The Metropolitan Police
have been heavily criticised this week for a couple a racist incidents.
Officers were filmed during last year’s riots racially abusing a black man and
there was also an incident where a black man trying to assist the police had
been tasered by a trigger-happy officer.
It’s hard to think that
such attitudes still exist within the force, but on the train to London the
other day, I overheard a conversation between a Met detective and two women
where he was racist, homophobic, sexist and stupid all within a couple of
stops. He may be a dinosaur (I hope there are not many left like him) but he
certainly demonstrated why the Met keeps getting into trouble.
The conversation started
with a discussion over retirement and the detective was keen to put his feet
up. The job wasn’t the same and he had a story to demonstrate his frustration.
He’d been called to a hotel where a woman’s bag had been snatched. He asked to
see the manager and when the manager (a woman) arrived, she’d told him she was
very busy could he wait half an hour.
I agree, that was not a
helpful attitude and he hadn’t taken it well. He’d wanted the CCTV and said
he’d told her she had a right to help him – it was her right. I wanted to tell
him that perhaps she was obliged to help him – she had an obligation – but, of course,
I didn’t.
He couldn’t believe that
she was being so unhelpful and he had clearly had words because she’d asked him
for his number. He made a joke about her wanting his number – she wasn’t even
that good looking, he said. Then he said how stupid she was for thinking he had
a number; he was a detective, where was his number?
Then he explained the
whole thing by telling the women that she was from eastern Europe – what did
you expect.
This led on to a rant
about the Border Agency, which is filled with foreigners.
He had a difficult job,
cases were impossible to solve. People were reporting things stolen in order to
claim on insurance. He’d had a case recently where a gay man had been to an
underpants party, where the only thing you were allowed to wear were a pair of
underpants. This chap had been enjoying himself in a dark corner with his
friend when his £40,000 watch had been stolen. A man was seen leaving in a
hurry, but the joke was that because all you could wear was underpants, where
had he hidden the watch? Maybe it was up his bum?
If you’d been a victim of
a crime, the last thing you’d want would be for this chap to roll up. If you
were white, perhaps you’d have to listen to a rant about why the country had
gone downhill; if you were black or gay, the best you could hope for would be
to be patronised. It was quite depressing
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