London's Metropolitian Police Accused of Waterboarding

[Griffin NoName]

Once-upon-a-decade-ago (or so) I had a warrant. Not as a scuffer (Police officer) but as a safety cop. I had more rights than the police. I could enter premises without a magistrate giving me the ok.

They're not! They are officers of the court and, as such, they are answerable to us.
Allegedly.

They make me sick! Removing their ID numbers during the G20 demonstration was the last straw.

Agreed. Sickeningly.

What really gets to me is that exposes in our society have no effect whatsoever. Child protection does not improve, racism etc in so called equal opportunities employers/institutions does not improve, NHS services do not improve, now even FSA/banking does not improve....... They say they have after an expose but then it becomes apparent they haven't and further exposes are just repetitive and ineffective. Our society is severely compromised by this. I was going to say it's not rocket science, but maybe it is.

[Opsa]

I disagree.

I believe that exposes make people more aware of problems and empowers them about speaking up when they happen. It's when people feel isolated and alone that they do not report.

We have to keep in mind here that MOST (and I truly believe this) police officers (and others) intend to be and are honorable. It is very important to keep this in perspective, otherwise we are vilifying these people, and that is unfair.

Most people are decent, it is only the bad ones whose actions shock us that glare out and can blind us to the rest. The bad ones should be exposed, so no-one gets any cute ideas about what they might get away with, but beware of lumping the few bad in with the mostly good.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Bur aren't the problems institutional? I frequently see that exposes quickly become punished scapegoats and a rotten apples speech but the main problem remains. How often do you see a head taking action to prevent the problem from happening again in an active fashion, rather than a dragging feet half assed reaction hoping that the focus goes away and life can go back to 'normal'?

You could argue that it is human nature but it doesn't change the fact that preventable stuff happens all the time and the so called administrators rarely do something about it.

[Griffin NoName]

Bur aren't the problems institutional? I frequently see that exposes quickly become punished scapegoats and a rotten apples speech but the main problem remains. How often do you see a head taking action to prevent the problem from happening again in an active fashion, rather than a dragging feet half assed reaction hoping that the focus goes away and life can go back to 'normal'?

Yes they are usually institutional. The ones I was meaning anyway.

Re. the specific incident where the cop took his number off - I've no idea if this is just a few of them who do it, or whether it is widespread and therefore more likely to be institutional...... I don't think anyone knows at present.

Opsa if you were saying exposes are worthwhile, I agree. I wasn't saying they weren't. Just that when its institutional/u], the exposes - here at least - don't seem to make an effect. They still need doing, of course. It just makes me despair how little change they actually make (especially when I've been on the receiving end).

Also, we get the sacrificial cows who get sacked which usually isn't the answer either.

I believe that exposes make people more aware of problems and empowers them about speaking up when they happen. It's when people feel isolated and alone that they do not report.

IMHO it doesn't seem to empower people much when it is institutional. The next would--be-whistleblower knows they are likely to be shot down and I believe this stops most from going ahead. It has to work top down like Zono says and it rarely does. 

I do agree about the isolation aspect. At least it is comforting to know one is not alone with the problem. Well a bit anyway.