Forum Topic

What do we make of this?

On policemen taking selfies with two dead black women?Wembley park murders: PCs 'took selfies next to sisters' dead bodieshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53198702

Maxine Campbell ● 2327d16 Comments

Not a difficult question to answer: in one word, disgusting. In a way, a more interesting question is: why? "Because they could" doesn't begin to answer that...

Richard Carter ● 2327d

Despicable. 

Michael Ixer ● 2327d

Another worrying thing is they must have thought they'd get away with it.

Michael Ixer ● 2327d

The women's mother is quoted as saying: "If ever we needed an example of how toxic it has become, those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, that they felt they could take photographs of dead black girls and send them on.  It speaks volumes of the ethos that runs through the Metropolitan police.” Indeed.

Richard Carter ● 2327d

Weird,creepy and disgusting.  Is there something mentally wrong with these men?  No excuse, although I understand that you have to toughen up being constantly attacked and disrespected by some of the general public, but..... maybe they need to go away and get some respite.The Police are so hard pushed these days and so underfunded, in a civilised society they would be able to go away for respite and 'rebooting' after all the dreadful things they go through, verbal abuse, spitting, physical abuse, nastiness beyond any normal person's imagination.It is still shocking what they did, but something is going very wrong in society, both in the terrible deaths of these two young women and the police's extraordinary behaviour.We need to get down to the root of all these, because something is going terribly wrong.  Give it a couple more years and we will be living a feral society with no protections and no boundaries.  Batten down the hatches!!

Bunny Payne ● 2327d

So they might have a "mental health problem"....

Maxine Campbell ● 2327d

Its unimaginable what the family is going thru loosing two daughters and this on top!Earlier reports said two policemen had been arrested. Let's hope they catch the murderer and this is properly followed up.https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/25/two-met-police-officers-arrested-over-photo-of-murdered-sisters

Ed Robinson ● 2327d

There's an interesting piece in the FT today (unfortunately, it's behind their paywall) but the gist of it is that a survey carried out for the FT by YouGov found that half of black Britons are as likely to have encountered racism in the workplace as they have experienced on the street. Furthermore, they found significant divergences in the way racism is experienced by different groups, with black and people of Pakistani descent more likely than others to say that their career development has suffered as a result of racism.https://www.ft.com/content/b2d9ebef-2d45-4d81-a907-0a38fa7d2610The full survey is here; the most disturbing aspect of it for those who hoped or believed that things have improved over the last decades is that virtually identical numbers of people believe racism exists in the country today (84%) as believe it existed 30 years ago (86%). Not only does this figure show that the issue is a problem in the eyes of an overwhelming number of Britons from ethnic minorities, but also that it does not seem to be reducing over time.https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/06/26/nine-ten-bame-britons-think-racism-exists-same-levFinally, a survey by CNN/Savanta ComRes underlined the YouGov results, finding that the views of many black people on race and racism in the UK are profoundly different from those of most white. An example: arguing that CNN’s findings show something that black people have long known about perceptions of racism in Britain, anti-racism activist Nova Reid commented that “Baroness Lawrence spoke up about Grenfell and the lack of outcome and the lack of change, and she said a lot of it is down to institutionalized racism” and has been attacked for it, She (Reid) added that “We have an unhealthy culture in the UK that calling out racism is more offensive than racism itself, but she is speaking the truth.”https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/06/europe/britain-racism-cnn-poll-gbr-intl/All very depressing and nothing to be proud of.

Richard Carter ● 2326d

I note that the article uses the word alleged repeatedly in context to the photos.  But they appear to be factual because they were allegedly passed to others to view.  If the officers are proven guilty of this despicable conduct they should be sacked and their pensions revoked.

Sue Hammond ● 2326d

With you on that one

Maxine Campbell ● 2326d

This ones not about the colour of the victims its about two perverted horrible despicable people who thought it was ok to uss their position of privelege to take  pictures for their own depraved  use of two murder victims. Hideous people.

Andy Pike ● 2326d

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when this was on the news.  Even worse, I believe they shared it on What’sApp. It is disgusting and I feel desperately sorry for the family and that the pain they must be suffering has been made worse by this.

Martine Guy ● 2326d

@Andy. I don't know how you're so sure about that. For a start we don't know what they said in the messages accompanying the photos. @Sue. I'd agree with you on that. I suspect the lawyers insist on the word "allegedly" being used while any legal action is pending. Interesting point on pensions; I'm not familiar with the police service pension scheme but if there's any contribution made by the individual then that cannot be rescinded?

Michael Ixer ● 2326d

@MichaelUnfortunately it seems that police officers who are dismissed for misconduct do get to keep their full pension. 😡"A police spokeswoman said the strict rules that determine when a pension can be forfeited are set out in law.'To be considered, a person has to be convicted in court of specific criminal offences. These are: treason, offences under the Official Secrets Act with a sentence of at least ten years, or a criminal offence connected to service which is liable to lead to serious loss of public confidence, or is gravely injurious to the interests of the Secretary of State. Forfeiture proceedings have to be approved by the Home Secretary.Revocation or reduction of pensionable pay can therefore only occur if an officer is convicted in court of one of these criminal offences.'It cannot be applied to police officers who are dismissed for misconduct or who choose to resign facing a misconduct hearing."Copied from:Disgraced top police officers receive £467k pension payments despite being sacked | Daily Mail Onlinehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2690410/Disgraced-police-officers-receive-total-467-000-pension-payments-despite-sacked-gross-misconduct.html

Sue Hammond ● 2326d

MichaelOf course I'm not certain it's about colour nor can those who are suggesting if could be.But I am absolutely certain that these two officers are the lowest of the low and absolutely horrible human beings who should face the full force of the law that they failed so horribly to uphold.

Andy Pike ● 2326d

Flaws in recruitment and training at the heart of this in my view.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2326d