Use of Force

I'm sure most people have seen the recent reports of the Police Officer in South Yorks striking the woman he'd arrested five times in order to subdue and handcuff her. And I've read loads of different opinions on other blogs and websites. Whenever a Police officer uses force it's such an emotive issue that's bound to raise heated debate.

Just thought I'd scribble down some of the thought processes that go through your mind when you find yourself in the same position as that officer.

I've been there more times than I care to remember, normally reacting to a call from a member of public or CCTV operator or doorstaff. When I'm on my way to jobs like this I'm trying to think about my safety, that of my colleagues and members of public who may be present. I'm trying to take in (sometimes conflicting) information about numbers of persons involved, descriptions, any weapons that have been seen, information about any named persons involved etc. And I normally have only a few minutes to digest all this whilst trying to make my way there safely.

On arrival, if there is a fight or other violent incident taking place then at least one of those involved in invariably under the influence of alcohol. I know from bitter experience that this will make them generally more difficult to reason with, more likely to make snap decisions and lash out and more difficult to overcome and arrest.

I'm weighing up their apparent demeanour and frame of mind as I approach them. Are their fists clenched? Are they staring right at me? What's their stance like? Are they standing with their feet slightly apart as if ready to throw a punch? Are their hands in their pockets? If so, do they have a knife in that pocket? How are they speaking? Do they seem angry, reasonable, drunk, drugged? Am I alone? If so, how far away is the nearest officer if I ask for urgent assistance? If I am not alone, is my colleague OK? Where is my colleague?

I'm normally approached by numerous people all wishing to scream at me various different versions of the same story. I have to try and seperate them, but I can't turn my back on anybody if I can help it because this leaves me open to attack from behind. If I do manage to seperate them, I can only speak to one person at a time. But invariably the other person starts screaming that I'm taking the other party's side and again I end up having to try and calm and seperate people.

What about if the fight is still ongoing when I attend? I have to try and prevent people from being assaulted. But if I'm alone then whilst I'm trying to stop any assault then I'm again open to attack from people behind me. (This happens all too often. Look on youtube.com)

Perhaps I have to arrest a person who is clearly drunk and acting aggressively. I know that, as I approach them, this is a potentially really dangerous situation for me. I know that drunk people can be almost impervious to pain, so if they attack me then my baton may not be of use. I know that something like 33% of people do not react to CS spray, more so if they are under the influence of drink or drugs. So this is probably not an option open to me.

If I can't contain the person until further officers attend by speaking to them then I have no option but to go "hand to hand" with them. Now at this point I should mention that I'm 5' 7" tall and weigh just over 9 stone, so I'm not exactly likely to have strength on my side. This is particularly the case with a non-compliant drunk person who really, really doesn't want to be arrested.

Suddenly, either because they've lunged at me or tried to run away, I've had to grab hold of them. Out of nowhere I'm involved in a struggle to stop myself from being injured without injuring the other person. The person is strong, screaming in my face, throwing punches at my head. I try to take them to the floor using an arm or wrist lock but they manage to wriggle out of it and we tumble to the ground. We're rolling around and they're screaming "I'll fucking kill you! I'll fucking have you!"

I can't get to my radio to update on the urgency of the situation. It's basically just me and the person trying to hurt me. So I use force against them. I strike their arms and legs, trying to deaden them so they can't be used against me. I apply pressure to the arms and elbow joints to try and restrain them on the ground, and even though I know this really hurts them and may cause injury, I have no choice because this person will really hurt me given half a chance.

Eventually, other officers arrive and we safely handcuff the person and they are taken away to the custody suite. And what happens as soon as we get there? The person who minutes ago was trying their best to, in their words, "kill me", complains that I punched him in the arm, and he's got a bit of a bruise. And from that point I know that I'm going to be facing an investigation for improper use of force, a criminal allegation that could end in my losing my job and being imprisoned. For doing my job.

The public have a decision to make. Either they want the Police to support them in making the streets safer, in which case they have support the Police. Or instead they can support the violent criminals and yobs when they make spurious complaints against those officers.

I get paid to deal with some truely horrible people. To wade through blood, spit, vomit and tears on a daily basis. I knew this before I joined and I'm happy to do so because I think I can genuinely make a difference. That said, I won't put myself at such risk if the general public, who have asked for our help, then turn on us. If that continues to happen then I'll probably find myself a nice, safe desk job at headquarters where the pay is just the same, the pension's just as secure but I don't have to worry about losing my job and going to prison quite so often.