who's watching Coppers?

[ggirl]

I am surprised at how rough the coppers are with the low life.

Anyone else shocked?

agree with scurry there.

if you followed me about for 6 months it would make for very boring telly!

I am aware of the role editing plays in these shows. However i base my comments upon my many observations of and interactions with police officers whilst working as a psych nurse. I too work with difficult challenging and sometimes very aggressive people. I have worked in 2 out of the 3 special hospitals in the UK. I deal with stoned and drunken patients all too frequently.

And i stand by what i wrote about the all too often poor communication skills displayed by coppers. And what I all too often saw was directed towards people who were ill. And i witnessed incidents from start to finish, especially when I had to involve police in a community section or admit patients bought in via section 136.
So many times, our job was made harder because of the high expressed emotion caused/triggered by the police officers engaging inappropriately with the sectioned patient. There seems to be very little training regarding verbal escalation or the culture does not value this approach.

And there is no excuse for swearing at civilians no matter how drunk, abusive or plain vile they are.

Swearing coppers just look like oiks in uniform. It is unprofessional, it makes people respect you less, it makes it harder to keep calm. It is never necessary. The best coppers do not swear.

I have to agree with you Nursenic and there are just as many poorly behaved mental health workers as there are police officers-training for MH is inadequate all round.

Yes, quite right Scurryfunge. I've been trying to address that with the universities that send me students for years.

i dont agree with that at all, either that, or i am working with a very unusual bunch of people.

the people i work alongside are all brilliant communicators - thats the majority of this job - talking to people. i dont think you can do this job unless you can talk to folk, without winding them up.

i really dont see my colleagues swear at people, if i did i would say i agree with you, but seriously, unless i have joined the most unusual force in the uk, i just dont see it!

and really sometimes, people try the patience of saints, like the man who belted his 78 yr old mother black and blue, then smashed the house up before he then drove pissed to his gfs house where he hid in the shed until officers got there, and where he then hurled hammers at them...he was told to get on the "effing" floor but only after he tried to take a few officers out first.

its easy to judge in these situations unless you are on the receiving end. i have personally never sworn at a soul, but i wouldnt rule it out if someone was taking pot shots at me with a hammer....

I am a psych nurse and I watched Coppers with my DH who is a Sgt in that very same area.
Those incidents took place in an extremely violent area. Think gun crime , drug barons etc , muggings , many shootings there.
Rather than criticise the police I commend them for keeping order on our streets ,keeping people safe and for their bravery in areas such as that one.
I was distraught when my DHs station got petrol bombed .
The force were highly commended for the way they managed the violence in Notts following the looting in London .
As a psych nurse i have met a lot of appalling police officers . I have also met a lot with excellent communication skills .

Hear hear Vicarina ...
The police are damned if they do and damned if they don't ...

i work in your DH s neighbouring force nanny...

I have been on the receiving end, sadly. We have to C+R people too, then accurately get a needle into them....

Colleagues have been very badly injured including third degree burns when a hot water urn was poured over them and in one case, killed by severely ill and violent patients. But we (and I) do not and have not sworn at them even when we/I are being kicked, bitten, spat at, abused ad nauseum. And the abuse by relatives, visitors.....

There may be forces that do not swear...But i can only go on the two series of 'Coppers', other fly on the wall programmes and what I have personally witnessed over the last 30 years of my career all over England including special hospitals and prisons.

no nursenic - there may be officers who dont swear. not forces,there may be officers who do. Just as there are nurses who dont swear and those who do.

massive generalisation and one i find depressing.
there are good and bad nurses, good and bad police officers, good and bad doctors, good and bad checkout operators, good and bad petrol station attendants.....

every profession you can name will have examples of good practice, and of bad.

really? i dont see that on my patch, but my group are really mature, we are a bit of an ageing group!

Vicar- Re 'forces' versus 'officers'-You said it in yourself in a generalising manner about your 'patch'!

I reiterate- I am commenting upon what has been shown on the two series i have watched plus my own career. I am hardly generalising when my comments are about these two 'arena's.

i have just agreed that there are bad MH nurses. So why post as though i am disagreeing with that?

Anyway, am off to bed now but thank you for the debate. Sorry if i put noses out of joint but i can only comment on what these programmes present and what I myself, have experienced. And some of it has been good too.

Psych nurses don't swear ? Really?!
I have been nursing a long time and I will tell you different!
I nurse the mentally ill in the area seen on tv tonight ... Let me tell you , if police officers and nurses watched their ps and q's whilst dealing with people in that area they would be a laughing stock.
In order to gain respect and get the attention from people you have to get on their level .
I'm 5ft 3 . I have no baton, no CS gas , no handcuffs. I look after 6ft young males high on drugs . Shouting and occasionally swearing is a reality.
And please don't start commenting on my professionalism either .
I'm off as I sense this thread is turning silly .

but these are programmes on the tv! exactly for entertainment!

no my nose isnt out of joint at all but surely if i generalised the whole of MH nursing profession based on one flew over the cuckoos nest you could see my point? (yes - i realise that is fiction but sometimes, these documentaries are not far off!)

my "patch" is just that - the two stations i have worked in within my district, and ive not seen the evidence which you say you have, any incivility is dealt with quite seriously, and really, most of the time there is just no need, but when someone is being physically threatened i would say the least of yours and their worries is if someone uses an expletive.

Night night Vicarina keep up the good work ! I might re check the Midlanders thread and see if I can work out your patch!

nb....i would say coppers is the most realistic depiction ive seen so far of what actually happens....based on the 2 ive seen that is.

*nanny - ill pm you!

Of course RMN's swear!

But I do not swear at my patients, including the 6 years I spent working with subs misusers in London! And I have never heard a colleague swear at a patient/client. About them, in private, YES!
But never at them.

Maybe we are freak RMN's....

About swearing to 'get on people's level' -

Yes, I'd look really on the level walking about a client's house, swearing and cursing. You see, i find the best results are gained from calmness, low expressed emotion and firmness. Treat with dignity. How they treat you is their problem, how you react is yours.

Sorry, but swearing is unprofessional and there are much better ways to 'get on people's level'. Doesn't make you look like you are coping and can cope.

And I'm not talking about comments like 'I can't get this bloody sphig to work'. I'm talking about the profanity, personally directed that you see on this show.

And for the final time, folks. I am basing my obs on what I have seen on 'Coppers' and from the behaviour of some (quite a few) coppers that my colleagues and i work with and have worked with over 30 yrs (and yes, I know times are supposed to have changed in the Met and over Britain).

i am not commenting on you personally or your team. Just the ones i have met. So enough already of the 'generalising' comments.

DH and I thought the Coppers were all absolutely marvellous.
They are dealing with scum who don't understand and don't care. The only bit I was slightly uncomfortable about (but we didn't' see the context) was the father who had, apparently, been separated from his injured disabled son. We weren't told why and I didn't follow that.. Other than that, brilliant.

Also it's heavily edited - the filming doesn't show all the build up, ie. probably many minutes of trying to deal/reason via verbal communication before getting physical. Like he said to that vile vile mother of the 14 year old "I've warned you 8 times". Jeez, good on him for trying that long.

They all deserve a medal.