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The police force or just a police farce?
• POLICE are constantly asking the public for help and stressing the need for understanding and co-operation.
So why are so many officers so quick to get bossy, aggressive and unnecessarily officious?
I came across the aftermath of an accident outside Hampstead Town Hall on Wednesday morning and, with about 15 to 20 other people, I was looking at the dramatic sight of a car wrapped around a pole.
I had my camera with me, but when I started taking photographs to send to the CNJ, an officer came up to me and told me to “move along”.
When I very politely asked him why, he said, very aggressively: “This is a crime scene and I can’t have you tramping around here and taking photographs, so move along. Now.”
I politely pointed out that I was standing where other people were, that they weren’t being asked to move along, that I wasn’t tramping around, that I was not interfering with any evidence, and that I was not in any way obstructing him or anyone else. He said: “I need you to move along. Now!”
Although there were ambulances and para-medics on the scene there was no sign of any injured person, and I was not intruding into anyone’s privacy or discomfort.
I said: “I am going to stand with these people, behind the pedestrian barrier,” and I proceeded to ignore him. He then walked away.
Great community relations work, officer.
MATTHEW LEWIN
Estelle Road
NW3 |
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