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| Police car with ANPR on London Bridge, July 2014 |
Although ‘bad eggs’ make the news, our police forces mainly comprise diligent people that genuinely care about, work hard and sometimes take risks for society. Just as they are not all ‘saints’, neither are they all self-serving, group-thinking ‘tools’. The more diverse their representation of society, the less inclined to group-think and the more effective they will be. We need to encourage more to apply to join their tanks: to raise both diversity and quality of intake.
Sadly, it seems that many people are put off of policing as a career for a host of cultural and professional reasons. Years ago, I know I was, and for a while my stance was reinforced. This was because one of the few people in my last year at school that I had a very low regard for, had applied and got in.
After a spate of controversies across the country the police have a huge repositioning task ahead before the majority of the population will unquestioningly look upon them fondly and with a sense of reassurance. Any warm, fuzzy feeling toward the police was lost decades ago as a result of countless events that for many have opened a chasm between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Just two of thousands of these national to very personal events include the policing of the miners' strikes in the 1980s and activities subsequent to the Hillsborough disaster.
But we need our police and most are really good people: who also have loved ones in the wider community. We have to accept that, like the rest of society, the police harbour within their midst both exceptionally good and bad people. When they are dealing with genuine crime they are also dealing with genuine criminals, who lie and cheat to undermine, malign and disrupt police work, so as to advance their aims. Our inherent suspicions of the police are regularly ‘played’.
To build bridges, society also needs to try and extend a hand across the chasm. We need to remind ourselves that most policing is good and, whatever our cultural roots, we also need to encourage our own ‘kith and kin’ to represent us as part of the future force. Police are also human. They make mistakes and, hopefully these days, they now also accept and try to both resolve and learn from these. Policing can be both a rewarding and noble job and, regardless of what we feel about the politics of the day, we need to acknowledge, encourage and applaud their good works.
(The above video was posted to YouTube by 'Irallen7' in June 2014 at at the date of this posting had recorded 3,118 views. Part of his notes: 'Just a short video made by UK Police, which, as an aspiring Police Officer, means a lot to me.' 'Well done Irallen! Good luck in your policing career.)
Normal service (whatever that is) will resume with the next post.
