Monday 11 April 2011

Police Culture

The idea for this post came mainly from the comments on the Smiley Culture post but also on a few others. I never cease to be amazed at the outdated and paranoid views of some contributors regarding what they perceive as a culture of corruption within the police. The truth is that, in general, the opposite is the reality.

Fifty years ago under the auspices of good old Dixon of Dock Green, the truth was that public disorder was largely dealt with by the police by way of a beating in a dark alley. Suspected criminals were arrested, confessions were coerced, and occasionally where evidence was lacking, it was fabricated and the bad guys went to prison. The police didn't care what you went to prison for, if you deserved it that's where you should be. Very occasionally an innocent person was convicted and there have been a number of high profile cases showing this. Despite this, some people yearn for a return of the Dixon of Dock Green era.

Legislation, accountability and bureaucracy were introduced to address these cultural issues within the police. Over the last 50 years summary justice has disappeared. Rather than covering for one another there is now a culture of fear meaning officers are hampered in their effectiveness and watching every word they say, worried that another may report them. For example, violent offenders are assaulting police officers because they are not being robust enough, concerned that use of force may be perceived as excessive by a colleague. I am not naive and there are a few exceptions, particularly in some specialist departments. The Met TSG is one. I know two supervisors on the TSG. They are good supervisors and are slowly changing things but there is still an element of covering for some officers poor behaviour.

One of the worst changes in the police is the big brother approach to political correctness. When you attend one of the numerous diversity course it is drummed into you that on or off duty you must report inappropriate behaviour. One of he results of this is that supervisors are reluctant to attend any function where alcohol is present. So celebrations and leaving do's are high risk. The reason is that after a few drinks there is always a chance of someone making an inappropriate remark. It could be a sexist joke or, God forbid, a derogatory remark about sexuality for example. If you hear such a remark, and choose to ignore it, but someone else reports it, the risk to you is that you will be disciplined for not reporting it. For a PC that might mean a reprimand, for a supervisor it almost certainly means dismissal. I rarely attend off duty functions.

Regarding the comments about the police covering for each other and not getting rid of bad apples, nothing could be further from the truth. Every day, police officers are resigning or are sacked because of inappropriate behaviour. Every month a police officer is standing in a dock charged with an offence. In more than 90% of all these cases it is the police who have uncovered and dealt with the crime or behaviour. Officers being disciplined or charged as a result of complaints by the public are few and far between because the majority of complaints have no firm basis. That is another story.

Rather than corrupt thugs, the 2011 police 'service' is fast becoming staffed by ineffective automatons all made in the same PC mould.

8 comments:

  1. what will turn this around? i'm from california, where there is plenty of anti-cop attitude, but from reading this blog regularly (and i'm not a cop) it seems like the anti-cop attitude in the UK is extreme. do most residents feel like this, or is it a the-squeakiest-wheel-gets-the-grease type of situation (with very squeaky wheels...)?

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  2. Untruthful fantasies written by or probably for, ten year olds.

    gladius

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  3. No most do not... the ones that can cause problems do; but they are only a small %

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  4. A complaint came my way from a member of the public. As Duty Inspector I phoned him. He was angry that police used petrol paid for by the tax payer to drive to a local take-away establishment. Another thought it absolutely disgusting that two PCs had allegedly not told her sons the reasons they were stopped. They were in custody for possession of knives, but this was apparently not the issue, and the officers remained a disgrace. I told her they had been stopped because we had intel there would be violence (S60 in place) No she argued - they had only been stopped because they were black...

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  5. >> Regarding the comments about the police covering for each other and not getting rid of bad apples, nothing could be further from the truth.

    If I saw, for instance, PC Harwood being told to get back into his van or some other officers helping Tomlinson when he fell to the ground, rather than staring at their shoes..
    If I saw PC Harwood facing charges..
    If the police statements in the immediate aftermath had not been a series of fanciful fabrications..
    Ditto Blair/Menezes, or any other case you care to mention..
    Then_ I would agree with you, as would most of the public I expect.


    As it is, no chance. None at all.

    I can accept that there are some bad apples in the Police. That's unavoidable. It's the automatic lies and denials upon every misdemenour that I can't bear.

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  6. @Anonymous,i also live in California but grew up in London. California cops are trigger happy, scared bunnies, but behave civil and respectful for the most part...but in the U.K, where recreational violence is, to a large degree, part of the culture you'll more often find cops acting like racist thugs drunk on their uniform and acting with impunity .....English cops are truly obnoxious for the most part as are immigration officials @ Heathrow airport .... however, justice occasionally overrules these fools: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/14/kettling-g20-protesters-police-illegal?CMP=twt_fd

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  7. XX One of the worst changes in the police is the big brother approach to political correctness. When you attend one of the numerous diversity course it is drummed into you that on or off duty you must report inappropriate behaviour.XX

    Most of my older police mates (Some still in the job, a lot already retired) here are ex Volpos (Volkspolizei) from the DDR (East Germany) days. They reccognise your situation like it was their autobiography.

    Strange how the West won the cold war, only to become the very thing that was being "fought" against.

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  8. Here in California we have our share of police officers who will lie for their fellow officers, but that is not the case with all officers. Regarding your comment concerning a supervisor going to a party after work and after a few drinks, things start to happen...yes, this is an issue. That is why I never go to those things. I just make sure my staff gets back to the station safely and I go home. Nothing good comes from going to a nice after hours drunkfest.

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