From the Daily Mail; 7th August 2019
The Mail newspapers have long been regarded as publications which are hostile to police. Following the much- publicised incidents at Clapham and Bristol, former police officer Chris Hobbs penned the following letter to the Daily Mail. It has not been published.
Dear Editor,
Even when expressing a modicum of concern in Tuesday’s Daily Mail editorial, for the safety of officers at future protests following events in Bristol, there were still plenty of barbs directed at the police including the comment that police went, ‘piling into’ those attending the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah.
Clearly, whoever wrote that editorial, failed to carry out any meaningful research via Mark White’s Sky News ‘time line’ report on the Clapham Common incident or, more absurdly, the detailed report on the evening’s events by their sister paper, the Mail on Sunday.
Police did not just go ‘piling in.’ After the Vigil and the minutes silence they tried to persuade the crowd to return home. As the MOS evidenced, the vigil was infiltrated by those from far- left organisations with a similar outlook and mentality to those who caused mayhem in Bristol.
Footage clearly shows the ‘aspiring actress’ arguing with officers who were politely asking the crowd to leave what was becoming a political rally and then she was seen shouting at the crowd, urging them to defy the police requests to disperse.
She was one of just four arrests, but released after supplying her name and address. Local hospital A&E units were not overrun; police custody suites were not overflowing with bloodied victims of police brutality yet those on the police hating left and indeed the police hating right were handed a victory.
The editorial accused police of ‘standing back’ at Black Lives Matter protests. Yes, they did apply a light touch in order to avoid a repeat of 2011, but when attacked they responded. There were significant numbers of arrests and significant numbers of officers injured. As for Bristol, police clearly had no intelligence that the protest would be other than peaceful.
Police transgressions need to be in the public domain, but these need to be balanced by the myriad acts of bravery, kindness and compassion which save and improve lives on a daily basis. The deplorable actions of one or a small number of police officers shouldn’t result in every police officer in the country being collectively smeared.
A recent survey of newspapers over a month showed that just 8.9% of the 459 stories that featured policing were positive. Constant, unbalanced denigration where police are vilified at every opportunity can only increase the risk to officers; it provides the justification necessary for criminal and extremist elements when in a confrontation situation with police, to take that additional step and attack officers. Those attacks are increasing in numbers and severity.
Chris Hobbs.