So has England.
Discuss.
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3 comments:
Hi Phil
First thing to say is that this sort of occurrence is incredibly rare. You have to remember that most people in Britain are not frightened of the police. They do not carry guns and do not swagger and most people wouldn't think twice about giving them a mouthful in a public place in broad daylight. You would never do that here in Australia - it feels completely different. For the most part, the relationship between beat bobbies and the general public is amicable. But when police do get attacked, they are fairly defenceless. The night sticks they carry are not easily removed and prepared for use in this type of situation, and most officers would find it very difficult to retaliate against young girls - the consequences could be very serious if one of them was injured or felt she'd been touched inappropriately - inevitable if you're grappling. Whenever something like this happens in Britain, it triggers a review which, thankfully, always concludes that building up goodwill in the community is much more productive than giving the police better weaponry and I think that's absolutely right. The police in Britain rarely shoot young men with mental illnesses like they frequently do in Australia. Law and order is not so much a problem but an excuse for politicians to seek greater levels of control.
xxx
Pants
Hi Pants. Thanks for the analysis. I guess my regular-ish reading of the Brit papers seemed to have thrown up a trend of sorts that there's a decline in public civility way ahead of what we're seeing here.
Your knowledge of the scene is obviously very helpful in providing the context that the medai - even the Times - is reluctant to do.
I read it in The Times Online before this post, and have visited here several times and failed to think of a comment.
Do we blame TV, parents, teachers, the cops themselves?
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
there is no respect anywhere for anything these days - not for privacy, property, age, peace.
One Saturday night on Flinders St station waiting for the last train, I saw some teenage girls run-off a pair of cops.
Ran 'em right off Platform 6.
I was amazed.
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