We have a problem.
I’m a woman of a certain age & certain social class. I brought up my family to respect the Police, taught them that the Police were the good guys, because without our respect & cooperation the Police cannot do their, difficult, job.
Up until a few years ago I barely had any contact with the Police, only when I was burgled & when I was younger reporting sexual crime, and they were everything I hoped they would be.
But recently?
Our cooperation & respect are being taken for granted & used as a, metaphorical, stick to beat us with.
On Thursday I attended the For Women Scotland’s protest at Parliament. I was, immediately, assailed with, far too loud, music, which I discovered was being blasted out of speakers by Tom Harlow (a self-appointed witch-pricker) who was sat, alone, on a camping chair with a manky umbrella, in dirty clothes, surrounded by Police.
I immediately made a complaint to the Police & although they acknowledged that he was creating a nuisance of himself, that his music was “far too loud” & he was attempting to intimidate attendees, apparently there was nothing to be done.
And that’s the problem.
The Police assume that women will accept being harassed, bullied & intimidated, and because those doing the harassing, bullying & intimidating have proved, on countless occasions, to be violent, unstable, socially-inept thugs, the Police choose the path of least resistance & don’t do their job.
They know that “our side” won’t become violent, won’t intimidate members of the public & will behave ourselves, so they repeatedly punish us for being respectful & cooperative.
This happens every time.
And because Tom, & people like him, have the thought-processes of children, they take this as an invitation to behave like children. They assume that they have the tacit approval of the Police, because they’ve never been punished for their behaviour. Never been told no.
Thursday could & should have been dealt with swiftly. Tom should have been given 2 choices.
1. Turn the music down
2. Move away.
But instead, the Police tried gentle parenting tactics. They asked him nicely to behave. They pleaded with him to behave. And when he refused, they shrugged their shoulders & allowed him to continue with his tantrum.
We’ve seen this repeatedly.
Most recently at LWS Glasgow2, where they were allowed to continue to use foul language to, & in front of, members of the public – despite, at least, 6 warnings.
At LWS Aberdeen2, where they repeatedly broke the Police cordons & harassed women.
At WWW Kirkcaldy, where they stole from us.
At LWS Edinburgh, where they were allowed to break Police cordons & surround women, effectively kettling them.
At WWW Dundee, where they broke Police cordons & spat on women.
And at WWW Aberdeen1, where they broke Police cordons, stole from us & Julie was repeatedly punched.
Every time, they were allowed to continue. Every time women were punished for their actions.
Is it any wonder they continue to behave this way.
Police Scotland have created this monster & it’s now out of control.
The respect & cooperation that Police Scotland have is hanging by a gossamer thread, and those things, once lost, are lost forever.