The More In Common organisation has undertaken a survey about public views of the police and they don’t, either for the police or for society in general, make for pleasant or comfortable reading. Those surveyed said that they were extremely worried about crime but also similarly lacking in trust in the police forces that are supposed to serve them and keep them safe.
Writing in CapX magazine, Luke Tryl has distilled some of the more cogent findings of the More In Common survey into an article that explains clearly that the public don’t consider the police to be doing their job, that of preventing and detecting crime, properly. The public surveyed said that there were not enough police officers actually on the streets in the areas that they were needed and there were also allegations that Britons in more deprived areas got the distinct impression that the got a lower standard of policing than those in more wealthier areas.
Mr Tryl said:
That growing sense that the police are failing to fulfil their basic responsibilities to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, combined with a series of high-profile scandals, has led to a severe erosion of faith in the force. Barely half (52%) of the public now say they trust the police. That lack of confidence makes officers’ jobs – which depend on community support, consent and cooperation – even harder.
The author is correct. The scandals, ranging from the South Yorkshire force’s habit of saying ‘I see no Islamic Rape Gangs’ and turning a blind eye to abuse, through to the more recent ones where police officers have murdered and raped women, have all contributed to a fall off in support for the police. However I would also add into that people’s observation of police behaviour and priorities in the day to day life of Britons has really not helped. For example: The sight of police officers from a force, that of Hampshire, that can’t control the number of burglaries on its patch harassing a military veteran because he mocked the ‘Progress Pride Flag’ over it’s ability to be twisted into a swastika, doesn’t exactly scream good police priorities. This sort of thing makes the police look less like an impartial body dedicated to stopping and investigating crime and much more like the Left’s hired thugs.
Then there is the image of perceived laziness and can’t be arsed attitude that too many police officers seem to be tarnished with. Officers who turn up at burglary scenes and do nothing more than dish out a crime number for insurance purposes or who ignore relevant CCTV or who fail to take note of victim supplied information such as the data from tracking devices attached to stolen items, also contribute to a lack of trust in police.
I agree with Mr Tryl when he says that crime and the fear of crime eats away at society and morally and culturally impoverishes it. Unfortunately, in part because of the actions of the police and their many and varied failures, Britons are less likely than they once were to trust the police or to see them as their reliable defenders against crime. I’m sadly not that surprised that such a lack of trust has developed in the police as the police have given us plenty of cause to think like that. What’s worrying is that so many Britons, 48%, have made the decision that they no longer trust the police and that bodes ill for the future of our society.
One of my friends regularly writes in the Times (on-line) and was discussing this very subject. A retired Met. Officer who was working in the 1970s joined in the conversation, writing about the “Golden Age” of policing when “domestics” were just ignored “it’s only a domestic sarge’ nothing to do with us”, racism was rife, corruption was rife. Violence was rife ( Blair Peach, smacked over the head at an anti racism rally) I doubt there ever was a time when they could be trusted. It’s just more commonly reported now.
I was a student in the seventies, living in Scotland beside what was allegedly the UK’s most corrupt & aggressive forced who meted out violent “justice” on those they apprehended, irrespective of guilt. I wouldn’t say we lived in fear of them, but we certainly avoided them.
Of course it is right that we do not return to the past when the police behaved badly. The days when it was socially acceptable for police to break heads with impunity or refer to Black people as ‘Sooties’ over the radio or fail to stand up for women and vulnerable people in distress are quite rightly over. The problem, as I see it, is that what has replaced such behaviour in police forces is just as bad or worse but worse in different ways.
Whilst cuts in funding can account for some of the reason that the police are failing, other reasons can be found in the overt politicisation of the police where the police are overtly partisan for one cause or political or social current than others. The police, should be, politically at least, be equal opportunity bastards when such bastards are needed, such as the sort of senior plod I once observed when I was covering a National Front meeting for some press agency,who told the NF security honcho ‘you can meet and speak but kick off and we’ll kick your heads in’. That particular plod I probably correctly assumed would take a similar attitude to the violent extremists of the Left as I’d seen the police kick off at the violent Left as well on demos. Now the story is different. Led by their senior officers who have become replete with policing theory and other Bramshill Bullshit, various forces seem to put adherence to leftist nostrums and leftist causes above impartial policing.
There’s always been people who don’t like the police for one reason or another but there’s always been a healthy majority who would support their local force. It is exceedingly worrying that only 52% of Britons trust the police.
Good article, but may I pick you up on something that is actually relevant to the complaint of misguided priorities you, rightly, report?
In your last paragraph you write: ” I agree with Mr Tryl when they say that … ” . If you have identified Luke Tryl as male, which shows by the use of the title ” Mr.”, why have you followed that with “they say”? Surely that should be “he says” . You appear to have been captured by the very distortions of the language and culture that you, correctly, object to.
Genuine grammar error there. Sorry but my grammar was afflicted by a large dose of educational Plowdenism when I was a child in primary school LOL. Definitely not intentional.
Will edit as soon as I get the chance. Sorry I didn’t notice your comment earlier but I’ve been a bit busy lately rebuilding my A/V distribution system at home and putting more cctv covering my poultry and the place looks like Shelob’s Lair what with all the RG59 cable about the place. 🙂
Edit. Have edited.