My answer to How come the UK police seem to crack under pressure so much faster than other police forces around the…
Answer by Desmond Last:
The British Police do not crack under pressure. Watching a Police Officer exhibit his or her emotional response to the death of a colleague is not ‘cracking under pressure’. Just as a hard experienced battle veteran in the United States Marine Corps will show emotion when a colleague is killed so to do our Police.
The Police of the United Kingdom do a very difficult job under sometimes extremely difficult circumstances. Our little Island has had an influx of ‘change’ such as has never been experienced before by any other country over such a short period of time. The United Kingdom Police have had to adapt to it often without the understanding and support of the Government
The United Kingdom Police have also had to endure the era of ‘soft Policing’ brought about by weak media-led Chief Constables and a Council of Police Bureaucracy. Their every move is watched in case they do not speak 13 different languages and do not know exactly what time each cultural festival begins. That is not an insult to any culture but an acknowledgement of the changing role of the Police.
As if that was not enough they now have in Government the so-called ‘ Party of Law and Order’ which has reduced Police numbers and allowed child sexual abuse to escalate in exponential numbers. The only solution has been an inquiry. We do not need an Inquiry we need more Police and arrests.
I have worked with both the Metropolitan and Thames Valley Police in the past in my roll as a Department of Transport Vehicle Examiner. Apart from the few Nazis and each organisation has those the Police Force of the United Kingdom are a force we can be proud of.
When I came back from Australia I went to the memorial of Yvonne Fletcher death and sang a song I had written for Yvonne from a poem I had written when in Sydney. We should always remember that our Police and those elsewhere are prepared to risk their lives for the People they serve and protect.
However, here in the U.K they have been let down by successive Governments who have used the Police as a wedge between themselves and the People because of their failure to deal with the problems of a rapidly changing Country and its mix of cultures.
So taking that all in to account the occasional outburst of emotion is OK with me and no doubt many others.
