New Met police video

[Fry + 2,085]

 

Fuck the police homeboy gave his daughter 50p to go shop they said he was dealing her drugs look how many turned up #cunts

Posted by Adrian Medford on Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Edited May 8, 2015 by Fedster
video embedded

[stoppedreality + 279]

From the MPS Facebook page:

 

 

Commander Letchford: Call out to South Norwood

It was not an unusual call out of the 4.5 million the Met Police receive every year, but what it gave us was a fascinating snapshot of the difficult decisions officers make every day. It shows how a routine incident can be seen in different ways, is quickly viewed by more than one million people via social media and featured in the national news.

The Call: A member of the public calls police to report what they believe to be drugs being sold to young people on their high street in South Norwood. The call stated ‘paper pouches’ were being handed to youths by two men. When our local officers speak to their communities, drug dealing always comes up as an issue that is a blight on their area and they want the police to do something about. Parents and grandparents tell us they do not want drugs sold to young people on our streets - I think anyone would expect a response and so officers attended the scene.

The Response: Two local officers attend. These are unarmed officers dedicated to policing those local streets. The decision is now one for them. They see the two men matching the description from the report that came in. They conduct a stop and search. Quite rightly the Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has placed a real focus on our stop and search tactics. Many, especially in minority communities, felt it was a power the police were overusing. After research, better training and a full scale review we have seen the number of stop and search in London plummet by 66 per cent since we launched a new approach to using this power in January 2012. However it is still an important part of our policing response. Quick decisions need to be made on when it was used.

The Reaction: A crowd quickly builds up and there is a fair amount of abuse directed at the officers. Other units are called because of the situation, again a difficult decision. What would that initial caller think if police can be intimidated from investigating the information they were giving us? Is this creating a situation which could ultimately lead to danger for both the officers and the public? Should relations with those members of the community, unhappy the officers have decided on a search, be of greater importance than investigating a possible crime? The man was handcuffed and moved away so the search could be conducted away from the crowd but he was not arrested and he was not taken to a police station. No drugs were found and he was released. The crowd dispersed and the officers left the area.

The Conclusion: Before smart phones and social media, that would have been the end of the incident. It is likely that the man who was searched might have felt it was unnecessary, although an important part of the training is for officers to explain exactly why there is a need for the stop and search. Those who were angry in the crowd might have their view reinforced that minorities are unfairly targeted by the tactic. The officers might well have felt they had no choice but to do what they did. What is interesting is that because the incident was filmed and uploaded to social media (https://www.facebook.com/adrian.medford.1/videos/10206620482013989/) more than one million people have seen the incident unfold, but crucially without the background knowledge that it all started with a credible call from a concerned member of the public that they thought drugs were being sold to young people in their community.

Having watched the film, I have no reason to be concerned about how the officers acted. The situation became difficult but they did what they needed to do in a fair and proportionate manner, considering the information they had. The BBC have today highlighted in a web report (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-32612604) that this incident provides a snapshot of our difficult relationship with London's communities and draws parallels with the recent problems between American police and black communities. Personally I thought the way the BBC presented this was a bit on the strong side. I don't think it is right to say it "echoed" Baltimore - something a BBC tweet claimed. Of course tensions between the police and public are a concern and there is more to be done, but I am also proud of the progress we have made. Hopefully blog posts like this go someway to explaining why we need to police the city the way we do. Hopefully our focus on fewer, but more targeted, stop and search show we have listened. Hopefully the way our officers explain their stop and search and conduct it helps to maintain confidence in what we are doing.

There is no easy answer when it comes to difficult policing decisions. However, I welcome scrutiny and when we get it wrong - and I don't think we did here - then we will be judged on how we respond. We are highly accountable - not just through the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Mayor's Office for Crime and Policing - but directly to the public of London we serve. I just hope that what is viewed by the public on social media is done so with context and as many facts as possible. We should take opportunities like this to explain what we do and why we do it and hopefully that will help build trust and confidence and help us to make London a safe and happy place to live.

[Fry + 2,085]

It's nice to see a senior officer to come out and support officers in a fairly thorough explanation of what happened, rather than the usual hedging and fence sitting.

[CountyCop + 178]

Officers were faced with a difficult and abusive crowd, they remained calm under pressure and acted professionally. It's nice to see a boss come out and have his officers backs, I fail to see any wrong doing in the video.

[Adamski + 1,057]

A well written piece, but unfortunately I don't think it'll change the attitudes of those who confronted officers doing their job, based on a report from a member of the public.

[blitzcraig 1]

Well said from that commander, would have liked him to go a bit further and have said that the abuse the officers received would not be tolerated though.

There were many times during the video where the suspects were using the 'C-word' and also threatening officers with assault, could have been a public order arrest, but I guess it could have exacerbated the situation more, who knows.

[ScotLass + 638]

Nice to see a response from the force to show their side of the story. Makes a change from a dry press release or "this will be investigated".

[TheJesusofKayaking 0]

Letchford said "I welcome scrutiny and when we get it wrong - and I don't think we did here - then we will be judged on how we respond."

Welcoming scrutiny is fine but one should be judged upon one's initial actions rather than the reactive response and how well that may be judged by others. 

Letchford's mastery of spin fails here in my opinion.  

Edited May 7, 2015 by TheJesusofKayaking

[TheJesusofKayaking 0]

Nice to see a response from the force to show their side of the story. Makes a change from a dry press release or "this will be investigated".

​Nice to see a response from the 'force'.

Since when are police a 'force'?  Police is a service. 

Do correct me if I am wrong here.

[Hades + 1,693]

Letchford said "I welcome scrutiny and when we get it wrong - and I don't think we did here - then we will be judged on how we respond."

Welcoming scrutiny is fine but one should be judged upon one's initial actions rather than the reactive response and how well that may be judged by others. 

Letchford's mastery of spin fails here in my opinion.  

​What on earth are you talking about?

[JayJ * 0]

Sign him up for Commissioner

[ScotLass + 638]

​Nice to see a response from the 'force'.

Since when are police a 'force'?  Police is a service. 

Do correct me if I am wrong here.

Totally off-topic and absolutely irrelevant to this discussion but I will explain my use of the word. The Met are named Metropolitan Police Service but given that police generally enFORCE the law I don't think it's a huge stretch to refer to them as a force... I was always led to believe that "service" and "force" were the two integral parts of the police organisation.

https://www.police.uk/forces/ the link here (Home Office website) refers to UK police as "forces".

 

[Radman + 2,165]

​Nice to see a response from the 'force'.

Since when are police a 'force'?  Police is a service. 

Do correct me if I am wrong here.

My contract of employment still describes BTP as a 'force' rather than 'service' but it matters not, we are a force, a police force.

[SC Tom 16]

​Nice to see a response from the 'force'.

Since when are police a 'force'?  Police is a service. 

Do correct me if I am wrong here.

 

4/10 must try harder.

 

Good to see the guys in the ground have some top cover. Not that they should need it in this case as they acted 100% correctly. 

 

[Fry + 2,085]

​Nice to see a response from the 'force'.

Since when are police a 'force'?  Police is a service. 

Do correct me if I am wrong here.

According to s4 Metropolitan Police 1829, the Met in particular has been a force since ... 1829.   Also s2 and s5A Police Act 1996 requires the maintenance of police forces.  

 

So yeah, I'm afraid you're wrong.  Regardless of what individual forces/services/constabularies call themselves, the police are 'police forces'