Are the British Police behaving like yobs?

Ollie

Its nothing new they where brutal to the miners only the miners
got the blame.

washerl

No No NO ......
20% do a proper job;
80% like this coward who beat Mr Tomlinson, they behave like cowards
and not like yobs.
only a coward with no b-lls beat a Men from the back when this same men has with own hands in the pocket.
A yob don`t do that.....

Big T

"Retired Plod".
Where you are coming from is exactly the place that ensured the need for the creation of the IPCC.
Mr. Tomlinson had every right on the planet to be where he was, and to expect impeccable behaviour of the police.
What difference does it make if he is a Big Issue seller or a purveyor of the Evening Standard?
We don't know what happened immediately prior to his being struck with that baton and being flung to the ground, but it seems extremely unlikely that anyone who was taunting the police would do so with their hands in their pockets. They would, at least, be gesticulating, and Mr Tomlinson, clearly, was not.
Why should he NOT be close to the police? What law is there that states that it is illegal to be close to a body of policemen? Further, where, in law, does it say that if you do happen to be close to policemen, they have the right to strike you to the ground?
His family claim that he was on his way home. Why should he not choose that route to go home by?
Even if he considered that there might be some disturbance, why should he not be free to choose to go home by that route?
The police may well have been "under pressure". That is not a justifiable reason for attacking somebody.
There were armed police present.
Had one of them shot into the crowd, because he was "under pressure", would that be justifiable?
It matters not if the policeman involved was from out of town or local, or even imported from a foreign country, if he is policing the streets of London, the standards of acceptable behaviour should be the same as for any other policeman.
Did any policemen come to Mr. Tomlinson's assistance once he had been struck down?
No.
Not until he was actually having his heart attack did any policeman assist him.
Pretty tawdry behaviour which needs to be thoroughly investigated, and action taken if fault is found, though I doubt (in Big Brother Britain) that it will be.

edit:
An interesting article, from The Guardian, for you:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/16/protest-police-liberty-central

I rather like the proposal that everyone goes out, en masse, and photographs policemen!!

edit 2:
WooAne, a man was later arrested on suspicion of murder. Will the officer involved in this case meet the same fate? Perhaps those of us who are concerned enough to "rant" are merely promoting the old fashioned belief that we are all equal under the law, and that goes for policemen too.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2007/12/28/tributes-to-cop-after-999-call-death-115875-20267223/
And, since you seem to feel aggrieved that no-one was charged (false) please see:
http://www.adfero.co.uk/news/crime/police-officer-dies-after-assault-$1182528.htm
So, when can we expect to see a policeman in the dock?
"What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" - unless the gander is a police officer??

Baker

The officer hit him too hard, but was right to hit him, or at least push him out of the way. It was a riot, and the police need to keep a distance between themselves and the rioters. The police did not know he was not a rioter.

The officer should be jailed for one year for manslaughter in my opinion.

littlebilly420

riot police are yobs, it's why they take the job

Wayne S

YES THE UK POLICE ARE NAZIS

Bamford1000

The British Police are usually more restrained that the European Police, remember the Italian Police at the G8 in Genoa, when they shot dead a protester and a policeman was also killed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6278311.stm

Just because one policeman acted in such a way, does not mean that all British police should be branded yobs. There were plenty of yobs protesting in London that day and the injuries to police officers are often overlooked by the liberals and the politically correct.

Perhaps it's time such G20 meeting were held away from big cities like London where there is more scope for disorder.

Crow

They are behaving like the government they serve, they are out of touch, out of control, and no longer serving the people who employ them. They are nothing but the new labours private bully boys, uniformed thugs. Quite honestly, for what good the police are to the people they are supposed to serve, the people may as well withdraw the amount they are paying on council tax for the police service, and employ a private police force answerable to the people and the area.That way, at least, the people would get the service their area requires, and not an ineffective second rate , unreliable excuse for a police force.

rebel

i have had a lot of dealings with the police,they have always behaved like yobs,they have sent vanloads to arrest me,yet i have always gone quietly and never resisted arrested,they have jumped on me been pretty rough,i have found them totally corrupt,they have always lied,im pretty pipped off with them,i could write a book on the injustice i have suffered and people i know,i think a lot of people are brainwashed by the govt,its rare they get charged for killing or assaulting people,and they are puppets of the corrupt govt,i truly hate the lot of them,its pure corruption.

WooAne

Remember PC Roberts who attended the scene of a domestic on Boxing Day 2007?
Was the violent partner of the woman who called police charged with murder when the police officer collapsed and died of a heart attack in the front garden? No!?

Please stop your rants.

The Mock Race see

There are bad eggs everywhere Perhaps this Cop was "highly stung" after the days event

Its clear he should be sacked because his actions murdered a Civilian who payed taxes to be protected by the Police not pushed to the ground with his hands in his pockets

Something else to ponder is when Ian is on the floor he is seen shouting at the police there is a copper crouched down with his shield and a photographer snapping away to make it look like the police are in control of the protesters was this a set up that went horribly wrong

holiday1

Because of Political Correctness the Establishment no longer are able to recruit 'bobbies', they can only pick the best of a bad bunch. (I am personally aware of one woman who was psychotic - she'd come in the room and turn off the TV while people were watching it...then walk out saying "I don't like that program...")) We've all seen the 4'6" tall woman PC. Unfortunately, the police now recruit for wages and power. Not to protect the innocent or high principles as our grandfathers did.

Barbara Doll to you

They can do no wrong everyone closes ranks when a policeman is accused of anything. Wait and see.

I support civilian police, but only if they behave as they should.

Duisend-poot

He did not behave in the manner a policeman should. But keep in mind that they are stressed out, look how few of them were there to control all those people. I am surprised that their are any policeman left in the Uk with the kind of abuse they have to take. The people of Uk are fortunate that they don't carry guns like they do in the states. I have watched programs where the cops get belted with bricks , bottles etc and they have nothing to defend themselves with and the day they do they get abused by the newspapers etc.

allen555

You are right that the Cop appears to be behaving badly, however, think of this. He is referred to as a newspaper seller, but he's wearing ID. So was he a big issue seller? What happened immediately before the incident? Why did he go so close to the Cops? Was he taunting them? Why was he there at all? He must have known things could kick off? The Cops were under a lot of pressure. Were they Met or City Cops or from out of town?

Bear

I agree it doesn't look good. Did the officer really need to push him? Maybe not. I think if Ian had not have collapsed and died then no one would have really bothered with a protester being pushed by the police. What happened prior to the footage starting? What was Ian doing? There is suggestion he was on his way home, however his body language says otherwise. Its easy just commenting on that few seconds of footage.

I saw another piece of footage on the news of an officer being hit with a long pole whilst keeping protester at bay. This was ten times worse than the push but then hey that's ok isn't it!!!

I think your comment about manslaughter is at the other extreme. It has clearly been stated that was in no way a contributory factor in the mans death.

Maybe you should check out the policing methods on the continent. You will soon see that we are by far the softest country for policing in Europe... if not the world.

>>Yamaha R1<<

I agree Police Brutality is always wrong. But questions need to be asked of exactly what Ian Tomlinson was doing was he really just walking home after work. If you left work and there was a Major disturbance up ahead any person would find alternate routes not walk straight into the front line then disobey Police orders. It's funny how hundreds found their way home safe.

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