I stand with Mr.Dowden. A professional, front line, public servant faced with unprecedented instantaneous command decisions. His composure and dignity at the inquiry is exceptional.
#IAmMichaelDowden
My last tweet as a serving officer before retirement. 124yrs service by the West’s & nephew Steve still serving. It’s been a lifetime privilege to serve in West Yorkshire. Thoughts now with the front line. Stay safe & look after each other. Personal account soon. End Ex
I’ve specialised in Public Order for over 20 years & commanded major protest/counter protests. We had all the powers we needed, then & now. This is bad law & anti democratic. Tread carefully U.K. policing.
Current scenes at Bradford Royal Infirmary. 9 paramedic crews waiting to handover. 1.5 hours wait time to release 999 crews. The paramedics & A&E staff are utterly brilliant. This the fault of government policy and under funding.
Answer: They’ve been purposefully & ideologically cut to the bone financially. They’ve been purposefully used in the manufacture of ‘culture wars’. They’ve been systematically & purposefully attacked & criticised in this rag & others. They’ve been abandoned & void of leadership.
Only one group to speak of today -
@metpoliceuk
. Men & women, wives & husbands, daughters & sons, mothers & fathers. Public servants facing vilification, assault, abuse, criticism. Defending our values. Yes a fallible organisation but in overwhelming majority- the best of us.💙
Zero evidence. Entirely gratuitous. Not challenged. Deeply divisive. The service kicked again. I’ll repeat myself -
@PoliceChiefs
need a robust long term engagement/comms strategy for the reputation of the service. Silence is not leadership. Find your voice before it’s too late
“They may have stereotyped and racially profiled her”
Former Met Detective Superintendent
@ShabnamChaudhri
tells
#Newsnight
she believes Owami Davies’s ethnicity was a factor in Met response
Almost impossible to single anyone out, but surely these young men stand alone in their duty today. Flawless, immaculately turned out, simply awesome, I hope someone is buying their beer right now.
Here is Bradford City's own PC 228 West! As a 96th Birthday treat he came to
@bd1policemuseum
and revisited the rooms & cells he had worked in. A big surprise was to find the 1956 General Orders on display in the Charge Office! Mentioning his posting to Idle and his pay increase!
Owami Davies -
@policeconduct
not taking action against Met who didn’t know she was missing when they spoke with her. So no ‘racial bias’ or ‘racial profiling’ it appears. No doubt the media reporting IOPC initial interest will rush to correct the record. I won’t hold my breath.
A lot of misinformation & nonsense doing the rounds around strip search. Damaging stuff.
@PoliceChiefs
any chance you can put someone up to set out some facts & context or is the policy still absolute silence when misinformation is peddled out there. Asking for 140k friends.
It’s Notting Hill Carnival today. There might be images of officers dancing. That’s ok. There’s far important issues for policing like pay/pensions, assaults on police, demand, wellbeing, mental health & constant media kicking. They serve now, today with all that, give em a break
The stadium safety officer is responsible for security, safety, stewarding, turnstiles, searches at the venue & its immediate footprint. It is NOT a matter for the police alone. The safety officer sets their stewarding p,an and resource levels. NOT the police.
Ministers and the Football Association have blamed the Metropolitan Police for failing to protect Wembley Stadium before the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.
The late Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn CBE QPM DL FRSA. Passed away 2006, just 50 yrs old. An absolute gentleman and a Bobby’s Bobby. One of the finest eras in West Yorkshire when he was our Chief.
Took a call from MP Holly Lynch
@HollyLynch5
. She wanted to talk through the operational issues arising from the Protest elements of the Police, Crime, Sentencing, Courts Bill. Imagine that, an MP that genuinely wants to learn & understand before speaking in Parliament. 👏👏👏
Thoughts with
@kent_police
tonight, their colleague, family and friends, and those at the scene and investigating. Everything crossed they pull through.
#BlueFamily
Serious error of judgement in
@WestYorksPolice
actively supporting blatant political electioneering. A man & government that cut 21k Officers gets the red carpet & politically neutral stance broken. Embarrassing scenes in Carrgate today. Officers used in Trump style photo op 😡
As I’ve said before
@PoliceChiefs
simply must develop a rebuttal, response & positive advocacy capability/strategy for the front line. The attacks are relentless & increasingly ridiculous. Silence is not acceptable, stand up & support your officers
@PoliceChiefs
I have concerns with the way the patch is going in uniform policing. It is not a para military force, some it is becoming worrying and there appears to be growth industry in them. Time for some restraint I would hope.
No visit to Craster without visiting
@mickoxley
, meeting the man himself, & picking up a stunning original. Discussing our Bradford connections & his fabulous work.
@SeaSkyCraster
. A fantastic day. Cheers Mick!
I’ve dedicated my life to policing. I’m of a police family (125+yrs continued service). I love the job. However, too often when things go wrong the response is reputation management. The Public understand human mistakes, they don’t forgive cover up
#HillsboroughLaw
#JFT97
One (1) person did an idiotic & criminal act. He was arrested & will be dealt with. It does not mean a return to fences or armed cops at ⚽️. No one called for such measures when a handful of race goers were fighting in lumps a few weeks back
#jackgrealish
#proportionate
So police officers, it appears that if you breach the code of ethics, say sorry and quit for just 5 days you can simply come straight back into your job. No? Just the Home Secretary then. 🤔
#braverman
Final tweet on the fantastic Leeds v Millwall game today. As ever
@WYPHorses
were simply awesome. My thanks to them & their mutual aid colleagues. Happy Birthday Netty! Brownies were superb.
#bakeoff
beckons
Vacancy: 57 police officers wanted. Must have integrity, compassion, & moral courage. Would ideally suit anyone, of any ethnicity/orientation, with sense of public service & duty. Basic first aid skills essential. Apply Buffalo Police Department, USA.
Austerity 2.0. Policing cannot muddle through another decade of this. Time to finally decide what’s in scope. Can’t be an ambulance service, can’t be outpatients mental heath service, can’t be an out of hours social services. Draw some lines, support the front line when they do.
Best wishes to
@bs_pearson
on his retirement today. A brilliant public servant & gifted thief taker. No one gave more, or cared more, than Ben. It’s a privilege to have worked with him for a little while in Keighley. Massive loss to Policing & communities. Good look, stay strong.
U.K. Policing is one of the punch bags in the so called ‘culture wars’. The orchestrated attacks on the service does lasting damage to legitimacy & morale.
@PoliceChiefs
@PFEW_HQ
@policesupers
@AssocPCCs
must get together & formulate a positive rebuttal narrative.
Like Johnson, Truss is ‘entitled’ to £115k a year, for life, as an outgoing PM to run her office, travel etc. £115k a year for life after just 45 days in office. This is IN ADDITION to her MP salary & pension. It’s time to abolish this payment.
The Premier League return to ‘neutral venues’ is predicated on the entirely false view that ⚽️ fans congregating around clubs will lead to disorder. It really is time for a grown up debate on how best to return. Meanwhile...threat & disorder headlines around these scenes?
Absolutely appalling, unlawful, unacceptable safety & security operation for any fans in 2020. Sincerely hope
@ISLO_MUST
@MU_ST
get some answers here for the sake of all other visitors and for ⚽️ safety.
And while it lasted it damaged relationships and continued to characterise fans as a threat..language of ‘stark reminders’, ‘get a grip’ even the suggestion fans would gather outside training grounds! A really damaging, totally unnecessary, episode.
The push for matches at neutral venues in the Premier League by the police chief in charge of football in England "lacked evidence and a compelling rationale."
Experts questioned it and shredded it.
As explored here:
And here:
1, Decades of crowd research evidence makes clear crowds are not irrational inherently violent ‘mobs’ or hooligans. To think of the crowd in this way sets up decision making as the crowd to be controlled rather than facilitated. It is the self fulfilling prophecy. Expect violence
The emergence of a horse racing ‘hooliganism’ narrative? What next, no alcohol within sight of the 🐎’s. Just goes to show violence at sports grounds is not sole preserve of ⚽️ fans as some would have it.
Let’s now have a serious EVIDENCE BASED conversation on the pros and cons of
#Safestanding
, away from the ‘Hooliganism’ narrative and entrenched positions.
#EnableUK
1, I’ve planned & commanded some of the largest protest operations in the North of England. EDL/ANL in challenging places like Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax. I didn’t need any extra powers, there are totally sufficient powers already available.
#ProtestBill
.
Some fantastic positive feedback for
@PNEPolice
@LancsPolice
in last 24hrs on twitter demonstrating the power of ⚽️ policing which is engaging & authentic. Lost count of the positive comments on here, well done
@PNEPolice
a model to follow for other forces, I hope!
If ever there was a time for a comprehensive, properly independent, review of Protest Policing this is it. The
@HMICFRS
latest is wholly inadequate, one dimensional, & too close to the Government agenda. This is a crisis for police legitimacy.
Thank you
@MerseyPolice
you have been awesome.
@merpolchiefcon
so impressed with your people. Passionate smart, courteous, dedicated & yes even Happy. An absolute credit to you (even as a dyed in the wool ‘best Yorkshire’ man!) thank you so much
@EHUpolicing
@ehu_lcp
@edgehill
Huge thanks to
@julian_platt
& colleagues from
@LancsPolice
for hosting the
#EnableUK
team for PNE v Birmingham. Hugely impressed with Lancs, a progressive force, delivering a high quality ⚽️ policing operation today.
#changingthegame
We’ve seen it before. “Late arrival of fans” “Ticketless Fans” “Fake Tickets”. Another collapse of safety & security at a major international event. I’ve researched ⚽️ policing for years now. It’s time for a fundamental overhaul, starting with debunking the fan blame cycle.
A lone, unarmed, officer. Chases man with machete. Violent struggle ensues as he resists arrest. Someone intervenes to try help him escape from the officer, however the officer courageously maintains control and makes the arrest, recovers the machete. 💙
"There is huge support for the idea of fans being able to stand in safe conditions in the top two divisions." 👊
We visited
@Shrewsweb
to have a closer look at the rail seating section recently installed.
🎥 Watch today's Talking Reds in full here 👉