The Police- do they get all the stick that someone else deserves?

Question

Many people do not seem to pay Police any respect. They are the face of a country's law (UK in my case) and as such get abused, ignored and even physically attacked...by criminals? Yes, but not all the time. Sometimes just average citizens who seem to think it wise to withhold information or hinder the progress of the 'Fuzz'.

Does anyone else find this sad? I mean my local bobby is pushing sixty, I would have thought, and deals with a whole world of **** each and every day, and he always manages a smile and stops to talk to an old lady at the bottom of our road. Ten minutes later he might be getting kicked senseless by a gang of teenage hoodlums.

He deserves so much credit but many people just see him as the face of the establishment and so give no help. It's the shadowy corridors of power above him that are the problem, not the men and the women on the streets!

Anyone else agree?

Answer 1

Yes, I do agree with what you say.

The police take much of the flak for what effectively the government have forced upon them. We are as you say the face of the establishment (still fighting for a reasonable pay rise - unlike the government who seem quite happy to give themselves double % figures for the obviously dangerous job they do!!!)

Frankfurt - "A lot of modern officers are not really committed". Bit of a sweeping statement don't you think? Firstly the job is far more difficult now than it ever was, with much tighter restrictions on officers, and far more paperwork. We can no longer sort jobs by giving them a 'clip'. Secondly I have 12 years service with not one single day off sick. I am committed to my profession, however I work to live and not live to work. I love my job, but love my family more.

Answer 2

There are many reasons why the police are no longer respected. I will try to list a few...I am in the Uk

1, Laws favour the criminal
2, Pcso`s replacing beat bobbies
3, Mountains of red tape/beurocracy/paperwork
4, The media only ever reporting bad things about the police.
5, Criminal adults having children of their own.
6, No payrise, leading to no moral, leading to grumpy cops
7, Not even having a Taser for protection.
8, Not being able to give a disrespectfull kid a clip around the ear.
9,Goverment arrest targets
10, National crime recording standards

The list is endless, pretty soon no-one will want to join the police. The pension is no longer a temptation. The wages are rubbish for what they do. NCRS(point 10) expect police to crime every incident they attend, even if the victim does not wish to press charges. The human rights act says that they should be treated with respect, even though they care nothing of the victims rights.
There are people on here(STAND), who think that because they were treated badly at some point they have the right to label every copper as bad. The media will only be interested in stories that sell papers, unfortunately that means bending the truth to suit them and usually shows the police in a bad light. More and more police are leaving the job and not being replaced, whilst the population is growing. There will be no cure because we have already lost control of the streets. People will not tackle criminals themselves for fear of retribution. When a criminal complains of mistreatment, the police can no longer say"you deserved it", because they are duty-bound to act on what they say. Moral is at an all time low, this is because of many reasons, including not getting a fair payrise, supervisors only working in their unit to get a fulltime premotion, having to work single crewed on nights(where i work in the city).
Having to do hours of paperwork when there should be no need to.

People forget that its the government that have interfered with how the poloice are run. There was none of this 10/15 years ago when the police ran the police.

Answer 3

I'm a serving police officer and believe me this is a thankless job. I can only speak for myself but I thank everyone for their support. Police do a very difficult job more so than what the public realise. Generally we are perceived as people who hand out fines and eat coffee and donuts. Nothing could be further from the truth. I work long hours, have no social life and rarely see my family. I have never seen any corruption nor taken part in any illegal but I'm sure it's out there and it gets dealt with quickly. People don't see the carnage we deal with, the drunks we arrest, the violent offenders we often wrestle with in attempting an arrest, the mentally or psychologically people we have to wrestle with, the many weeks or months involved in an investigation and the list goes on and on and on all for lousy pay. Cheers.

Answer 4

The problem is bad management, also lack of education and idleness of many Officers. I have first hand experience of both having been the victim of a "botched" investigation which took over 30 months and then the culprits were not charged because of the Time Limitation rule. This was soley due to idleness on the part of certain Officers. No wonder the public have no respect for them.

Answer 5

well i also live in the UK and im 16 , ( now i know when you read my answer ul think im just a stupid teenager with no respect lol)

your right , i don't show all police men respect because of stupid mistakes they make , fair enuf every one makes mistakes but the police where i live ( Ashington/Newcastle North East Of England) are absolutely pathetic , if a car got stolen and then a joy ride you wouldnt even see a police car in pursuit for atleast 30 mins , they neva go round to the shops checking up on gangs to see what there up to , and they always avoid the public places where there is always trouble ,

im not saying all police men are like this because there not just the ones round here

Answer 6

In the US, if you are not an F up that loves to use force, being a cop is the job with the HIGHEST job security. There is a reason police in the US don't quit and go to another job, it is called a good retirement.

So your option is this, a BS job with security or a job that is better with no security.

Don't know about the UK, but anyways if someone wants my respect they got to earn it. If a cop wants my respect, then treat me with respect and I will treat you with respect. Very simple, it is called reciprocity.





And act like a hard *** and I will treat you like the little hard *** punk you are.

Answer 7

My goodness at last someone with an excellent grasp of how much we all owe to these officers Men/& Women. They are, thefront line against ever increasing violence in this our UK, that cannot be said for the Law,itself these brave police put their lives on the line many times and spend hours bringing offenders to courts only to be let down by what can only be decribed as out of date legalities. Magistrates/ Judges, get a grip on =todays needs =you lawyers. and sort out this mess.

Answer 8

We should respect our Police Officers, I don't mean those that sit in offices looking for ways to prevent the 'bobby on the beat' from doing his job.

There is too much emphasis on dealing with crimes against poofters and Muslims and the like, when they should be dealing with all aspects of crime.

They are there to be shot at whatever happens, if they do their jobs, some people say 'You should be catching murderers' if they don't do their jobs, people say 'You should be catching murderers'.

Answer 9

To an extent.There are good police out there in the UK but a lot of modern officers are not really committed and treat it as a job with very little dedication.

Answer 10

I STARTED MY LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREER IN 1965 AFTER H/S. I HAVE SERVED AS A POLICE OFFICER ON CAMPUS, A SHERIFF IN SEATTLE, A CORRCTIONAL OFFICER IN SEATTLE AND ALABAMA. A DETECTIVE, A CID AGENT (MILITARY).(WAS SENT TO SCHOOLS NO BODY BUT POLICE CAN ATTEND. I HAVE BEEN PAID TO GET MY 3 MASTERS DEGREES WHILE WORKING FULL TIME PLUS MY PARA LEGAL DEGREE BECAUSE I WAS A DUMB COP?)

I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN RICH AS FAR AS A SALARY GOES. (COULD HAVE MADE MORE AT MCDONALDS AS A MANAGER HAHAHAHA) BUT I HAVE NEVER HAD TO LOOK FOR A JOB. TWO WEEKS AFTER I ARRIVED IN ALABAMA I WAS AT WORK FOR A SHERIFF'S DEPT IN A JAIL AND LATER WENT TO THE STATE FOR A BETTER SALARY.

RETIREMENT IS GOOD AND I RETIRED ON 29 SEPT 07 WITH 42 YEARS.
STARTING SALARY IN 1965 WAS $1.85 AND HOUR.
1968 $640 A MONTH
2007 $ 72,000 A YEAR--WITH 1,200 HOURS A YEAR IN OVERTIME.

THE JOB IS REWARDING IN THAT YOU DO SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO DO. THE STORIES I COULD TELL YOU WOULD MAKE YOUR HAIR STAND ON END AND LEAVE YOU WONDERING WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?(FAMILY FIGHT MAN WITH A RIFLE--TALKED THE MAN DOWN WITH A 30.06 RIFLE POINTED STRAIGHT AT ME. THEY WERE GETTING DIVORCED AND HE WAS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE--1972--1982 I WENT ON A CALL AND WAS GREETED BY THE GUY AND HIS WIFE THEY HAD JUST CELEBRATED 25 YEARS OF MARRIAGE--HE WENT TO ALCOHOL COUNSELING --DID NOT ARREST HIM AND THEY WORKED IT OUT) THAT IS WHY WE WORK AND DO WHAT WE DO. IT COMES WITH THE TERRITORY AND ONCE IT GETS INTO YOUR BLOOD YOU CANNOT WASH IT OUT?
IT IS A THANKLESS JOB TILL YOU MEET THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHO KNOW WHAT YOU DO. I HAVE IN MY CAREER DELT WITH ALL WALKS OF LIFE (MAFIA TO GANG BANGERS TO BIKERS TO MILLIONAIRES AND ARRESTED THEM ALL LEGALLY.-THEY RESPECT A LEGAL BUST IT IS A GAME THEY PLAY-SOMETIMES YOU WIN SOMETIMES YOU LOSE) YOU KNOW YOU DO YOUR JOB WHEN YOU CAN WALK YOUR BEAT OR PATROL IT AND PEOPLE WANT TO TALK TO YOU. THE AVERAGE TEEN IS AFRAID OF THE POLICE AND HAS NO REASON TO BE. I AM SUSPICIOUS, CAUTIOUS, OPEN AND ALERT. THIS IS HOW I HAVE SURVIVED. KIDS TELL ME SO AND SO IS LOOKING FOR YOU AND I'LL GOT AND ASK HIM I HEAR YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ME?? WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?
PROTECT AND SERVE OUR MOTTO--IN POLICE WORK
TAKE IT TO THE MAX IS OUR CORRECTIONAL PHILOSOPHY