I feel really bad for the UK police ATM

[TeaTowelScowl]

Yes, I know that the poor people in Israel and Palestine have it far worse, and we in the UK are lucky. However...

Does anyone else feel bad for the police on the ground who are having to manage an impossible situation with these weekly Isr-Pal protests?

Every interaction seems to be filmed, and every word they speak taken out of context.

If they arrest people, they're too heavy handed. If they let people do as they please, they're accused of allowing racism.

What do people realistically expect them to do?

I expect them to follow the law and be politically impartial.

Does anyone else feel bad for the police on the ground

No.

Edit to add : I swear MN (not all, there are few decent people here, love to you) will find anything and anyone else to feel sorry for, but the Palestinians.

I swear.

Soon one of you will say you feel sorry for the street that are being walked on during these protests…

That you, Suella? Or one of her mates?

No. I never feel sorry for the police.

Absolutely not. They’re incredible hypocrites and whoever’s running their Twitter is embarrassingly stupid. I doubt the Home Secretary feels sorry for them either.

This.
I'd add that I'd expect them to follow the law consistently too. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

Yes, I feel sorry for them having fireworks thrown at them. Being sworn at and having people get right up in their faces. Having a weak government and leaders where officers can't win.

How bloody predictable.

I'd hate to be policing these marches.

The police can't win.

What about a 19 year old working class person, who just wants to make a difference to their community by being a police officer? The kind that can't afford to go to uni because they have a family to support? You have no sympathy at all for people like this?

Yes this!

Being a copper is a thankless task. Im amazed anyone does it at all.

Give the fuck over

The UK police need to do some serious overhauling to win back trust.

And in point of fact I don’t think they would expect anyone to be fussing over them having to police protests. It’s just the job.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/25/revealed-one-in-100-uk-police-officers-faced-a-criminal-charge-last-year

That is so not true.. it’s not true.

I'd rather have them than not at all deal with organised firework throwing thuggery.

I agree. Poor police.

Absolutely not. They deserve no sympathy and will get none from me.

@LittleMsTellTheTruth agreed.

Perhaps during protests police should just stay out of the way. People have the right to protest and if it descends into a bit looting and arson then that's simply a sign of the public unhappiness at the situation.

I thought they all had to have degrees in the police now.

For sure. Fuck all the innocent people that will get hurt, and all the honest small businesses that will be ruined eh?

So if I’m unhappy about something I should express my strength of feeling through looting and arson? That’s bonkers.

Yes I feel sorry for the police. It’s easy to say they should enforce the law but I can imagine that doesn’t always look clear cut on the ground.

Don't feel sorry for them at all. Especially not the one I saw fist-bumping a pro-Hamas loon.

As a law abiding member of public I don't feel the police are on my side at all. When I was young they applied the law impartially and without fear or favor. Not so now, they are passive to the aggressive and aggressive to the passive. Its a bad long term strategy.

"looting and arson" and then who covers the costs to repair the damage, and why should people behave illegally putting other lives at risk with the behaviours you describe ?

It’s a corrupt organisation