British police should be taught from France in coping with Extinction Insurrection

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British police should be taught from France in coping with Extinction Insurrection

I’ve all the time been a fan of the French police, partially as a result of once I lived within the south of the nation I performed rugby in a cre



I’ve all the time been a fan of the French police, partially as a result of once I lived within the south of the nation I performed rugby in a crew that contained a few coppers who advised me tales of what they needed to take care of every day. However I’m additionally somewhat a fan of them as a result of they do what it says on the tin: they police

I recall a summer season’s night in Montpellier a couple of years in the past when two younger drunks had been inflicting a disturbance for diners and drinkers in a crowded sq.. The police arrived and manhandled the louts into their squad automotive, considered one of whom made the error of resisting arrest. As he was manoeuvred into the again seat the person’s head met the door body. An accident? Mais oui, and one which drew a raucous cheer from diners.

The French police don’t mess about. Very often, they might be somewhat heavy-handed however isn’t that higher than half-hearted, which is what some British police seem to have develop into? There are nonetheless, after all, lots inside Britain’s rank and file who do a terrific job. And there are additionally some splendid specialist officers, as we noticed earlier this month within the response to the Islamist assault in Streatham. However the common bobby is in peril of changing into one thing of a joke.

I assumed issues couldn’t get any worse after these photographs final yr of police dancing and skateboarding with protestors in the course of the Extinction Insurrection protest that introduced chaos to London. However what has unfolded this week in Cambridge – the place local weather change activists dug up Trinity Faculty’s historic garden – has proved me flawed. Are the police now the paramilitary wing of the Guardian?

The distinction between French police and their British counterparts is extra than simply ideological. In look they’re additionally usually worlds aside. I can’t keep in mind seeing a French copper sporting fashionable physique artwork or a natty hipster beard. But in Britain, rules on tattoos have been relaxed for brand spanking new recruits for the Met. The tendency for some officers in Britain to try to police social networks – even, in one instance, turning up at a person’s workplace after he wrote tweets together with: ‘I used to be assigned mammal at delivery however I establish as fish. Don’t mis-species me….’ – is one other worrying growth.

It may additionally be an concept if the police dropped the ‘guys’ and ‘mate’ phrases of deal with and reverted to ‘sir’ and ‘madam’. In all my dealings with the French police (all the time on the appropriate aspect of the legislation, I hasten so as to add), I’ve by no means been addressed aside from ‘monsieur’.

Nor have I heard of a gendarme contacting a 74-year-old lady to warn she is ideologically out of line. Which may be as a result of they’re too busy battling Islamists, environmentalists, anarchists, indignant commerce unionists and yobs in yellow vests.

Whereas there have, in latest months, been a handful of incidents of extreme power involving French police, total the response has been remarkably disciplined given what the police are up in opposition to. Barely every week goes by with out the police coming underneath assault. Think about what that does to these on the frontline, enduring not simply paving stones and Molotov cocktails, but additionally mocking chants concerning the rising variety of police suicides.

Lately, the killing of police personnel in France has been the only protect of Islamist extremists, however that’s not for need of making an attempt by some on the far-left. In 2016, for instance, two policemen had been lucky to flee with their lives when an Antifa mob surrounded their automotive and set it on hearth after which attacked them with iron bars as they scrambled clear.

There are nonetheless parts of the liberal institution in France which try to painting the French police as thugs in uniform, however the public aren’t fooled. They know who’re the villains and who’re the victims. That is why a recent poll discovered that almost all of the general public imagine they’ve acted proportionally in latest confrontations with strikers and yellow vests. That’s as a result of the police are nonetheless in tune with the vast majority of French individuals, sharing a respect for legislation and order and a love of their nation and its tradition. Can the identical be mentioned for the response of police in Cambridge to what unfolded this week?





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