PASSERS-BY BLASTED FOR FILMING INJURED COP

A POLICE officer was knocked off his bike during a pursuit, and the behaviour of bystanders has sparked outrage.

Police have criticised the passers-by who decided to film the stricken officer, rather than help during the incident, which is believed to have taken place on Stoney Stanton Road on Wednesday.

Among those commenting was the Police and Crime Commissioner of West Midlands Police, who expressed his disappointment at the bystanders.

In a Tweet, David Jamieson said: “I want you to know how disappointed I am to hear some bystanders filmed rather than helped.”

Thankfully, the officer, who was pursuing a bike when he was knocked over was taken to hospital, but was later discharged with “bumps, bruises and a bit of shock.”

The officer is believed to be part of the West Midlands Police Road Harm Reduction Team, who Tweeted: “Very disappointed to report that when one of our team was knocked off his bike while pursuing a stolen bike.

“The first thing that people thought to do was to record the incident on their mobile phones rather than help the rider. Luckily we were close.”

In a later update, they added that: “He has no long lasting injuries and is recuperating at home.”

Meanwhile, West Midlands Police’s Force Contact unit branded it as “absolutely disgusting behavior.”

And they had a message to those filming the incident saying: “For those filming our injured colleague...the difference between us & you is if you ever need our help in future we will still respond.”

Many people responded to the tweets also expressing anger at those filming the stricken officer. However some defended the actions of those filming.

Twitter user taxidriverjohn said: “Nothing wrong with filming the police although the police do seem to have a problem accepting that the public can film them. The difference between you and us is that you get very well paid to respond to things like this.”

But the WMP Force Contact account fired back saying: “Hi John, I would have thought there is a moral problem with filming any injured human being following a road traffic collision, no matter what uniform they wear. #PoliceAreHumanToo “

Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact police on 101.