can get in.

Based on the thanks they get from society, I’m surprised they get any applicants at all…

Ihateboris · Yesterday 20:52

Calmestofallthechickens · Yesterday 20:48

Based on the thanks they get from society, I’m surprised they get any applicants at all…

Gratitude has to be earned

OP posts:
Ihateboris · Yesterday 21:18

Come to think of it, what other occupations are there that requires such a small amount of training but gives someone so much authority and control over others?

OP posts:
Thegirlwhowent · Yesterday 21:25

EscCtrl · Yesterday 14:12

Never trust a copper. Most of them are bullies on a power trip.

No, they're not.

Whatafustercluck · Yesterday 21:55

This thread is very sad.

I've worked in policing for 20+ years and have personally known many excellent police officers throughout that time. They are as dismayed by the behaviour of some of their colleagues as the general public are. The UK police force is based on Peelian principles of policing by consent. When trust is eroded, then so too is the model of policing in this country that we've always relied on. The vast majority of decent officers know this.

I do agree though that problems are systemic, from vetting and recruitment through to whistle blowing. There is still a lot of misogyny, but it's better than it was two decades ago when I first joined.

The Met has always had a terrible reputation though, even among police forces.

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