The only evidence they have to support the headline is a handful of cops sending racist messages, which is twatty but hardly ‘extremist’. The other is the wearing of thin blue line badges, the argument being that in the US its a right wing symbol. What they’ve ommitted to mention is the fact that in the UK its a symbol of a charity.
“concerns were raised about the Met’s Operation Pima in which 61% of individuals identified within intelligence reports as the “most prolific or violent offenders” in London were black.”
I’m surprised the Guardian mentions this in the article. 61% is a lot considering the demographics of London.
>In France, 81% of gendarmes declared they would vote for far-right politician Marine Le Pen
Worth mentioning that Gendarmes are military personnel, not civilian police officers, so their attitudes and culture are likely to be very different.
Most of the evidence in this article about UK police forces are a handful of cases of racist watsapp messages. Sending racist messages is definitely dickhead behaviour, but hardly “extremist”.
>The report also warns that the “thin blue line” avatar and hashtag are still seen on the Twitter feeds of police officers, including a safer neighbourhood team in London, and they have been observed on the uniforms of officers in Manchester. In the US, the thin blue line avatar and “blue lives matter” movement are associated with white nationalism, with serving and retired officers implicated in the Capitol Hill siege.
Good thing we’re not in the US then. In the UK, the “thin blue line” patches represent a charity that provides support to the families of police officers that have fallen in the line of duty. Rather shitty of the Guardian to omit this information, and smear the charity’s symbol as some kind of racist American thing.
Can’t wait to see everyone from uk police sub rush in to defend this
> ‘thin blue line’ avatar, associated with white nationalism among US police.
Sorry but what a load of bullshit. Racist police officers should 100% be sacked and barred along with everyone who aids and abets it. But claiming the thin blue line is a symbol of white nationalism is really grasping, especially when it references US police in the same sentence. The article is trying to make a very good point but has gone way to extreme with it. Yes, some racist police officers may use that symbol but for plenty of others it represents something else and is being hijacked.
The very first line in the article is absolutely piss poor journalism.
In the U.K. the thin blue line isn’t the same thing as it is in America and it would have taken the journalist all of five seconds to find that out.
Edit: Almost five years in the job, never met another officer that votes Tory/UKIP let alone identify with the far-right. Granted I’m Scottish and the political landscape is very different.
I do oh so love the cage that we’ve built. Even from looking at it from within.
God, only the Guardian.
Comparing the Met to the gendarmes, to the Hungarian police, to the USA, ffs what world are they living in?
Edit: And God forbid that officers wear a patch which literally represents a registered charity in the UK which supports officers who are injured or suffer mental health issues, fuck them right?
My favourite thing about articles like this is the absolute frantic keyboard mashing from the Plod defence force to just outright claim everything in said article is wrong.
Not that “It’s making some valid points but…” or “I can see why that might be an issue, worth considering though..”
It’s always just “No this is wrong and bullshit. Wow how wrong can this be right guys? So wrong. Don’t even read it or consider the contents, it’s just so wrong on every level.”
The only time you guys shut the fuck up is when it’s an article about yet another officer doing something fucked up. Convenient.
I wouldn’t so much call this a report, it’s more like an essay written by a sociology undergrad who whacks off with the BLM flag.
>For multicultural working-class communities, the issue of extreme racism within the ranks cannot be divorced from the whole issue of racial profiling, saturation policing and the use of excessive force, which have resulted in Black and other ethnic minority deaths in custody.
Just asserted, no references to these supposed racist killings by UK police. Because it has not happened.
See the dutch cops recently shooting at farmers who protest in the Netherlands. Yes, that bullet did not hit anyone and “merely” stuck in the tractor but imagine it being some cm off to a side.
It already started. The “elite” is using its armed men to (try to) prevent protests.
11 comments
The only evidence they have to support the headline is a handful of cops sending racist messages, which is twatty but hardly ‘extremist’. The other is the wearing of thin blue line badges, the argument being that in the US its a right wing symbol. What they’ve ommitted to mention is the fact that in the UK its a symbol of a charity.
“concerns were raised about the Met’s Operation Pima in which 61% of individuals identified within intelligence reports as the “most prolific or violent offenders” in London were black.”
I’m surprised the Guardian mentions this in the article. 61% is a lot considering the demographics of London.
>In France, 81% of gendarmes declared they would vote for far-right politician Marine Le Pen
Worth mentioning that Gendarmes are military personnel, not civilian police officers, so their attitudes and culture are likely to be very different.
Most of the evidence in this article about UK police forces are a handful of cases of racist watsapp messages. Sending racist messages is definitely dickhead behaviour, but hardly “extremist”.
>The report also warns that the “thin blue line” avatar and hashtag are still seen on the Twitter feeds of police officers, including a safer neighbourhood team in London, and they have been observed on the uniforms of officers in Manchester. In the US, the thin blue line avatar and “blue lives matter” movement are associated with white nationalism, with serving and retired officers implicated in the Capitol Hill siege.
Good thing we’re not in the US then. In the UK, the “thin blue line” patches represent a charity that provides support to the families of police officers that have fallen in the line of duty. Rather shitty of the Guardian to omit this information, and smear the charity’s symbol as some kind of racist American thing.
https://ukcops.org/
https://ukcops.org/care-of-police-survivors-merchandise-cops-shop/Patches-c34732133
Can’t wait to see everyone from uk police sub rush in to defend this
> ‘thin blue line’ avatar, associated with white nationalism among US police.
Sorry but what a load of bullshit. Racist police officers should 100% be sacked and barred along with everyone who aids and abets it. But claiming the thin blue line is a symbol of white nationalism is really grasping, especially when it references US police in the same sentence. The article is trying to make a very good point but has gone way to extreme with it. Yes, some racist police officers may use that symbol but for plenty of others it represents something else and is being hijacked.
The very first line in the article is absolutely piss poor journalism.
In the U.K. the thin blue line isn’t the same thing as it is in America and it would have taken the journalist all of five seconds to find that out.
Edit: Almost five years in the job, never met another officer that votes Tory/UKIP let alone identify with the far-right. Granted I’m Scottish and the political landscape is very different.
I do oh so love the cage that we’ve built. Even from looking at it from within.
God, only the Guardian.
Comparing the Met to the gendarmes, to the Hungarian police, to the USA, ffs what world are they living in?
Edit: And God forbid that officers wear a patch which literally represents a registered charity in the UK which supports officers who are injured or suffer mental health issues, fuck them right?
My favourite thing about articles like this is the absolute frantic keyboard mashing from the Plod defence force to just outright claim everything in said article is wrong.
Not that “It’s making some valid points but…” or “I can see why that might be an issue, worth considering though..”
It’s always just “No this is wrong and bullshit. Wow how wrong can this be right guys? So wrong. Don’t even read it or consider the contents, it’s just so wrong on every level.”
The only time you guys shut the fuck up is when it’s an article about yet another officer doing something fucked up. Convenient.
I wouldn’t so much call this a report, it’s more like an essay written by a sociology undergrad who whacks off with the BLM flag.
>For multicultural working-class communities, the issue of extreme racism within the ranks cannot be divorced from the whole issue of racial profiling, saturation policing and the use of excessive force, which have resulted in Black and other ethnic minority deaths in custody.
Just asserted, no references to these supposed racist killings by UK police. Because it has not happened.
See the dutch cops recently shooting at farmers who protest in the Netherlands. Yes, that bullet did not hit anyone and “merely” stuck in the tractor but imagine it being some cm off to a side.
It already started. The “elite” is using its armed men to (try to) prevent protests.