As a barrister, I know that policing depends on consent. When trust goes, it’s bad for everyone
A couple of weeks ago, my friend texted our group chat. She’d witnessed a couple fighting in the street and, after watching it escalate, had called the police. The suspect was a Black man, the potential victim a Black woman.
My friend was asking the group whether we thought she’d done the right thing – because her husband believed she’d called the police too quickly. It sparked a debate. Some staunchly believed that when a woman was potentially being attacked, the police should always be called. Others were worried that calling the police would only make matters worse, that my friend may have misinterpreted what she had seen, and that the police would view the man as a threat, the situation could escalate, and that he could end up being put in danger. Their preference instead would have been to speak to the man directly and see if they could calm the situation down.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/35mv3hd
