There’s been videos circulating in the past week, if an incident at Manchester Airport, where a policeman was seen kicking a prone mane in the head and also appearing to stamp on his head. An action that has been roundly condemned, regardless of the circumstances, members of the public are the taxpayers funding the police; you don’t kick your employer in the face!
However, one key fact that has been missed by many, is that this was the UK armed response unit. They are the UK’s gun-carrying police unit. They are called in when necessary. At no point during the altercation – even as they (the police) were being punched in the face – did they think to draw their guns, let alone fire! That is what UK policing is all about. They are trained to recognise that human life is not to be snuffed out just on a whim. At that incident, they were willing to take a beating (even though they shouldn’t be taking a beating at their job) to try to taser those guys and arrest them. There have also been occasions where the UK’s armed response unit allow armed criminals to get away (knowing they can pick them up at 5am the next day in their PJs and with nobody getting shot). That is what policing should be about. Yes, the officer who kicked the man in the face got frustrated and yes, that is a taxpayer (his employer) and someone’s son/husband/friend and it was awful to watch and should not have happened, BUT had this incident been in the USA, within the first 30seconds, the police would have shot 3 to 4 people dead.
It is very likely that the guy who got kicked in the face would prefer that to being riddled with bullets and lying in a morgue. Also likely his family are grateful he’s still alive – which he definitely wouldn’t be, in the USA.
Respect has to cut both ways. Lashing out and punching a police officer is total disregard of what they represent, which is all of us. It cannot be accepted regardless of what the circumstances was. You just don’t do that! But then, if a police officer is a type who could kick a defenceless person in the face and stamp on their head, then you can imagine his approach, when he first got in contact with them, was unlikely to have been courteous.
Thank goodness for the training we give to our firearms officers in the UK! It would have been several dead members of the public, which would be a total waste of human life.
We of course hope to avoid incidents where the police kick people in the face, but lashing out to punch a uniformed officer, is definitely not acceptable in any shape or form. But the fact that none of the officers once considered drawing their guns, is something we must be proud of in the UK! And something the US and others should learn from. Each and every human life touches on so many others and should not get snuffed out so willy nilly
Knowledge can improve the world we live in 