Enjoy beating up women? Become a policeman!

[Clymene]

An FOI request by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found that most forces simply don't investigate allegations of domestic violence against serving officers:

'there had been nearly 700 reports of domestic abuse by police officers in the three years to 2018 – averaging more than four a week. Less than one in ten reports resulted in a dismissal or warning. Only 3.9% of reports resulted in a conviction, compared with 6.2% among the general public.'

The police are deeply institutionally misogynist.

Full article (warning, contains graphic details of physical and emotional abuse): www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2021-06-15/years-of-living-in-fear-police-still-failing-partners-of-violent-officers

Most police officers are in relationships with other police officers though. So this goes some way to explain (note, I'm not saying condone) why victims are reluctant to pursue complaints.

It is an old boys club. Anyone without a penis who works for them will tell you. There is a hierarchy of male and female, officers and staff. If you're female police staff, you're shit on the bottom of a shoe.

What an utterly ridiculous heading to post. You're quite happy to slag off those who write something in defence of a police officer they know who is NOT abusive, but you can't seem to see how divisive your own attitude is?

Of course 700-odd is far too many. Even 1 would be far too many too. And it's appalling that any police officer should get away without being prosecuted but it's not right for you, and others, to insinuate that if someone is a police officer then they can be as abusive as they want and nothing will happen to them.

It's time for you to grow up and stop spreading hatred on MN towards a largely innocent group of society. Yes, of course those who do abuse should be dealt with harshly and appropriately, but please stop this generalisation, we've got enough hatred in this world without you trying to stir up even more.

@Wiltshire90

Agree with PPs. I'm a police officer (that's the term these days by the way - especially funny since you're posting on a feminist board) and the many male officers I work with are polite and respectful. In my last force I knew several who were arrested over allegations of domestic violence. The evidence didn't stack up and there was no conviction. The CPS were the ones who made the ultimate decision to discontinue the case, not the police.

What are you intimating when you refer to police officers who are 'polite and respectful' in the workplace? Is it that they aren't abusers? Surely no-one is that naive, particularly someone in the police force? Abusers can often be extremely charming.

As for evidence not stacking up, presumably the job of the police is to acquire evidence and build the case. The CPS can only make a decision based on what's put in front of them. My XH was a police officer. The police did no investigating of him whatsoever the first time I called them after a vicious assault. There was never even a suggestion that he should be arrested. That only happened when he injured me again a few months later, and then subsequently tried to kill me. Interestingly, the officer dealing with me this time looked back at what had happened during the first assault, and XH was charged with ABH for that, along with charges for his subsequent offences.

I'm sure you'd agree that him being initially let off completely wasnt justice in any shape or form.

@Tedisateddybear

What an utterly ridiculous heading to post. You're quite happy to slag off those who write something in defence of a police officer they know who is NOT abusive, but you can't seem to see how divisive your own attitude is?

Of course 700-odd is far too many. Even 1 would be far too many too. And it's appalling that any police officer should get away without being prosecuted but it's not right for you, and others, to insinuate that if someone is a police officer then they can be as abusive as they want and nothing will happen to them.

It's time for you to grow up and stop spreading hatred on MN towards a largely innocent group of society. Yes, of course those who do abuse should be dealt with harshly and appropriately, but please stop this generalisation, we've got enough hatred in this world without you trying to stir up even more.

Yes, OP, what is really needed to solve domestic violence is for women to be a whole lot nicer.

That's a great post @Resilience and I agree with it. I'm not a police officer but I work with them. IME The majority joined for the right reasons but there still is a tendency to protect their own which does them a disservice and needs to be stamped out.

It is an old boys club. Anyone without a penis who works for them will tell you. There is a hierarchy of male and female, officers and staff. If you're female police staff, you're shit on the bottom of a shoe

This is not my experience at all.

What are you intimating when you refer to police officers who are 'polite and respectful' in the workplace?

For me, it’s being thanked at the end of the day when I leave by the senior officer. It’s getting polite requests for assistance, and thanks when I do the job. It’s when I talk, despite being female and not an officer, people shut up and listen.

I previously worked in social care, and the police are bloody lovely in comparison with some of the SLT there.

Obviously I don’t know about any officers personal lives. I also don’t know whether I happen to have lucked out with a station run by very effective middle ranks. But it also not uncommon for male officers to be late, leave early, take days off for childcare etc and not a comment be passed- and other officers step in to cover.

I hope this culture is spreading as I have also seen certain behaviours simply not tolerated, again, because the culture won’t allow it. More good officers than bad, and the bad ones can’t close ranks…

You've been burgled but just to balance things out, I haven't so you're clearly overacting about the rates of burglary around here. Those insurance figures I'm ignoring are irrelevant.

thanks Resilience - gives me hope

....and the winner is.....

"it's not right for you, and others, to insinuate that if someone is a police officer then they can be as abusive as they want and nothing will happen to them. It's time for you to grow up and stop spreading hatred on MN towards a largely innocent group"

:(

thank you pater power

I'd better do so, hadn't I?

*murbblurb

You won't be calling the police if you are a crime victim, then. As by your 'thinking' they are all wife beaters.

No. Thought not. Fucking stupid generalisation as usual on MN.*

Correct, I won’t.

Anecdotes?

BBC today

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-57432300

Also coincidentally, I'm with the met. They are a disaster.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57484219

The way that any discussion about the police is jumped on is very interesting.

My force are appalling. Corrupt, killing people then lying. Sapphire unit not fit for purpose and shut down. Warboys. And plenty more.

To insist they are awesome and it's a few bad apples lets all of this continue.

To insist they are awesome and it's a few bad apples lets all of this continue

I agree many forces aren’t up to standard. The met seems to be lagging in particular. I just hope that the culture of the forces that are getting it right spreads, rather than vice versa. It can be done.

I don't think there's appetite.

Especially around DV and sex offences.

Not optimistic I know. The rape stats are appalling, worse than ever

@Tedisateddybear

What an utterly ridiculous heading to post. You're quite happy to slag off those who write something in defence of a police officer they know who is NOT abusive, but you can't seem to see how divisive your own attitude is?

Of course 700-odd is far too many. Even 1 would be far too many too. And it's appalling that any police officer should get away without being prosecuted but it's not right for you, and others, to insinuate that if someone is a police officer then they can be as abusive as they want and nothing will happen to them.

It's time for you to grow up and stop spreading hatred on MN towards a largely innocent group of society. Yes, of course those who do abuse should be dealt with harshly and appropriately, but please stop this generalisation, we've got enough hatred in this world without you trying to stir up even more.

Wow. Jusy wow.

@ArabellaScott
And stirring up hatred towards the police helps the cause how exactly?

Hatred towards an innocent group?

🤣🤣🤣

@Resilience Brilliant post it's such a shame it's lost in the midst of this thread which seems to have far too many commenting without reading the bloody article or looking outside their own experience.

It's possible to acknowledge the MANY positive changes in policing DV/Rape situations while still acknowledging that there is room for improvement among the police policing themselves.

This wouldn't have been an issue 15 years ago because nobody would have dared listen/ look into it let alone publish it, that's some progress at least.

'Fewer than one in 60 rape cases recorded by the police last year resulted in a suspect being charged, analysis of Home Office figures seen by the Guardian reveals.

While there were 52,210 rapes recorded by police in England and Wales in 2020, only 843 resulted in a charge or a summons – a rate of 1.6%.'

Positive change?

Is that the police or CPS though? As it’s the CPS who make the decision to charge…

The CPS need a kick up the arse too IMO.

Thank you for your encouraging post @Resilience. I'm heartened to read that things are changing and I hope that a FOI in 5 years' time yields a very different result.

Nothing changes if people don't accept there is an issue. That is the first step to making a change. What has saddened me about this thread is that the knee jerk reaction from many posters is literally just that - a refusal to acknowledge that there is a problem. It's interesting that so many people leaped straight from assuming that acknowledgment means accepting responsibility. It's like dealing with an online company who has fucked up your order - often, it's not that you want them to be personally responsible, you just want them to say sorry that this has happened.

I don't want individual police men (and I'll call them policemen, thanks, because women aren't the abusers) to take responsibility, I want them to acknowledge there's an issue and explain what their force is doing to tackle it.

And I'm hugely grateful to @Resilience for doing that.

Not sure but plenty to show handling of these crimes have been handled very badly for ages and still

Abusers even in domestic abuse organisations. Not violence maybe with the domestic abuse organisation but still was abuse just same as my violent partner. Most abuse organisations all so wonderful and kind work so hard to help but bad people sometimes happen and maybe not all the same but my bad experiences they all the colleagues of the bad one close ranks and then you left with no help when need it. Literally they just don't reply to you.
Kno bad if police also abusers actually very bad and scary just only kno my experience police were kind. Tho problem for me was they too busy do didn't interview witnesses the neighbours even several call outs. Very kind tho.

Government doesn't care if police or anyone domestic abuse cos not enough help to leave especially if older and children grown up or no children for safe housing after refuges not shared hostel mixed sex sometimes nothing to do with trans. Best thing for a man if he wants to beat us is choose older woman or disabled cos hard to leave them cos no safe places to go especially after refuge or instead if not suitable. Sorry don't want to upset posters and original poster just feel bit shattered from fight for safety and very hard as doing all alone. Want no bad police but want people kno not always police being bad and closing ranks.