@ArabellaScott
Felix.
Thanks for coming on and offering the other point of view. And thank you for being a policeperson that does not bend the law. We need more police who do so.
A reminder: we're discussing the abuse and humiliation of a woman at the hands of the police.
Do you understand, at all, the depth of anger, hurt and frustration that women in this country currently feel about the police? I think you'll agree that police are not in a good place at the moment and that we need a functioning, efficient and law abiding police force?
So you're here on a forum to give the opposing view to women who are raging. Are you also in police forums offering the opposing view, letting them know how women feel and makign sure they're not making assumptions about prisoners, propogating prejudice and supporting abuses of power?
There is a fundamental imbalance of power here. Do you recognise that? What do you think will happen if public trust in the police breaks down? What do you think about women being victimised and the double standards applied currently?
No problem - its my job & duty to uphold the law and support victims of crime and vulnerable people. Its a role I enjoy and i will continue to help & support such people. But I can only do this within the 'bubble of the law' which I am not prepared to step outside of. So, dropping people off on the moor to teach them a lesson, or arresting youngsters to teach them a lesson is out - despite various parents & victims or crime trying to persuade me otherwise. I act professionally and will continue to do so. And to be honest, its not a difficult thing to do.
Yes - I understand all too well the depth of anger, hurt and frustration that women in this country currently feel about the police. But the majority of people in the country are satisfied with the service they get from their local police.
So, in this case - if people here are 'happy' the arrest was lawful (as stated above) but she is refusing to give her details - can you see the issue custody have in safeguarding her? Can you see the issues they will have to ensure she is not concealing any items if they know nothing about her? What would you expect to have happened in this case? Bearing in mind it wasn't long ago that a custody sergeant was shot dead at work by someone concealing an item.
I don't know of any police forums - but if they are any - i will be saying the same things on there. If officers find it acceptable to ridicule and act inappropriately to members of the public i will tell them that it is not acceptable. If its wrong, its wrong no matter what forum i am on.
I'm not sure if there is an imbalance of power here. She was arrested and so her liberty has been taken from her. If custody believe there is a risk that she may have a concealed item from the information given (or not given) to them they have to make a judgement on whether to do a full search of her.
That being said, the officers must act professionally at all times. They way a person is searched and 'held down' in a cell has specific training. And the training is all about conducting a search with the minimum chance of injury to the subject whilst achieving the objective of the search.
The comments made after the search are wrong - and I have said it numerous times now on here. If this forms part of the victimisation of her, then clearly its unacceptable.