Chief Constable calls on public to ‘help not hinder’ his frontline PCs
A POLICE chief yesterday joined calls for the public to ‘help and not hinder’ frontline officers.
The comments by Lancashire Chief Constable Andy Rhodes came after officers condemned the ‘walk on by’ culture in which members of the public film attacks on their phones instead of stopping them.
Mr Rhodes said: ‘We are not saying to the public that we expect you to get involved in physical violence on the streets.
‘What we are saying is there are ways and means of helping us and some of the things that we are seeing are hindering us. This isn’t a green light for have-a-go heroes.’
The Mail yesterday revealed how footage of a London woman police officer being kicked into the path of a bus was shared online. It prompted Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met Police Federation, which represents almost 30,000 junior officers, to warn that officers may let thugs go if the public fails to back them up. However speaking to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire, Mr Rhodes said: ‘ We are trained to deal with violent incidents. If our officers feel they are not in a position to make a safe arrest without being harmed they will back up and wait for more support to come.’
Responding to the footage of the London policewoman being kicked, Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said: ‘I was shocked, I thought it was sickening to see the violence that my officers were subjected to.
‘I was honestly appalled that somebody should be filming that and laughing about it.’
When asked if the public should intervene, she said: ‘It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who you are, how fit and able you feel and what is in fact unfolding in front of your eyes.’