Good policing or just invasive?

[Deleted User]

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

Hahha! What a joke. You've obviously never been stopped by the police who tHemselves can have a attitude problem, desperate to make an arrest over anything.

I am a woman and I have been in a situation where I've been stopped by two rookie officers with a chip on their solider desperate to meet the nights targets of x amount of arrests so pulled me over for absolutely nothing. Yes nothing... Only to ask me where I was driving to or coming from... Non of their business frankly but I complied, only to be sent on my merry way after 15minutes of pointless banter.

Frankly, a bad attitude is not illegal. I could be the rudest person in the world. If I haven't broken the law, sod off!

I'm a woman, yes I've been stopped before, and have even been to prison.

Sounds like you failed the test too, the police can do spot checks, they need no reason to stop you.

You wouldn't complain if your car was stolen, and they stopped it.

I used to think like you, then I matured, grew up, and lost the chip from my shoulder.

BTW, being rude is illegal, it comes under language likely to offend or cause upset.

Paradigm

ilikethesimpsons wrote: »

You failed the attitude test.

I read this all the time, don't the police have an attitude test?

Let's not forget, they are public servants... you & I pay their wages. I expect to be treated in a courteous & polite way, until (if) there's a reason for that to change.

I got stopped about 6 months ago & the 2 plods came walking up to the cab, I wound the window down & said "morning mate"...his reply was "It's officer to you"

That's attitude!

Macca83_2

Or look at this way. You've had a long 3 hour drive. You're tired. You're packing up, thinking about getting in the house having a cup of tea, something to eat and flaking out in front of the t.v. I think I'd be a wee bit flustered too if two policemen jumped out a van and started ordering me about. Especially if it's not obviously clear what they want with you.
I think in the general scheme of things, what they did is not a bad thing but I'm pretty sure I'd be a wee bit taken a back by the whole situation.

Ultrasonic

Firstimer wrote: »

lol they got nothing better to do then waste our time

What if LondonTiger's satnav really was being stolen?

There might be a question over exactly how the incident was handled (it's impossible to say without having been there), but I see no grounds to question why the police officers investigated what looked like a possible crime. If it was me in this situation I would want the police to at least investigate.

I was once spoken to by police officers whilst parked up waiting for my windscreen to demist. At the time the police said there had been recent burglaries of nearby comercial units and they thought I looked a little suspcious parked there. I wasn't offended, I merely explained why I was there, showed them my licence and they then checked my details before allowing me on my way. I didn't feel harassed at all.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Yes once when returning from night shift in the wee small hours in my 4x4 i got pulled by a patrol car on a country road not far from an itinerant camp.

Police good as gold, asked me who i was and why i was out, reasonable questions, they obviously already identified who the car should be owned by, soon as i gave the right answer the officer bade me goodnight...and i remembered to thank them....good policing that, i'd have been very grateful if the vehicle had been stolen.

Building_Surveyor

ilikethesimpsons wrote: »

I'm a woman, yes I've been stopped before, and have even been to prison.

Sounds like you failed the test too, the police can do spot checks, they need no reason to stop you.

You wouldn't complain if your car was stolen, and they stopped it.

I used to think like you, then I matured, grew up, and lost the chip from my shoulder.

BTW, being rude is illegal, it comes under language likely to offend or cause upset.

Hahah your posts get even funnier..Quite clearly you did not read my post. Where in my post did I say I had an attitude???? So if it's now illegal to have an attitude... Does that mean in my situation the officer should have been arrested himself?... If you re read it you will find I said I complied with everything they asked. So how did I fail that test exactly?

Secondly if my car was reported stolen then there would be a reason to stop it.

Paradigm

Ultrasonic wrote: »

What if LondonTiger's satnav really was being stolen?

There might be a question over exactly how the incident was handled (it's impossible to say without having been there), but I see no grounds to question why the police officers investigated what looked like a possible crime. If it was me in this situation I would want the police to at least investigate.

I was once spoken to by police officers whilst parked up waiting for my windscreen to demist. At the time the police said there had been recent burglaries of nearby comercial units and they thought I looked a little suspcious parked there. I wasn't offended, I merely explained why I was there, showed them my licence and they then checked my details before allowing me on my way. I didn't feel harassed at all.

I don't think there are many who object to spot checks or questions if the police think there's possibly something dodgy going on, it's how these stops/checks are conducted.

In my last job I finished work at around 2am & it was a fairly regular thing to be stopped on my way home for a "where are you going, where have you been" check, I have no problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is that, if 95% of the officers I've dealt with can be polite why do the other 5% treat me like a suspected terrorist before I've opened my mouth?

Attitude goes both ways, I'm always polite (friendly even) but that can change if I run into one of the rare sour faced, jumped up !!!!!!!

londonTiger

There are a lot of insurance checks on vehicles in the area. i have no problem with them and have gladly handed over my license while sat in the drivers seat. the police were polite and even reminded me to put my seatbelt back on as they handed the driving license back.

The problem here was the police had a serious attitude problem. Didn't give me the benefit of doubt. Thought he was the einstein of judging human psychology. I was in a bit of a shock to have police surrounding me, one looking through my windows in a torch and the other asking what I was doing - which naturally made me alarmed/look nervous which he interpreted as being up to no good.

There was no reason to ask me to get out of the vehicle. I would not have been able to drive off anywhere because I was boxed in by the police van. He thought I was a crook and was !!!! sure about it and through caution out of the window.

Joe_Horner

No, he didn't throw caution out the window - he used caution properly. Being "boxed in by a police van" never stopped anyone making off if they really wanted to, and then they have a pursuit on their hands that may end up with some nun, kitten or polar bear being run over on a zebra crossing and the tabloids demanding to know why they didn't drag the scrote out of the car while they had him stopped.

It's worth bearing in mind that the police have to walk a very fine line between reacting to suspicious circumstances and not harassing the innocent. If they ignore someone stealing your satnav, they're not doing their job. If they question someone who may be stealing your satnav then they may be harassing you.

It's also worth remembering that, while you (and other posters) might encounter the police once every few months (or years), they encounter people being un-cooperative and / or aggressive every time they're at work, possibly several times in a shift.

That doesn't make any "attitude" they may develop right, but the people who develop an attitude after one or two encounters with them are absolutely the last people entitled to have opinions on that!

Paradigm

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It's also worth remembering that, while you (and other posters) might encounter the police once every few months (or years), they encounter people being un-cooperative and / or aggressive every time they're at work, possibly several times in a shift.

That doesn't make any "attitude" they may develop right, but the people who develop an attitude after one or two encounters with them are absolutely the last people entitled to have opinions on that!

As you rightly say, the vast majority of the population have little or no dealings with the Police & when they do it can be a stressful time.
This is when the officers attitude is key.

The last thing needed is a belligerent, aggressive officer which can lead to an "unpredictable" response from an already stressed member of the public.

Luckily, from my dealings with them, most officers are calm, measured & a pain free experience.