[mowgli77]

On the whole subject of the coppers getting a kicking the other night I can see where some people are coming from as you base your opinion on something/someone based on experience and if the police you have experience of have been heavy handed or complete arseholes I don't expect you to have much sympathy for a few getting beaten by Rangers fans.

What hasn't been picked up though is that these arseholes in uniforms/heavy handed coppers are a MINORITY just the same way the hooligan element is a MINORITY. When I worked in the police I can honestly say most of the people I worked with were spot on, they could use their mouths to communicate rather than just relying on a baton and CS spray but there were a few pricks too.

I'm sure Gazza and Staffy will be able to recognise there are some people that work with them that are almost thuggish and incompetent (usually firearms and public order officers) but they are the minority. There are lots of new officers in their early twenties just starting in the police, straight out of uni, academically fantastic, know every aspect of the law but have no common sense, no communication skills and just don't know how to speak to people properly, and many with a massive fcuking chip on their shoulder. Same thing happens to all the police then as what happened to the Rangers fans, all get tarred with the same brush, police brutality, thugs in uniforms etc etc.

Interesting that it was also GMP police the other night. When I was at training school in Durham loads of others were at training school in Warrington and GMP were known as GIMP, they were getting suspended left right and centre and many didn't make it through training school as they had been sacked due to disciplinary issues. Maybe they need to sort out their recruiting process too. I had one PC from GMP threaten to arrest me at Oldham away for moving my car forward a matter of inches while trying to get out of the car park, attitude problem and complete prick. Also got pulled at Kirkstall by a trainee with a big mouth and a bad attitude and would have loved to give the cnut a kicking myself. There will always be one bad apple in a team or shift, it's up to their sergeants and inspectors to get rid.

It will be just typical that the officers being heavy handed will be fine and the ones that do their job properly will be the ones that get the kicking. I know from meeting Gazza and Staffy that they are more than competent of doing their job and would feel quite sickened if one of them was getting a kicking like the other night. I can see how Gazza has got annoyed at certain comments but those opinions have been based on bad experiences with police, it's unfair to judge a whole force on the actions of a few idiots.

I think PaulM made a comment about how they are ok when they are bashing protesters and I know some who were going to the G8 thing a few years ago who couldn't wait to do just that.