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recent police killing
Sep. 21st, 2012 12:12 pm...has made me think a bit about the odd place of English police in society.
I'd wondered if the public would have reacted the same way towards two young men being shot; Robert argued yes, because we simply don't lose police officers of any gender very often.
They are mostly unarmed - by tradition, and to a certain extent by choice. It hadn't occurred to me that it was an extension of the 'policing by consent' model, but of course, it's very explicitly part of that. When consent breaks down, it's obvious (like in last year's riots); but on the whole, those incidents of breakdown are rare. That's why we make a big deal of them.
At the same time, as an institution they're not very well trusted; the coverup of Hillsborough, the misinformation over Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005; the lying over the dead paper-seller at the G20 'kettling' in the City; the systematic neglect of the mobile phone hacking cases over years; the Met snuggling up to Murdoch's papers and people. For every gain in trust, they seem to set themselves back simultaneously.
This comment isn't going anywhere - I was just musing over it this week.
I'd wondered if the public would have reacted the same way towards two young men being shot; Robert argued yes, because we simply don't lose police officers of any gender very often.
They are mostly unarmed - by tradition, and to a certain extent by choice. It hadn't occurred to me that it was an extension of the 'policing by consent' model, but of course, it's very explicitly part of that. When consent breaks down, it's obvious (like in last year's riots); but on the whole, those incidents of breakdown are rare. That's why we make a big deal of them.
At the same time, as an institution they're not very well trusted; the coverup of Hillsborough, the misinformation over Jean Charles de Menezes in 2005; the lying over the dead paper-seller at the G20 'kettling' in the City; the systematic neglect of the mobile phone hacking cases over years; the Met snuggling up to Murdoch's papers and people. For every gain in trust, they seem to set themselves back simultaneously.
This comment isn't going anywhere - I was just musing over it this week.
