I’ve always been a law-abiding citizen. In seven decades on this mortal coil, my dealings with HM Constabulary consist of reporting the burglary of my house and my car being broken into, and witnessing a traffic accident. The behaviour of the police on these occasions was impeccable, and it’s no real surprise then that I’ve always subscribed to the ‘aren’t our police wonderful?’ school of thought.
Just lately however, I’m starting to have, shall we say, reservations about our police. Naturally we’ve all witnessed the ineptitude of the likes of Cressida Dickhead, and the vileness of Wayne Couzens;
News Story 1.
News Story 2.
But there also seems to be a relentless drip drip of stories relating to police incompetence, corruption and brutality. Here are just a few examples;
-Met. Police ‘institutionally corrupt’ says report; Independent, June 21
-Sussex officers convicted of assaulting teenage girl; IOPC, Dec 21
-Gtr. M’chester officer charged with conspiracy to commit corruption; M’chester
Evening News, Dec 21
-Officer sacked over social media sex images; BBC, Dec 21
-Ex-Gwent officer jailed for misconduct; S. Wales Argus, Dec 21
-PC jailed for attacking members of the public ‘found dead’; Eve. Standard, Dec 21
You get my drift. I recall the days of blue-uniformed George Dixon types patrolling the streets; many men and women who, I’m sure, did a really tough job honorably. No doubt there are many of their ilk still around, but there does seem to be an increasing reek of bad eggs about. I don’t know, maybe it’s just the relentless nature of the meeja these days, and that rotten underbelly has always been there.
Anyway, I sense with unease a growing disconnect between the police and the public, the opening up of a real ‘us and them’ divide which places the very principle of ‘policing by consent’ under threat. It’s a dichotomy; we NEED the police, but increasingly, it’s hard toTRUST them, and unfortunately, a lot of the responsibility for this can be laid at the door of the police themselves.
Oh, and they always used to say ‘if you want to know the time, ask a policeman’. I’d suggest that if you do, it might be wise to avoid these two likely lads;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neVa7PappvI
Just one sad example among many of an everyday, casual, disdainful assumption of authority, leading to an unlawful abuse of police power against a citizen committing no offence. They do it because they think they can get away with it, and that’s a cunt.
Evening all.
Nominated by: Ron Knee (Cunter of the Year 2021)
