www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/...ests-video-complaint

2 women brutalised at the hands of the police,denied solicitors,then kept in prison for 4 days.
No charges were made,and no doubt the police will make some utterley stupid excuses for this violent action,and no doubt no officer will be punished.

Oh and all this because officers broke the law by not displaying their numbers.

I believe police are just getting more stupid or influenced by the movies.

This latest example in Oz where cops allowed a planned armed robbery to go ahead without telling club workers is truly bizarre:

www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,2...9369-5001021,00.html

I watched a smirking senior cop in TV reporting with great satisfaction how amazingly clever the plods were-wondering just how long it would be before the penny dropped: the cops should have replaced the workers with other cops disguised as workers if they planned to let the raid go ahead.

Now one women who had a knife held to her throat says it succinctly-"I'm glad the police had their bullet proof vests on-I had a t-shirt".

Expect major compensation pay-outs to the terrified workers plus a lawsuit against the club owner who failed to tell his employees they were being raided by an armed gang.

The officers not only failed to display their numbers but they refused a request by a member of the public to give their number, which they are obliged to do. They are permitted to conceal their numbers when dealing with dangerous terror related situations where, if identified, their lives and the lives of the familes may be put in jeopardy, but this was clearly not one of those situations.

I believe that this was a disgraceful performance by the officers involved, but I also believe that no genuine action will be taken against them. Unfortunately, this is the future of British policing. They follow the policies of the elected government, and it is the British public who have continued to re-elect the present regime. Also, unfortunately, the majority of the people will decide to not vote, thereby allowing such abuse to continue. What was that about evil prevailing when good men do nothing? The old excuse is wheeled out that they are so fed up with politicians that none of them are worth voting for, but that is just a cop out. It's not only that good men do nothing, it's that they don't even attempt to do anything. Better to try your best and fail than to never try at all.

I'm not so sure Beat; I'm fast coming to the conclusion that sometimes revolution is better than evolution.

this is truly appalling.

amazing stuff I've met a lot of nice coppers but where do they get these thugs from ?. They really should be booted out of the force.

these people just have to get smarter.

Although technology is being used against citizens it's also exposed much.The internet is having a dramatic change on the way the media reports. Citizen journalism is taking over.

I was always fearful that corporations would attempt to gain control of the net-certainly Murdoch and a few US barons tried to during tHe Bush years. That's probably now impossible if the government really doesn't want a genuine revolution on their hands.

But cameras can now be pinhole sized. Camera technology is accelerating at a rate that is amazing-the new video cameras that have already been released that can produce perfect high-grade stills are sensational. They cost a fortune but will be cheap in 5 years.Esquire used a video camera to shoot it's last cover.

You are dealing with cops who aren't very bright. I admire this woman confronting the buffoon about 'no badge' but they react like animals. Better to get his picture and report him anyway and stay out of jail.

I'm a bit puzzled as to how they got this police footage.

This isn't that bad. Nobody is been beaten and the woman is clearly resisting arrest. The narrator's emotive language is describing something that isn't really happening on screen. Protester's can be a nuisance and I'm sure that the cops get frustrated with them when they could be dealing with real crimes.

Can't believe this isn't getting more coverage in the press. I find this more disturbing than even the Ian Tomlinson case. Not because they are women but because of the context. Seems the police are so out of control now that any lawful challenge to them results in something like this.

When things like this happen, it can only result in the public's lack of respect for the police gradually getting worse and worse until peaceful demonstrators will be forced to meet violence with violence. These kind of policemen are just bullies who need an excuse, any excuse, to duff somebody up and they're always in groups because there's safety in numbers. The Chief Constable should dismiss them from the force without any police pension...but he most probably won't. And have you noticed that these policemen all have shaven heads, or at least very close cropped hair (they probably think it makes them look tough) and they never seem to wear either their flat hats or helmets, which are supposed to be part of the uniform?

Resepct to the person for getting the video out there for all to see.

If anyone else did this in their job they would be sacked on the spot and turned over to the courts for sentencing.

The POLICE in the UK are nothing more than a bunch of thugs in uniform.

They have no laws applying to them and they treat the rest of us as guilty before innocent - therefore we are fair game.

Until the GOVERNMENT changes - and we get rid of DNA profiles of those who have not been convicted. We get rid of silly laws to do with terror which have been passed. We get rid of ID cards. We start to make it clear as a Country that we will NOT TOLERATE ROGUE POLICE - and that they SACK any police caught on video using violence against the public - they get SACKED when they kill members of the public - they get SACKED when they cause road crashes and speed over 100mph and so on.

The POLICE need to have an equal set of rules governing their employment - in addition they must be expected to follow the laws of the land.

At present they act outside the law because the current LABOUR GOVERNMENT has allowed them to do so.

This must stop. We need change urgently. There is a massive difference between the previous clashes between COPPERS and HOOLIGANS at football in the 70s and 80s and between COPPERS and BIG MINERS during the miners strikes.

The CURRENT POLICE pick on WOMEN and DEFENCELESS MEN to vent their violence. This is a massive change which needs to be put back.

Until the POLICE discipline themselves they will continue to have no respect from the public.

The only real crime was committed by the police.

critically speaking-yes the narrator is a bit pompous sounding but the woman is clearly reacting to the police officer's over-reation. It isn't yet illegal to have emotions.

She's quite clearly very harshly dealt with with her face pushed into the ground and sounds in pain which would be pretty obvious if someone is standing on your foot.

Why actually are so many coppers needed for a demonstration which is clearly legal?

The idea that cops would rather be out fighting 'real crime' is pretty fanciful. I think they'd rather be back at the station having a cup of tea which is what happened to me when I was arrested in the West End for "drunken driving"..as the Superintedent training the plods put to his trainees that stopped me who responded "let's go back and have a cup of tea" whilst the entire station spent 2 hours trooping through to view what was then considered odd..a man in make-up !(pre-New Romantics:kiss: )

When my passenger appeared- Simon White (old JK friend ?) who ran the Marquee, said he would be giving evidence stating as much the whole case dissolved into nothing.

All told, I reckon 12 trainees, 4 cops and a Superintendent devoted about 5 hours to a non-matter.

I doubt little has changed.

The woman was actually resisting unlawful arrest. All she did was to ask the officer for his number, which isn't even an offence, let alone an arrestable one and was promptly arrested. I have nothing against the police being tough with armed criminals or terrorists, but these peaceful, if vocal, protestors were neither. I hope the woman successfully sues the police for wrongful arrest.

The sketch on the "Bremner, Bird and Fortune" programme on Channel 4 a week or so ago, although satire, pretty well summed up the present day situation regarding the police and the public. John Bird is at the dinner table with his friends and he has bandages around his head, his nose and face covered in plasters and his right arm is in a sling. His friends ask him what happened to him. "Well", he says, "I was minding my own business walking through central London when those riots were going on the other week and I asked this riot policeman if this was the way to Threadneedle Street and he said "Watchit! Don't use language like that to me, sonny!" and promptly kicked me to the ground and began hitting me all over my head and body with his truncheon."

The police refused to identify themselves, even though the law requires them to do so. They then make the arrests, using unecessary physical force, when further attempts are made to log their identities. The resisting began when the police refused to say what the arrests were for, and when they used excessive tactics. These were not people threatening violence against the police. Nor were they obstructing the work of the police. Nor were they warned that they must leave the area. The police found them to be a nuisance and so used aggression against them. I hope any of us would resist this.

In addition it is claimed they denied the women legal representation.

A wholly unacceptable situation.

robbiex wrote:
This isn't that bad. Nobody is been beaten and the woman is clearly resisting arrest.

she is right to resist unlawful arrest.

It is a bit out of order bundling her to the ground for taking photographs, however she does milk it a lot.

I think she was making a point.

She could have just lay there and accepted it, I guess. But then, maybe people wouldn't have taken so much notice, and this incident could have passed beneath the radar.