boothy wrote:
it’s the general aggression and how “up for it” the riot coppers are, even if there is no trouble kickin off :you_crazy
SWIM[1] years ago used to listen to radio scanners, on which you could pick up the cop frequencies before they had airwave radios.
On footy day most of the callsigns you’d hear were allocated to Special Constabulary. Many join up for fun (and they are allowed to wear riot gear if the situation warrants it) and this sort of volunteer force obviously attracts those who have otherwise boring lives and are “up for a bit of action”. Specials often make up the complement of serials tasked to weekend events such as raves, as otherwise the senior officers can’t get enough resources to deal with the situation.
Worst of all, unlike normal cops they can get in a ruck and although they might get kicked out of the specials they won’t lose their day jobs which removes any financial incentive to behave well – many “hobby bobbies” realise this.
this is one of the times when I actually agree with a lot of normal serving Police officers, the Special Constabulary should be abolished IMO and those who wish to become a constable or PCSO should join in the normal manner and be made fully accountable for their actions if things go wrong (and the loss of their badge, shield and salary is still a big driver for them to at least look like they are following the rules)
Other Commonwealth countries have similar volunteer forces, that are known for their bruality (they are actually a throwback from the middle ages when each village would have only a Constable and then various farmworkers and other men who “though they were hard enough” would assist him on the Watch (as the patrol was called).
In Malaysia they are called the Reki; when assisting on a “purge of suspected illegal immigrants” (usually cleaners from Indonesia and the Phillipines), it ended up with 5 immigrants being executed without trial and dumped in a lake.
[1] someone who isn’t me
