I've blogged about this relentless regression only recently.
In this morning's DomPost, opposite the daily editorial, Mark Reason describes his response to the heavy police presence at Toast Martinborough:
The trouble began in Vynfields. The punters didn't cause the trouble, not a flicker of it, we were just smiling at a world that smiled back.More
But then a policeman and two policewomen came in. They inserted themselves into the small dancing crowd in front of the stage. They were literally looking for trouble. It was so sinister, I decided to keep an eye on them.
3 comments:
Sadly, distrust is my default position in respect of the police nowadays but I feel they have brought it on themselves.
3:16
I don't want to bag the police, generally speaking they do good work. But from personal experience, they have been very economical with the truth when dealing with matters which involve their own self interest. As a result, I don't trust them.
I also feel uncomfortable with police adopting a quasi military ethos in their approach to law enforcement. They are combative towards and intolerant of those who question their instruction.
The chicken or the egg? Have the police become aggressive because of the ever changing complexities of modern society, or has the evolving police attitude toward the general population changed they way society reacts to their authority?
What ever the answer, It does not bode well for the future.
Do they have a philosophy? They seem to increasingly involve themselves with policing undesirable behaviour (which may or may not develop into crime) while failing to address and resolve what IS a crime eg burglary.
I have had good and bad experiences with the police so like you Mark, am unwilling to bag them across the board. And I spoke personally to an old friend (police staff) recently who described how much tighter their resourcing has become and what that meant in practical and personal terms. Certainly not motivating.
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