So how are you Londoners not terrified of the Met yet?

[scotth266]

The police can't do much having very little power nowadays, though they did contain the G20 summit quite well. Still I'd be more afraid of American cops who seem to frequently arrest and taser for people for petty or non existent reasons.

Guh. People assume crap like that... The funny thing is, only the BAD cops here get any attention. The overwhelming majority are actually very nice, helpful, and use violence only when necessary.

It doesn't help when they try to do their jobs and get accused of racism for no good reason, as they did in my area. Guh.

EDIT: Elaboration is in order.

 

[G1eet]

Were English you see

As Winston Churchill once said during WWII "keep calm and carry on", t'is an English tradition to carry life on as normal during catastrophes, and simply hope your not "that unlucky bastard".

Churchill has the best quotes of all.
" 'Oh, hello Winston, drunk again I see.' 'Well madam, I may be drunk, but you are ugly. And in the morning, I shall be sober.' "

Or something to that effect.

 

[DigitalSushi]

The rediculous amount by which the Police are restricted and any infraction that causes physical harm scares me.

As for the guy killed during the riots. The copper happened to shake the blockage into just the wrong place. It would have happened naturally in time anyway.

he died because he was fat not because a cop killed him.. its just like sending someone to jail for pushing someone over then in the next couple of hours he dies from a heart attack.... wait thats what happened

You guys are aware that he didnt die of a heart attack...an independent (i.e. non-police appointed) post mortem showed he died of internal bleeding.

On the main issue, admittedly the police over-reacted, but 3 policeman acting out, out of several hundred should not be a major concern for people.

The dude was an alcoholic, which thins blood, so internal bleeding isn't so far fetched when you have 4 bottles of Jack Daniels in your system.

 

[chomp.]

Maybe we're all getting a little carried away here? The reason most of the non-Britons are posting this stuff about the 'gun-toting, brutality loving' Met and the 'Orwellian' surveillance of our lives is that they only hear about the extreme, bad stuff that happens, on the news. You're not going to hear about all the boring, normal stuff, are you?

Yes, we can all agree that some regretable instances have occured where the police have acted badly, but as I said, they're not exactly everyday occurances.

Most of the police aren't don't carry firearms, which in my opinion is certainly a good thing, it prevents them from becoming power-drunk, and helps promote the idea of a more trustworthy, 'human' police force.

 

[LockHeart]

The rediculous amount by which the Police are restricted and any infraction that causes physical harm scares me.

As for the guy killed during the riots. The copper happened to shake the blockage into just the wrong place. It would have happened naturally in time anyway.

he died because he was fat not because a cop killed him.. its just like sending someone to jail for pushing someone over then in the next couple of hours he dies from a heart attack.... wait thats what happened

You guys are aware that he didnt die of a heart attack...an independent (i.e. non-police appointed) post mortem showed he died of internal bleeding.

On the main issue, admittedly the police over-reacted, but 3 policeman acting out, out of several hundred should not be a major concern for people.

The dude was an alcoholic, which thins blood, so internal bleeding isn't so far fetched when you have 4 bottles of Jack Daniels in your system.

The fact still remains that the principle of taking a person 'as you find them' applies to the case: the officer didn't know, but that doesn't excuse him from the outcome of his actions.

 

[asdsdgsdgsdg]

hey i live in london and i just want to say i have never had a problem with the police!

 

[Vern]

INGSOC would be double plus proud.

Ha ha! I get it!

Is funny because is joke.

Fantastic, you can watch Family Guy. I'm extremely impressed.

 

[Evilmonkeysniper0182]

Once again it can all be traced back to our over paid and under worked goverment, seems to me as they are the ones sat on the lard asses all daying thinking of ways to screw the police over with more paper work and targets.

I also think life should mean life not 6 months in a furnished cell with sky and a xbox 360 then us the taxpayers pay the lags when they get let out early.

Has anyone got a room l could rent outside of england as if this keeps up im moving out of england

 

[BlackJack47]

I like London, I think the British are very good at dealing with crisis. We either laugh about it afterward or deal with it professionally.

 

[Moormur]

I'm sorry you choose the mistrust all police officers and governments. It's especially easy to be cynical about the government, and for good reason, but seriously...99% of police officers are good, decent people who followed a VERY dangerous career path to better their communities and the world around them. Its that last 1% that make the news all the time. But you seem to be a big fan of following the media's interpretations of things...

 

[CBB]

It's harmless though, if you haven't done anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about.

Except in places like China where it's "wrong" to criticize the government and "wrong" to have basic freedoms. It's fine to tolerate intrusions of privacy when the government is only looking for murderers and rapists; but the watchers have to be watched carefully to make sure that's all they're looking for. The citizens of the United Kingdom should be a lot more proactive in monitoring their government, as the disclosure of parliamentary expenses scandal clearly shows.

 

[bobraj]

A few reasons why I think British police are better than American cops

1)UK bobbies are far less scared for their lives than those from the States, mostly because of the lack of guns in this country. This leads to the UK police acting more civilised than American police when confronted by a particularly dangerous situation.

2)UK police tend not to be armed. Its definitely better knowing that the chance of being shot at by police is minimal.

3)The UK police tend not to use the power to arrest as egregiously as American cops, although the laws governing this authority are pretty much the same in both country. Seems to arise from a simple difference in police cultures. However, cases do arise occasionly and it is a problem that needs to be eliminated.

Unfortunately, it is generally agreed that the UK has the highest number of CCTV systems in the world. This does not seem to overly worry the majority of the population even though the system does seem to be ripe for abuse. I think this puts too much trust into our police force, regardless of how well they do their job.

 

[DigitalSushi]

hey i live in london and i just want to say i have never had a problem with the police!

Sorry wasn't meant to quote you, but hey i'll edit nows.
Thats cos your a Doctor.

The rediculous amount by which the Police are restricted and any infraction that causes physical harm scares me.

As for the guy killed during the riots. The copper happened to shake the blockage into just the wrong place. It would have happened naturally in time anyway.

he died because he was fat not because a cop killed him.. its just like sending someone to jail for pushing someone over then in the next couple of hours he dies from a heart attack.... wait thats what happened

You guys are aware that he didnt die of a heart attack...an independent (i.e. non-police appointed) post mortem showed he died of internal bleeding.

On the main issue, admittedly the police over-reacted, but 3 policeman acting out, out of several hundred should not be a major concern for people.

The dude was an alcoholic, which thins blood, so internal bleeding isn't so far fetched when you have 4 bottles of Jack Daniels in your system.

The fact still remains that the principle of taking a person 'as you find them' applies to the case: the officer didn't know, but that doesn't excuse him from the outcome of his actions.

I agree partially.

What was the protesters doing there in the first place?, causing trouble. While I feel its sad that Alcy man died of internal bleeding that whench that got smacked deserves to get smacked again multiple times for selling her story to Max Clifford for 35 K.

 

[nolongerhere]

If this is G20, that was nothing compared to the miners strikes. If that had happened, you'd have reason to be scared.

If this is about, the brazilian on the train, that was a cock-up of the highest order, but the policemen who shot him did the right thing based on their information. They had to make sure there was no chance he could detonate a bomb, and the only way to do that is to kill him.
Imagine the uproar if he had a bomb, and the police hadn't shot him. Imagine the bravery it takes to follow a man onto a train when you think he is ready to blow up that train.
Those officers should be commended, it was the rest who fucked up.

 

[DigitalSushi]

If this is G20, that was nothing compared to the miners strikes. If that had happened, you'd have reason to be scared.

If this is about, the brazilian on the train, that was a cock-up of the highest order, but the policemen who shot him did the right thing based on their information. They had to make sure there was no chance he could detonate a bomb, and the only way to do that is to kill him.
Imagine the uproar if he had a bomb, and the police hadn't shot him. Imagine the bravery it takes to follow a man onto a train when you think he is ready to blow up that train.
Those officers should be commended, it was the rest who fucked up.

I heard that Brazilian was coked up to the eyeballs, which was have made him highly suspicious what with being coked up, would have made him incredibly paranoid especially towards police.

 

[deathninja]

Eh, police are the same all over the country, the Met get more flak in the papers because as far as the press are concerned London == UK.

[Case in point: I was on a train stopping at a fairly quiet town, stepped onto the platform and next thing I knew a copper's trying to punch me in the face. Turns out there were some soccer hooligans in the next carridge, but this dickhead was quite happy to just lamp the first guy who got off the train...]

 

[manaman]

Hey, our cops can ask questions without pointing guns at people, it's more than yours can.

Did you bother engaging your brain before making this statement or where you just looking to make a broad derogatory statement about possibly everyone in the world aside from your locale?

You just...

Ah gezz, why bother? You where probably just trying to start something.

For all you foreigners (Non-American), I would hate to not be able to have my guns, and I personally like being roughed up a little by the cops. It lets me know they really couldn't give a crap about me. I mean if I can I cannot get slammed to the ground for giving some underpaid cop a little crap I wouldn't feel alive.

Sadly of course at some point I realized I did not live in the movies and most of what you guys are saying to defend the police in your city/country. Applies here as well, that the media blows the slightest thing out of proportion and of course is only going to report on the bad stuff that happens. Otherwise pretty much normalsville here as well. Even with 300% of Americans owning 7 guns or more and carrying them on their persons at all times.

You know just like Switzerland the most violently awesome place in the world.

Oh and in case you didn't get it most of this little post was a gross exaggeration, or sarcasm. Sorry the blatant hypocrisy and narrow minded views in a lot of the posts just bought that out of me.

Personally the cops in Mexico actually scare me. Mostly because I never know if I am going to run afoul of a crooked cop (they will shake foreigners down if you are unlucky enough to catch their eye), or a semi-honest one. At least with the crooked ones I can bribe them. A lot of the semi-honest ones will harass you for being American, and you cannot bribe them. Not really a problem once you get away from the border towns. Also those two groups are not in the majority, they just get more notice from me then the ones just doing their jobs. Same holds in every poorer nation next to a richer nation, the border areas become infected with crime, and in the poor nation a kind of universal hatred for the richer nation. Aside from places like that, yeah pretty much buisness as usual on a local scale as far as cops go. Cannot speak from experience about places I have not been.

 

[Brotherofwill]

What I hate about London is all the police vans patrolling around with the officers inside wearing kevlar. The area I often visit is close to headquarters but still, the constant patrolling of police cars is unsettling.

I have yet to come in contact with them and see how they treat me so I can't really say anything about that.

 

[Khazoth]

If you want to be safe, live in North Korea, seriously. Humans cannot be trusted with personal freedom because there is a small chance they will go kill crazy and eliminate their fellow man in large droves.. I mean, really, the most you've got to worry about in North Korea is poverty, lack of freedom, and the chance your leader will go crazy and cause another nation to invade.

C'est la vie, in London they have billyclubs and mean words.