A "toxic" culture in the police force?

Apparently a senior police officer in this state, one close to retirement, has been suspended for writing a letter saying there is a "toxic" culture in the police force in this state. There are also statements they are understaffed and that there is a litany of other issues which need to be addressed.

While the police in this state may do a good job I have to agree with at least some of what the officer has said. I have long thought there is something wrong with the initial training police receive. Yes, you want people who can apply the law and deal with those who break the law. You want people who can control traffic and crowds and deal with a wide variety of incidents from traffic accidents to domestic violence. It is not an easy job.

But there are people in the police force who do the wrong thing too. My experience with them has been varied. I once had the police move some now old fashioned radar gear out of my way on the footpath with a cheerful call to each other, "Look out, tricycle coming through" and then a "Go carefully." I went carefully.  On occasion they have seen me attempting to cross a particular road at a particular point and waved me in front of their car.  That's something I really appreciate.

I have never been convicted of a traffic offence but I have had a policewoman try to make me break the law. I have had another obviously bored policeman tell me off for not putting a rear paw on the ground at a stop sign with "How do I know you have stopped if you don't do that?" Er....it is hardly necessary if you are riding on three wheels rather than two. He just wanted to have a go at someone.

We see them sometimes in the shopping centre. It's a pretty law abiding area and they are usually buying takeaway coffees and their lunch. It is interesting to note they expect (and get) to be served first. They don't talk to other customers. It seems like arrogance even when they might be able to say, "Excuse me an incident has been called in and we need to get on." They seem to ignore small children now. We knew the local policeman when I was a very young kitten. He would crouch down and talk to us. In a small country town he knew all of us. He taught the Irish boy how to help the rest of us get like ducks across the road so we could go to "help" at the railway station. 

But training has changed, perhaps because the police no longer walk their territory. They drive. They don't mix. 

Some years ago I met a policeman who did talk to me. He had been trained in England and he was thinking of returning there. He did not think it was perfect there by any means but he told me he thought the new recruits here were being trained to be "distant". I know what he meant. You might not want police to be too friendly but you do want them to be approachable. It might induce cooperation in general - and that might go some way to solving some very real problems.