Male police officers can intimately search women. New guidance

[HandsOffMyRights]

Apologies if this has been posted, but I am sickened that new Police guidance (written by Stonewall obvs) enables male officers who ID as women to search women.

We are meant to be reassured that 'only' officers who ID as women can perform such searches. Apparently there's a lot of misunderstanding about this.

Clinton Blackburn (@SuptBlackburn) Tweeted:
Proud to be finally launching the National Trans Tool Kit. Developed in Association with PCC @DavidJMunro @policesupers @stonewalluk @NatTransPolice @ACCJulieCooke @LGBTpoliceuk bringing consistency across the UK t.co/zcuW18hd1E twitter.com/SuptBlackburn/status/1061971348526899200?s=17

But pretending to be trans does make it easier to access women and girls.

It gives you access to women's spaces that men have traditionally been excluded from.

Prison for example.

Karen White pretended to be trans in order to go to a women's prison. And assaulted women there.

If Karen White had gone to a male prison, there would have been no women for White to assault.

Therefore, pretending to be trans made it easier for White to assault women.

Given I know someone who joined Greater Manchester Police by claiming he was gay as they were not recruiting straight white men at the time, even though he was completely straight, I'm not exactly full of trust in the system either.

It is funny the argument that, because safeguards (ie single sex not mixed sex) can't stop 100% of abuse where abusers are determined, cunning and deceptive enough to get around them, means safeguards are not working to stop any abuse at all and therefore should be scrapped because they hurt transpeoples feelings - is pretty recurrent.

And more than a little creepy.

Too many men enjoy making women and girls feel uncomfortable - exercising power over them, trying to humiliate them, scaring them, intimidating them. Large numbers of "ordinary" men can do this sometimes and then there are some who actively go around being horrible to women and girls.

These men may not necessarily get a sexual thrill > which is what the focus seems to be on > the numbers are higher than "just " the perves (who are hardly insignificant in number).

Then there is the possibly more likely aspect of men arrested saying they are women and demanding women officers carry out the search, observe etc. Plenty of room for upsetting dominance displays here > a lot of fun for an arrested man to exercise power over the police. NOTE this is already happening in prisons, and female prison officers are NOT happy about it, from what I've read.

The point is though is it doesn’t follow they’d have to pretend to be trans to be corrupt

They don't have to pretend. Male transpeople are capable of sexual assault.

Could it be anymore obvious how much Stonewall hate women? We just don't matter to them do we?

Sarah Brown has had a thing about this for years - about a decade.

Could it be anymore obvious how much Stonewall hate women? We just don't matter to them do we?

I'm more concerned that the police hate women so much. They don't need to take on stonewall's advice and disregard women's rights, but they do.

These are dark times. What with Susie Green from Mermaids winning a special award from MI5 and John Bercow squatting as Speaker of the House... there is much going on behind the scenes to undermine women and children's rights and democracy itself at the moment and Stonewall are the public face.

"I'm more concerned that the police hate women so much"

This is no surprise surely?

Did anyone notice that the AGP (ie heterosexual male who identifies as trans) calling themselves a lesbian was the only only one who got a response on twitter?

Did anyone notice that the AGP (ie heterosexual male who identifies as trans) calling themselves a lesbian was the only only one who got a response on twitter?

Demonstrating that theirs is the only opinion Clinton Blackburn cares about.

And where the police lead, others will follow, such as security checks at airports and big venues; security and customs checks at the border (and they definitely do cavity checks, though I think it's medical professionals observed by border officers) etc etc

And what about where female rape victims undergo examination by a police doctor? a) What's to stop the police doctor identifying as a woman? And b) what's to stop the police officer who observes the examination identifying as a woman?

this all makes me feel a bit sick, TBH

Sarah Brown has had a thing about this for years - about a decade.

Are you serious? Do you have links?

There is no positive interpretation of the motive there, is there? I can see someone who simply doesn't give a shit about women, giving the advice that transwomen cops should be allowed to strip search female prisoners, who the fuck cares what the women think about it, they're just props anyway aren't they?

But to repeatedly make a point about it without anyone asking you? POLICE OFFICERS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO ENJOY STRIP SEARCHES. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A JOB PERK. NOBODY SHOULD BE LOBBYING FOR THEIR RIGHT TO STRIP SEARCH ANYBODY.

And it's almost more disturbing that Sarah Brown apparently didn't realise the implications of focusing on something like that, and how it looks to other people.

And more disturbing even than that is that nobody in the last ten years ever said "fuck off, you disgusting creepy old pervert" and chased Sarah out of politics for this.

This is what you get when a public body outsources trans policies to its LBGT people in the organisation.

Those LBGT diversity units, togather with the TransPoliceAlliance and the National Police Chiefs LBGT leaders, always focus on the needs of those that they represent. Other affected groups aren't even considered.

This is not the way to make a policy or even a toolkit.

Now, when I see that guidance has come from LBGT, with Stonewall acting as consultants, and using phrases like 'assigned gender at birth", I already know that the guidance will put at risk women's privacy, dignity and rights to separate sex provision.

LBGT units are in danger of losing credibility. They need to step back.
The LBGT in policing needs to step right back - it's not their place to define transphobia in a way that cuts across the public's right to reject an ideology/belief system.

Get the LBGT out of policy making.

It's like getting White Police Officers' Association (if there was such a thing) to draw up all policies on community relations.

Has this been in the press yet?

BBC North West @BBCNWT
Cheshire Police constable Ian Naude, 30, has been found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of the rape and sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

GOOD

If a corrupt male officer wanted to take advantage of vulnerable women there would be far easier ways than identifying as female and hoping on that odd occasion a woman needs searching in custody they are on duty and available, and all that effort just to look at a naked woman?

If this actually comes to pass, will the amount of searches increase, after all the police don't really need to justify why they searched a person. I mean yeah they need a reason but I am sure they can think of something.
And yes to a crowdfunder when needed.

Cheshire Police constable Ian Naude, 30, has been found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of the rape and sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

A paedophile who joined the police as a way to identify and gain access to victims.

God, that article.

BBC link

Some lowlights:

"PC Ian Naude, 30, joined Cheshire Constabulary "to gain the keys to a sweetshop" through access to potential victims, Liverpool Crown Court heard."

"It has emerged Naude was already being investigated for sex offences when he became a student officer in April 2017."

"Cheshire Constabulary said Naude had passed the vetting process in October 2016 but that allegations of sex offences being investigated by two neighbouring forces in early 2017 did not get picked up."

And the police then sent him details of their investigation into him:

"Naude deleted more than 750 photos from his phone after an "administrative error" meant he had been copied into emails relating to the police investigation into his conduct".

"Cheshire Det Ch Supt Aaron Duggan said Naude "joined police intentionally to commit this type of offending".

But this never happens, right? People never seek positions which give them access to commit offences.

I know it's only tangentially connected to the thread but

Joani Walsh
‏*@joaniwalshi*
Just had a response from West Yorkshire Police double confirming they record offenders by self-ID. So Karen White's crimes will go down as female.

To the people whose response is that no policeman would 'go as far' as to self-id as a woman in order to do this - if self-id becomes law, they don't have to go very "far" at all, in fact they don't even have to change their appearance one iota - just declare themselves a woman.

And given the post by PainInTheEar above, self-id is already being taken as good enough by West Yorks police.

They'll just declare themselves gender-fluid.

That will cover all the angles.

Don't want to search repeat offender Betty who is in her sixties and has a body odour problem? Well, you can't anyway because you identify as a man that day.

Don't want to search 20 stone Trevor who has a history of assaulting police officers? Sorry, can't. Identify as a woman at that point.

Want to search an 18 year old female? Well, of course you can because you identify as a woman on that day.

I have been a police officer and have had to carry out strip searches on women in custody. Although I never touched them (because you're not supposed to) the whole process is still deeply humiliating to the detainee - think having to bend over and part your buttocks so that the police officer can look up your bum for drugs. I and all the other female officers used to absolutely hate it. We would get it over and done with as quickly as possible and then apologise to the woman for how undignified it was.

Anyone who actively wants to carry out a strip search for whatever reason is deeply suspect and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near women who have placed in such a vulnerable situation.