General Chat

That is the advice the Met are giving out if you are a female being arrested by a single male cop.

Yet only a few days ago a bus driver was saying they are not allowed to stop if waved down by someone not a bus stop.

I also assume that whoever gave that advice has never travelled by bus during a rush hour when full buses sail past queues.

Sounds about right!
Also, couldn't you be accused of avoiding arrest or something?

You can be accused of avoiding arrest by following one of the other pieces of advice which is to run to a house for help.

Then would a householder feel able to help if they are being followed/ chased by a policeman. That advice is sensible if you feel you are being followed by a strange man but not a policeman.

...and the householder could be accused of aiding a criminal to avoid arrest!

I mean, not all lone women approached by a policeman are innocent!

I doubt that Sarah had ever had any dealings with the law. To boot she had most probably broken the Covid rules. In her position, confronted with a plain clothes policeman who showed his warrant card, I would have most probably got into his car too! This is the scary thing about this case.

The vast majority of women have never had any dealings with the law and I know I was always taught to respect the police.

I certainly would not feel comfortable questioning a policeman as to the rights or wrongs of a situation.

Absolutely right.

I am such a law abiding citizen that I didn’t know that plain clothes officers actually went on patrol.

I’ve often thought about this too…..not on foot, driving but never the less….I regularly travel the A34 between M3 Hampshire and M40 Oxfordshire and vice versa, its approx a 70 mile stretch of dual carriageway mainly unlit and isolated.

There is absolutely no way I would pull over if I were “blue lighted” in the dark, by a police car….

My aim would be to leave the 34 at the first exit showing signs of a town or village close by, whilst calling 999 to report my situation, only when I felt I was in a safe place or more police vehicles arrived (safety in numbers) would I pull over….bugger the consequences I’d fight that one later….

The A34 is more of a bypass, except at Newbury and Abingdon. Many of the exits only lead, eventually, to rural villages.

One question that might not have been asked is why wasn't he in a police car?

Many of the plain clothes policemen in London drive unmarked police cars, ZZzzz

you wouldn't believe the apparent state of undercover cars, some look like MOT wrecks...merely to blend in with the lowlifes they are shadowing....

I was stopped by an unmarked police car about 25 years ago while going home for lunch. I approached a roundabout i the RH lane - the correct lane to go straight on and spotted both cars in front of me were turning right. As there was no vehicle in the left lane I crossed to it as it would be quicker for me. Off at my turning a car overtook me then slowed and put on a small blue police sign at the bottom of his rear window.

I stopped and the policeman walked over to me and asked why I did what I did at the roundabout because the signage was clear. I told him why. He then said to stick to the proper lanes in future.

I did! I am not one for giving my hard-earned pennies so easily so I would never risk doing it again.

A Police & Crime Commissioner has said that women should educate themselves in when and how they can be arrested.

So a woman, who has never had dealings with the law, who would never dream of breaking it must learn the rights and wrongs of arrest.

Speechless!

I can't remember the last time I walked anywhere on my own when no one else was around and I certainly wouldn't trust any police man any more whatever they had on them to prove they are the real police.

It's a sad state of affairs when anyone is scared of the police but fully understandable right now.

Yet again,it's 'Women should do this or that' - not - 'This bloke is a bit dodgy, (and a few of his police friends) we'd better keep an eye on him/them'

As if there are buses in the am !

Shocking though the Sarah E case is, that kind of behaviour by a police officer is uncommon, I believe.

To gain some perspective, I asked myself who would a girl turn to if she felt threatened in any way - a random bloke or woman in the street if there was a police officer there? I think not.

I see that particular Police & Crime Commissioner who jumped on the bandwagon surrounding the case has apologised, Names.

It has been a strange week, I think - and it has left me wondering what it was that made others feel they ought to ‘verbally’ bash a woman?

An ex-Met Chief added to the comments about Cressida Dick, too.

While I haven’t always agreed with her responses and actions, this week has left me with a sour taste in the mouth as far as public comments about women are concerned. Has anyone else felt a certain nuance recently?

Edit: it could be, of course, that the members of our media are either pointing this out in a roundabout way or their bosses feel threatened in some way?

It’s anyone’s guess but something seems to be rotten in the state of Denmark at the moment as far as I can see.

I think the onus is on the Police to make some ruling.....perhaps a woman should only be arrested if there are two policeman in attendance. This wouldn't mean that only one policeman couldn't stop a woman but if they wished to arrest a woman there should be at least two policeman in attendance before that woman can be put in a car.

In Sarah's case, Couzens knew exactly what to say because he had been on Covid Patrols in January and I think Sarah knew that she had broken the rules. However, if all women knew that there had to be two policemen in attendance before they could be put in a car would Sarah have complied with his instructions to get in the car? Possibly not!

I agree, Belle, a good idea. If that was the ruling, I would not get in a car with only one officer.