Two Tier Policing-is it a Myth or Fact?

Today, former Metropolitan Police Officer Chris Hobbs writes in the Havering Daily on the latest finger pointing at our police-two tier policing. Is it just a myth or indeed a fact?

A search on the phrase ‘two-tier,’ policing on most social media sites, will bring about a Tsunami of responses from, primarily, those on the far right of the political spectrum but the issue is also a cause-celebre,’ for those on the hard left.

In the middle of this swirl of allegations are the UK police; primarily the Metropolitan police who have had to deal with diversity issues over decades with, until relatively recently, most criticism emanating from the left. However, the majority of criticism is now pouring down from those on the right including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Allegations of ‘two-tier’ policing have been accentuated by the crisis in the Middle East which followed the dreadful massacre of October the 7^th. On that day, the major protest issue in London concerned XL bully dogs but two days after the massacre, on Monday the 9^th of October, a large protest took place in High Street Kensington by the gates of the Israeli Embassy.

The protest appeared to be partially in anticipation of a fierce response by Israel but it was hard not to conclude that there was an element of celebration in that Israel had suffered a ‘bloody nose,’ at the hands of Hamas. Gradually the full horror of what took place was revealed but that did little to assuage the renewed enthusiasm for the Palestinian cause with resultant further large demonstrations.

Policing these sometime huge pro-Palestinian protests plus numerous local events, has proved a major challenge for the Met and its officers who doubtless could still recall the nightmarish challenges resulting from the complex myriad of ever-changing Covid regulations and laws. Violence against police was seen at several anti-Lockdown protests and, more disturbingly, violence against fellow protesters who attempted to form a protective line in front of police officers.

The situation in Gaza meant that, from last October, officers were now in the business, of not only policing fast-moving and potentially violent protests but of interpreting a variety of chants, posters and placards in order to judge whether they crossed the line into an actionable ‘hate crime’ or terrorist offence.

Two females were arrested shortly after the first major Saturday protest for sporting images of paragliders on the back of their jackets. Those with Hamas flags or carrying placards openly supporting and naming Hamas have been sought and frequently arrested.

Personally, over the numerous protests I’ve witnessed I’ve heard chanting for ‘Jihad’ or ‘Intifada’ on just half a dozen occasions but despite the allegations of two-tier policing, police have made arrests

During the first protests, police commanders were clearly concerned that officers would be on the receiving end of similar levels of violence which occurred when there was a previous Gaza linked crisis in 2021. Then, during pro-Palestinian protests, officers were subjected to attacks by groups of youths throwing missiles obtained from nearby roadworks.

Pre-Christmas fireworks and walkabouts.

In the immediate aftermath of October 7^th and doubtless, due to the proximity of Halloween and Guy Fawkes, there was the occasional firework propelled in the direction of officers; in one incident, whilst police were dealing with an arrest in Whitehall, another protester came and struck a PC over the head with a megaphone. The assailant was swiftly detained.

A feature of these protests before Christmas was a tendency, at their conclusion, for groups of youths to congregate and embark on a ‘walkabout.’ Such groups, numbering between one and three hundred were invariably escorted by officers and there were inevitable skirmishes resulting in arrests. Each arrest was normally accompanied by chants of; ‘Let him (or her) go,’ or ‘shame on you;’ an oft repeated chant by those on the hard left and far right.’

Earlier occupations during demonstrations, albeit briefly, of Zara and HM stores by protesters due to their company links with Israel appear to have been abandoned as counter-productive. However, the marches continue and have been portrayed as hate marches which have paralysed and terrified both Londoners and tourists. Even the recent Lond Wanley report, so accurate in many ways, appears to have been compiled without his actually attending several of the protests be they local or national.

Violent hate marches; fact of media hype?

In fact, on a violent disorder scale (albeit mine) of 1 to 10 these major ‘national’ protests would, since Christmas, barely register a 2. Before Christmas, they would have struggled to reach a 4. This isn’t simply my view, but echoes the views of those officers who police these protests on a regular basis.

More recently, these marches and rallies have been the subject of counter-protests by those who support Israel.  Despite the chanting and ‘counter’ chanting together with vitriolic exchanges of insults, there has only been one determined attempt to breach the inevitable police cordon and that was by a powerfully built pro-Palestinian individual who was arrested.

Bystanders and tourists, far from being terrified by these marches, invariably emerge from coffee bars, restaurants and pubs in order to capture events on their smartphones. At the most recent national protest, the Met admitted that it made an error in that the static pro-Israel counter-protest was placed too close to the prescribed route taken by pro-Palestinian marchers. Considering both sides were ‘cheek by jowl,’ and, aside from the fact that insults were exchanged by the many thousands, there was virtually no attempt at physical violence. Neither side attempted to breach the police cordon or barriers and, despite the rhetoric, both showed remarkable restraint considering the emotive nature of the situation in the Middle East.

The marches have also been attended by several hundred individuals who form the ‘Jewish block;’ These are British Jews who are opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza. Also observed on these protests are Jews of orthodox appearance who belong to the Neturei Karta sect and who support the Palestinian cause. They are reviled across mainstream Jewry and further information can be obtained via Wikipedia and elsewhere online.

“We’ll walk where we want?”

These protests have also seen pro-Israeli individuals attempt to place themselves amongst the pro-Palestinian protesters hoping to provoke a reaction. Other than a couple of badly swung punches by middle-aged protesters, they have attracted mostly insults. Removal from the situation by police always attracts significant publicity and are given as examples of ‘two-tier’ policing. In fact, the safety of those individuals and the avoidance of disorder is the priority of officers but that doesn’t suit the various agendas.

One prominent Jewish individual had a well- publicised confrontation with a police sergeant. This leading individual from the Council of Antisemitism demanded the freedom to ‘walk amongst’ pro-Palestinian protesters; the police sergeant, concerned for this individual’s safety and the possible less than peaceful response from the marchers refused to let him ‘mingle.’ The fact that the man was wearing a traditional kippah (skull cap) led to the sergeant describing his appearance as ‘openly Jewish’ when trying to persuade him (and his bodyguards and cameraman) to desist.

The original clipped footage again brought cries of ‘two tier,’ policing from police critics and howls of outrage from far- right social media. However, Sky News produced a fuller filmed account of events which resulted in praise for the officer from the Met’s Commissioner although he did concede the ‘openly Jewish,’ comment was clumsy.

The attempt to direct criticism in respect of ‘our freedom to walk,’ of course flies against the Met’s policy of keeping rival groups apart, which of course also includes football fans. Those who criticise the Met for curbing these freedoms, seem unaware that the reverse also applies. The Met have intervened, sometimes at the behest of Jewish protesters, when pro-Palestinian counter-protesters have attempted to infiltrate pro-Israeli events. At the conclusion of the first pro-Israeli rally in Trafalgar Square several youths were arrested when they attempted to unfurl a Palestinian flag in front of outraged crowds; hardly an example of ‘two-tier,’ policing. 

Intimidation and law-breaking

Of course, surrounding the protests, which the Met have said have been mainly peaceful, are events linked to the Gaza issue which are, simply, criminal offences. This include abuse, assaults and criminal damage which, in turn, are designed to intimidate individuals and companies who have links to Israel. Of particular interest to activists are companies which supply arms and weapons linked technology to Israel; Elbit systems and BAE are but two.

More recently, the emergence of splinter groups such as Youth Demand and Palestinian Action have seen ‘direct action,’ which has involved criminal damage to property and the blockage of roads. Whilst there was no actual damage of the Cenotaph just days ago, using it to display the Palestinian flag and painting slogans on the adjacent roadway attracted considerable criticism.

These groups were prominent at a recent ‘emergency’ mid-week protest outside Downing Street where there were scuffles with police to the extent that batons were drawn and a force-mobilisation implemented which meant rushing officers into Westminster from across London.

Also of concern to Lord Hanley is the intimidation of individuals such as MP’s and local councillors by pro-Palestinian activists. Arrests of activists, however, are no guarantee of a satisfactory final result at the end of the judicial process which, with trials of Just Stop Oil activists appear to have acquired all the characteristics of a lottery. Some have walked free while those who blocked the M25, including leader Roger Hallam, received substantial prison sentences. 

Another aspect of the Gaza conflict is the massive drain on both police resources and finances. Officers are taken away from their normal duties and, whilst some overtime will be welcomed by some officers, the overall effect of these frequent protests is to deprive the majority of Londoners of effective police coverage, which, even without these protests, is problematic given the level of demand, retention issues and bureaucracy that had the Met struggling even before October the 7^th.

Too robust or not robust enough?

As with other protest groups, there are frequent complaints from those in the media and on the far right that police are not ‘robust’ enough in dealing with protest. This will be considered later but suffice it to say that these protests, rightly or wrongly, contain hundreds of children, including babies in prams and toddlers in pushchairs. ‘Robust’ policing that leads to confrontation and possibly panic resulting in scenes involving crying or injured children would lead to condemnation across the political divide; this would doubtless include those who were previously advocating a ‘robust’ approach.

Allegations in relation to the ‘soft’ policing of the national Palestine Solidarity Campaign marches comes from elements of the far right including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, but, interestingly, complaints are also being made from the pro-Palestinian side of harsh, oppressive policing. 14 leftist groups including Black Lives Matter, the Jewish Network for Palestine and the Peacemaker Trust.  

In a separate letter to the Commissioner, the Islamic Human Rights Group stated;

“We ask you to fulfil your responsibility as head of the Metropolitan Police to ensure the demonstration is policed impartially without fear or favour.

The Metropolitan Police has regularly abused its legal powers to harass pro-Palestine protestors, especially since pro-Palestine protests have proliferated since last October.”

The police monitoring group Netpol, paints a stark picture of oppressive policing as portrayed in the Byeline Times:

As with the pro-Palestine protests (and despite the above headline) allegations of ‘soft,’ policing have also been made in relation to the campaigns by Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.

Extinction Rebellion however, also complained bitterly about ‘over-zealous,’ policing together with “disproportionate and unjustifiable levels of aggression and violence.” 

Arresting challenges.

In actual fact the initial protests by Extinction Rebellion presented a real problem to police in terms of the volume of arrests that needed to be made and the lack of custody space available. The problems however were solved.

With the Insulate Britain campaign, the major policing issue was getting officers to the section of roadway or motorway being blocked; officers and those arrested then had to be transported to custody suites where space was available. Ensuring the welfare of protesters, especially the elderly or disabled is a prerequisite of policing protest but again this proved to be a controversial issue.

Insulate Britain gave way to Just Stop Oil and the blockading of roads in London and elsewhere. New legislation enabled the Met and other forces to make numerous arrests but the term ‘two-tier,’ policing again was heard as officers had to deal with those taking the law into their own hands.

The Met’s two-tier ‘soft on the left,’ policing resulted in almost three and a half thousand arrests of Extinction Rebellion activists between April 2019 and September 2022. Since October the 7^th around 500 arrests linked to pro-Palestine protests have been made and these won’t include arrests as a result of City police, BTP and MOD police operations. Just Stop Oil arrests between November 1^st and the 7^th of December last year totalled 650.

Despite overwhelming evidence, some activists have been acquitted with the Human Rights Act paving a pivotal role in the trials while others, as stated above, have been imprisoned. Whilst those on the right may still criticise police for ‘soft’ political policing that favours the left, those currently in prison or facing prison sentences may disagree.

George Floyd and Black Lives Matter.

In the immediate aftermath of the death of George Floyd, there were fears amongst police officers that politicians and activists would take the opportunity to transpose the situation in the USA to the UK and sure enough that is precisely what occurred.

Whilst most UK BLM protests were peaceful some in London, predictably were not. There is, however, no suggestion that officers were ‘soft,’ on violent protesters. There was, however, criticism that officers were generally left to face violent crowds in their ‘day,’ uniforms. One serial was filmed being overwhelmed and fleeing but in the filmed confrontations in Whitehall, police stood their ground and used proportionate force against violent mobs. Interestingly, those officers policing these protests were shocked and disgusted by the abuse heaped upon their black colleagues.

Fears, however, that the Floyd’s death and subsequent violent protests would foment a situation similar to the widespread disorder of 2011, proved groundless. There was more criticism of police, this time directed against the Avon and Somerset force in respect of their failing to act when the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled into Bristol Harbour.

Police did not respond at the time due to concerns that they would not have the resources to deal with any subsequent public order situation. Arrests were made, a trial held and the defendants were acquitted, it would appear on ‘human rights grounds,’ after just three hours deliberation.

The relatively recent death of Chris Kaba, shot by police, prompted fears of further violent protests but those that did occur were well ordered and trouble free.

Race, minority groups and woke policing.

A constant allegation emanating from the far-right is that police, especially the Met, fall over themselves to appease minority groups. Frequent reference is made to officers who ‘took the knee,’ in the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death and these references are normally accompanied by footage taken at the time. In fact, I remember, whilst obeying Covid regulations, noting each time ‘taking the knee,’ occurred and I would suggest that between 30 and 40 officers out of 120,000 plus made the gesture which came to a halt after the first acts of violence.  Nevertheless, it is a powerful propaganda tool when promulgating the argument of ‘two-tier,’ policing.

Images of officers and police vehicles sporting LGBT colours also attracted adverse comment and again are reproduced at intervals to illustrate both woke and bias.

Black activists and organisations will also point to two tier policing but their view is the polar opposite from those on the right. They will claim that issues such as stop and search are examples of police racism where black youths and men are disproportionately targeted at a much greater level of frequency than their white counterparts.

Baroness Casey in her largely damning report stated that the use of force by the Met against the black community was ‘eye watering.’ Interestingly when I worked out in Jamaica alongside Jamaican police officers, their view was that the British police were too soft. At that time, in a country with a population similar in size to that of the West Midlands, Jamaican police officers shot dead around 200 persons a year. That figure is now around 90. I should add that I had nothing but respect for the Jamaican officers I worked with who faced difficult and dangerous working conditions.

The London Assembly two years ago passed a motion which included the following: “This Assembly is concerned that despite making up only 13% of London’s total population, black Londoners account for 45% of London’s knife murder victims, 61% of knife murder perpetrators and 53% of knife crime perpetrators.”

Given that knife and other violent crime is especially prevalent in the poorer, socially deprived areas of London and indeed other major cities, the question that should be asked by current politicians is how previous generations of local and national politicians from all parties, have allowed the above- mentioned social deprivation to fester and evolve. The abject failure of those politicians means that police have to apply sticking plasters to the gaping wounds caused by the ineptness of those above- mentioned politicians.

Interestingly, the former Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield, who now heads the ‘Commission for Young Lives,’ produced a report on child exploitation which was primarily concerned with drugs supply via ‘county lines.’

She stated that,’ “those most at risk are teenagers growing up in poverty in deprived areas and they are disproportionately from black, brown and other ethnic minority backgrounds.”

The above could therefore be used as an argument that counters the view from black and leftist activists, that there is an unfair ‘’two tier’ system of policing that discriminates against the black community.

Social media, distortion and selective editing.

Footage, normally that captured on mobile phones, can, with the assistance of careful editing, be used to promote or reinforce a point of view. Thus, the sight of a police officer striking an individual can be used to illustrate an example of ‘police brutality’ simply by editing out that which caused the officer to react or respond in the way that he or she did.

Equally alleged police inaction can be used to illustrate police ‘wokeness’ or bias. A typical example occurred during the Islamic Eid celebrations on the streets of Southall. Footage appeared across social media of a line of officers backed up against shops, being pelted with missiles. This was interpreted as police being too woke to vigorously respond to the crowd because that crowd were Muslim. This, it was pointed out, was in stark contrast to their ‘brutal treatment’ meted out by police to those celebrating St. George’s Day at a rally in Whitehall (see below).  

In actual fact, the Islamic Eid festival was policed primarily by local community officers due to the fact that no disorder was anticipated. However, towards the end of the evening a crowd of some 300 gathered before confronting the wholly outnumbered officers who nevertheless stood their ground until properly equipped police officers arrived and dispersed the crowd.

Another example of ‘footage distortion,’ occurred during the above mentioned midweek pro-Palestine emergency protest where there was some disorder. Officers were pictured running and a far right ‘X’ account claimed they were running away. In fact, they were running to get ahead of a crowd that had broken away and were heading to Parliament Square.

There also appears to be a doctrine amongst those on the right that officers should never retreat or withdraw. The issue of Harehills will be discussed below but history tells us that on occasion, such as at Dunkirk, retreat and withdrawal can be the best option.

Footage of individuals being allegedly arrested for simply displaying a Cross of St. George or Union Jack flag appears frequently on social media and are recycled at intervals to give the impression that the incident had occurred recently. Comments by the various forces that the individual was in fact arrested for a specific offence, normally involving racist abuse, is ignored but again each time such footage appears, comments in response will again invariably refer to ‘two-tier,’ policing.

Another example of edited footage occurred when, during a pro-Palestinian march, a prominent Jewish activist wearing a distinctive kippah (skull-cap) was confronted by a Met police sergeant when the individual demanded the right to ‘walk amongst,’ the tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters.

The original edited footage attracted much criticism of the officer together with the familiar allegations of two-tier policing, however a much longer version shown by Sky News saw the pendulum swing in the officer’s favour and attracted praise including from the Met’s Commissioner.

Of course, it must also be said that phone footage can also expose poor behaviour or wrong doing by officers but all ‘exposures’ on social media should be treated with a degree of caution until the facts are established.

Police were also criticised for intervening when other pro-Israeli activists attempt to move amongst Palestinian protesters showing placards which support their cause. This again provoked criticism of two- tier policing, but in actual fact police have also taken action against pro-Palestinian activists who have infiltrated pro-Israeli events.

Football lads and batons.  

An ‘X’ search using the parameters; ‘batons’ and ‘football lads’ attracts countless references to the alleged fact that whilst police fail to take any action that could be construed as robust against Palestinian and other leftist or minority group protests, they will frequently draw batons and lay into ‘football lads.’

In fact, batons being drawn at football matches is a rare occurrence and tends to occur at ‘high risk’ matches where two sets of supporters are looking to confront each other. Adequate numbers of officers have to be deployed and any failure of the policing operation could easily result in serious injury or worse.

The notion that ‘football lads,’ consist of banter loving individuals who merely want to have a friendly pint with opposing fans but are prevented from doing so by baton wielding police, is clearly arrant nonsense.

Where batons are drawn its normally to prevent rival hooligans from clashing or one set of hooligans from attacking rival fans. Towards the end of last season footage appeared on social media of Spurs ‘fans’ attempting to attack Arsenal supporters in the ground at the end of the game. There is also footage outside the ground as police, with batons drawn dealt with a mob of missile throwing ‘fans’ attempting to ‘get at’ their rivals in what was clearly serious disorder.

The recent Channel 4 programme ‘Football Cops,’ saw the work of Dedicated Football Officers whose primary objective is to keep rival fans apart. The camera showed that batons had to be drawn when visiting Sunderland supporters attempted to break out of the coach park and attack departing Coventry fans.

In other footage batons were again in evidence at the Carlisle versus Bradford City play-off match when a gate below a stand that separated rival fans was broken open and police had to draw batons and ‘wade in’ to separate rival supporters.

There are two factors that are currently concerning officers who regularly police football; the first is that whilst the older hooligan element still exists, there is a younger element that are coming to the fore with some attaching themselves to smaller ‘non-league,’ clubs. The second is the prevalence of cocaine which, when combined with alcohol has long been known as a catalyst for violent behaviour.

The assertion that British police are baton wielding bullies when dealing with football fans is greeted with some amusement by those football fans who travel abroad on a regular basis with club, country or both and experience the policing ‘tactics’ of foreign police forces.

The above mentioned ‘Football Cops,’ programme actually showed British police liaison officers attempting to protect English fans from the excesses of the Italian police.

Football Lads and protest.

The activities of the EDL and its links with sections of football fans are well documented elsewhere as are those of two ‘football lads, organisations. In June, 2020, after the death of George Floyd, ‘football lads’ were summoned to Parliament Square ‘protect the statues.’ Whilst Black Lives Matter counter-protests were called off, a number of activists materialised in Trafalgar Square and fighting broke out with some ‘football lads.’

Those already in Parliament Square became aware of what was going on but found themselves ‘kettled’ which resulted in fighting with police as they tried to join the disorder in Trafalgar Square.

Later those involved in the protest who made their way home via Waterloo found themselves being ‘picked off,’ by gangs who were waiting for them.

It was, however, the events resulting from the Israeli response to the 7^th of October that brought the issue of ‘football lads’ back into focus.

On Saturday, November the 11^th, football lads were summoned to ‘defend the Cenotaph from pro-Palestinian supporters who were marching the same day. Despite assurances from the organisers that they would be going nowhere near the Cenotaph, more than 100 arrests were made over the course of the day as separate groups of ‘football lads’ clashed with police in Soho, near Vauxhall Bridge and in Parliament Square.

A planned pro-Israeli, antisemitic protest was also planned in November; an indication that football lads might attend to show their support brought an angry reaction from the organisers.

Tommy Robinson, however ignored the request and, in a blaze of publicity was pepper-sprayed during his arrest. A bungled prosecution saw a not guilty verdict which was delivered, his supporters would say appropriately, on the 23^rd of April; St. George’s Day.

On the same day, a St. Georges Day celebration was held in Whitehall. Before the event began, a group attempted to form up and march along Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square in defiance of imposed conditions. They were met by a cordon of police and tried to push their way through. Two mounted officers who were close-by came to assist and the incident was duly recorded on mobile phones.

The incident was portrayed in sections of social media as evidence of police brutality and two-tier policing in that Palestinian supporters were not treated in the same way. TSG officers who were involved in the cordon reacted with amused astonishment at the allegation. They felt the incident was simply a ‘bit of push and shove,’ and couldn’t be construed as serious. Batons weren’t drawn, no-one was injured and no-one was arrested.

The rally itself, which saw the triumphant arrival of Tommy Robinson from court, passed off without incident. Police only had to ensure that the crowds didn’t spill into the road and relations were positively amicable.

At the meetings conclusion, there was a disco as many drifted away, some to the public houses at the top of Whitehall. About an hour after the event closed, several arrests were made after participants began fighting each other in one of the pubs.

In another incident; an elderly man in an England football shirt, was bloodied after being punched in the face by a ‘patriot’ to the fury of his daughter. I helped clean him up but by this time police on the scene were being roundly abused by those the worse for drink. Police adopted the accepted tactic of withdrawing to defuse the situation and there were no more incidents.

On the 1^st of June another rally in Parliament Square which involved the showing of a film which, in part, alleged two tier policing, passed off largely without incident. An anti-racist counter-protest that was held almost out of sight of the rally, attracted a surprisingly small attendance of around 150. It’s location and barriers in and around Whitehall meant, as some at the rally ruefully but smilingly observed, that the Whitehall pubs were out of bounds.

A further ‘we want our country back,’ rally is due to be held in Trafalgar Square on the 27^th of July and there will be a counter-protest by anti-racist groups.

The Harehills riot

The latest incident which was greeted with positive exultation by police critics on the far right concerned the riot at Harehills. This was, according to numerous critics on social media, clear evidence that the incident illustrated not only the wokeness of police but the fact that they were cowards.

Initially the blame for the disorder was directed against the Muslim community, before news began to circulated that the initial disorder was linked to a Roma family who resisted attempts by social services to take their children into care. Whilst this aroused the wrath of that community, it appears other sections were only too willing to join in to the extent that vast, hostile crowds materialised quicky.

Herein lay the first problem for police; the disorder appears to have been so quick and so spontaneous that its attempted resolution fell to local response officers. Their priority was, as the situation became positively dangerous, to extricate the social workers and themselves which they did. Other response officers would have reacted to the calls for assistance and it appears were faced with a situation that was beyond their control.

These appear to be the officers who, to the delight of critics, retreated facing the mob and then turned and ran for it; they can then be seen jumping into their police vehicles. I’m guessing that they had been ordered to leave the scene; the fact is that they neither had the equipment nor the numbers to take on a large mob.

Those of us who have served their time in the police remember only too well, the fate of one police officer who was amongst a small number of colleagues who were cut off during a major riot in Tottenham in 1985. PC Keith Blakelock died after suffering the most dreadful injuries while a colleague who tried to rescue him was fortunate not to suffer the same fate.

Footage from Harehills later in the evening showed PSU’s with properly equipped officers attempt to regain control but again they faced a large hostile mob determined to inflict injury to those officers. The simple fact is that if relatively few officers are facing a crowd of hundreds or even thousands, there is little option but to withdraw or risk being overwhelmed with potentially tragic results.

As I wrote in a letter to all the national papers, not re-entering an area where there is serious disorder focussed on the police, even where sufficient resources are available, is an accepted tactic and seemed to be successful in this case with community leaders being prominent in re-establishing some sort of order.  

However, such a decision is also fraught with peril as during the absence of police a mob could turn on vulnerable individuals or groups or indulge in mass looting and destruction. Monitoring via air-support units, as occurred, is one method of mitigating risk and other avenues of monitoring ongoing events would doubtless have been utilised.

Social media critics, especially those on the far right, are, however, having a field day; I stopped counting at fifty such references to police officer ‘cowardice’ on ‘X’ after searches where parameters included ‘West Yorkshire police.’ It’s clear that this incident is a stick that will be used by police critics to beat not just West Yorkshire officers but front- line officers across the UK.

The factual but ‘lacklustre’ official media response of West Yorkshire police does little to answer critics and is sadly typical of the ‘Comms’ sections of most police forces. However, it may not have escaped the notice of the less blinkered that three days after the riot, West Yorkshire officers, collectively smeared as cowards, were dealing with a horrendous road traffic collision that killed six including a family of four. This incident will be with those officers and other emergency workers for the remainder of their lives.

The is also an unpleasant irony in the current situation where, in the wake of the Manchester Airport incident, UK police are again being collectively smeared as racist thugs whilst, on social media, being applauded by the same individuals and groups who had previously criticised them as being too soft and too woke.

Meanwhile the situation in Bangladesh where more than a 100 died in anti-government rioting, saw Met police officers being accused of ‘running away’ as disorder erupted in Whitechapel between rival factions. In fact, that allegation was patently untrue and police could be seen intervening successfully and robustly between the two groups. The Met’s Comms was an improvement on that of West Yorkshire in that a senior officer praised the efforts of those officers who intervened.

The Silicon chip may switch to overload

The is also an unpleasant irony in the current situation where, in the wake of the Manchester Airport incident, UK police are again being collectively smeared as racist thugs whilst, on social media, being applauded by the same individuals and groups who had previously criticised them as being too soft and too woke.

The footage is, at the time of writing, the subject of intense scrutiny across the news media with the unedifying and disturbing footage being shown and re-shown. The question not being asked to date, is what caused the now suspended officer to behave like that. Largely ignored by the media is the distressed female officer who can be seen in the footage or the fact that three officers had to attend hospital as the result of the incident.

As all police officers know, the head and the neck are very much in the ‘red zone,’ to be avoided in terms of restraint/strikes if at all possible yet equally we, the public are still unaware of what exactly led up to the filmed footage.

There are issues at play here that responsible media outlets could also be referring to when discussing the topic. Certainly, in terms of stress which may affect an officer’s mental well-being, the situation had never been as challenging or as dire as it currently is.

Research has shown that front-line police officers will experience between 400 and 600 traumatic incidents during a 30-year career which is 100 times more than the average person. I can’t quite imagine having to cope with the terrible road accident which is referred to above.

In terms of other horrific incidents police have to attend one ‘X’ post refers to officers “picking up body parts, people hanging, dead children, rotten bodies.” I chatted to a Detective Inspector who lives locally to me recently. He heads a unit which deals with online child abuse and sexual exploitation which means that his officers deal with the unspeakable.

 I asked him how he coped. He replied that it was easier for him as he was the supervisor but he felt for his officers who were viewing the unspeakable for hours at a time. The welfare of his officers was of paramount importance.

As mentioned above, officers are frequently on the scene of stabbings and shootings before paramedics and will do their best to save life regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation; sometimes, despite their best efforts they will watch a life, often a young life, slip away.

There will be those who say that other emergency workers; firefighters, paramedics and NHS hospital staff will suffer similar stresses. However, police officers also have to contend and deal with ever increasing incidents of violence including extreme levels of violence directed against themselves. They will know that when they use force, that level of force will be scrutinised and quite possibly recorded, not just on their own body worn cameras but on the myriad of smartphones that will be produced at the drop of a hat.

Those officers are police officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week and frequently will intervene in dangerous situations when off-duty without any protective equipment. Officers are not even permitted to carry their batons to and from work.

The stress of the ‘job’ and the unsocial hours may also put a strain on officer’s personal relationships and family life. Whilst I’ve no idea whether these figures are accurate, when I was in ‘the job,’ it was generally accepted that two out of three police marriages failed.

Given all of the above, it’s perhaps little wonder that an individual may ‘snap’ as his mental health collapses.

That ‘snap’ may manifest itself in a number of ways including behaviour that is totally out of character and which appears across social media. The silicon chip inside that officer’s head will have finally switched to overload.

Police ‘Comms.’

It could be argued that if police are being criticised by both those on far right as woke, weak, cowardly and in thrall to minority groups, religions and organisations while being belittled by those on the left as misogynistic, racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, corrupt, brutal, uncaring thugs then perhaps UK policing is actually traveling along the correct, albeit precarious, middle ground despite the occasional setbacks.

However, constant denigration from social and mainstream, media be it from the right or left only serves to undermine those officers who very often also feel betrayed by their own senior officers and their own woeful communications departments both of which frequently fail to defend their own corners.

Fly-on-the wall documentaries such as Police Interceptors, Night Cops and the Force, North East provide an antidote to the appalling behaviour of a tiny minority of officers together with the bile that emanates from the media on a daily basis.

Only rarely do force communications departments bite back against falsehoods or exaggerations, one example being the police sergeant referred to above who prevented the prominent Jewish activist from ‘walking where he wished.’

Around three years ago I suggested to a Met senior officer that where officers arrived on the scene of a stabbing or a shooting before paramedics and rendered first aid, that fact should be referred to in any press ‘lines.’ Talking a mentally distressed individual ‘down’ from committing suicide is also a not infrequent occurrence that could be referred too.

In addition to CCTV and smartphone filming of events, a valuable tool in the police armoury is the body worn camera footage of officers. Recently, and exceptionally, heroic scenes of Met officers at a fire captured on BWC footage were pushed into the public domain in record time. Of course, legal considerations such a prejudicing a potential trial may inhibit such actions but even then, such relevant footage could and should be released post-trial as a matter of course; happily, there are signs that this is an increasingly frequent occurrence.

Given the nature of policing, there is much that can and does go wrong; this is especially true today with the massively increased demands placed on a police service hit by cutbacks. The very nature of policing attracts some who join for all the wrong reasons yet each police force should be a publicist or a promoter’s dream. Over every 24- hour period there will be supreme acts of bravery, compassion and kindness as officers deal with challenging situations that have become significantly more so over the years.

Whilst the public have a right to know when things so wrong and whilst we await to see the full details in relation to the recent well publicised incident at Manchester Airport, they also have the right to know when police, despite all the obstacles placed in their way, get it right.

A more concerted all-round approach to ‘Comms’ by the relevant department in each police force would do much to ameliorate spurious allegations of ‘two-tier’ policing that emanate from across the political spectrum together with the mainstream media.

Finally, a quote from a previous editorial article published by the Havering Daily; “Do not turn your back on all officers; without them our community would be lost.”  

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