The home secretary backed police and ordered a review of armed units after officers protested over a murder charge

The home secretary backed police and ordered a review of armed units after officers protested over a murder charge

Background on this for non-UK people -

  • Black guy shot by armed policeman whilst sitting in his own car.

  • Policeman arrested for murder, released on bail.

  • Last weekend armed police ‘strike’ by dropping their weapons because one of their own has been charged with murder

As per usual the victim is being forgotten in all of this while it turns into a massively corrupt political game.

  • HipPriest@kbin.socialOP
    2·
    9 months ago

    If you’re feeling chatty sometime, I’d be curious to know your perspective on The Met’s ‘ordinary’ cops — the ones who patrol without guns. Maybe being gunless makes it at least hypothetically possible that they’re not all bastards?

    I don’t think guns come into the equation. Police in the UK don’t patrol with guns, they’re only used for special operations. It just means that any violence tends to be more physical and less fatal.

    I think that the majority of individuals who join the police force are decent people who want to uphold the law. However, the culture is still one that closes ranks when outsiders criticise, has a boy’s club mentality with some (sexist jokes, racist jokes, probably descends into more than jokes) which we’ve seen from leaked WhatsApp chats. It’s this culture which can and does poison minds and that’s where the ‘being bastards’ can come from.

    • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32·
      9 months ago

      Thanks again for the further into :) and imagine my surprise at learning that even without guns, cops are still bastards.