UK Politics - We Don’t Want to See Your Papers, Please

[mormont]

6 hours ago, ants said:

I'm not really sure what the police are meant to be advising?

That's the problem. The police look at this situation and decide the appropriate response is to advise women about their behaviour: as if the situation was nothing to do with the police at all, but an event that women should foresee and plan for.

Look at the content of that advice: it's about 'what if someone pretending to be a police officer stops you?', ignoring the fact that Couzens was a genuine police officer who showed his warrant card and abused his power in ways that mean the 'advice' they're currently giving (wildly impractical as it is) likely wouldn't have saved Sarah Everard. Some public comments from the police have gone so far as to say they don't regard Couzens as a police officer. All of this is about the police distancing themselves from what Couzens did, disavowing any responsibility for preventing this incident or possible future incidents of abuse of police power.

It was on the Met to prevent this, not on Sarah Everard to flag down a bus or demand to speak to Couzens' radio operator. They need to be talking about what they are going to do to address their failings, not what women should be doing once it's too late for them realistically to do anything at all.

[Spockydog]

Hearing this morning that Couzens was nicknamed 'The Rapist' by his fellow officers.