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My take on this:
It's possible, however unlikely, that story unfolded exactly as the OP's friend states and three policemen (or three blokes dressed as police) took it upon themselves to have a bit of "fun". It's also possible, however unlikely, that she took a skyer whilst pissed and doesn't want to admit it so has fabricated the whole thing. The truth, I would guess, is somewhere in between. But we don't know for sure, so this is two pages of raw speculation.
The OP asked how to make a complaint. Should this go ahead, we will hopefully find out the truth in due course and then they can come back to us with an update.
Ohh Cougar don't put the brakes on this now - I am having so much fun.
The point being that you made up a story that bears no resemblance to the one the OP claims happened
Read it again. Read the OPs post again. Try seeing it from a third party's perspective and understand that individual's recollection of the exact same event can be completely different.
Anyway, the point of the story was to counter the idea it's impossible that the police could have reacted in this way. It's not what I think happened.
Why are so many ignoring the fact that the Police let her go?
If she had done anything, with 3 Officers as witnesses, they would of locked her up and then charged her.
Have you never watched those late night "Police Action" type fly-on-the-wall documentaries? You'd have to pretty much commit ABH to get chucked in the van, their MO is to stop things escalating and convince drunken quarter-wits to bugger off home. If they charged everyone who had "done something" the courts would grind to a half.
It’s not what I think happened.
what do you think happened? Please write a detailed narration of what you believe occurred and document all the evidence that supports the account.
saxonrider
I never understood this type of reaction.
In the first place: why, if asked to show something non-incriminating, would you not show it? Okay, the law doesn’t require you to. But so what? The law doesn’t require you to hold the door open for someone either, but it’s just kind of a decent thing to do.
EDIT: Or were you in fact doing something that you felt defensive about?
This was the 3rd time in not many more months I'd been stopped and searched for simply having or using a camera. In this case it was just hanging round my neck with the lens cap on.
However, that wasn't the only reason ... the officer started off being aggressive and lying.
I don't remember exact words but something like
"You fella I'm going to search you"
"Why"
"I don't need to tell you why shut the **** up and put your arms against that wall"
"I just want to know why you are stopping me and under which powers"
"I told you to shut the **** up...now get your ****ing hands against that wall"
"I'm simply asking why and for you to write it down on a 5090X ... "
"I'll give you a ****ing reason... if you resist I'll drag you down that alley and beat the shit out of you"
In a society like ours, which is already heavily surveyed, why do we make such a big deal of “stop and search”? Sure it can be abused, but so can any system. Canadians aren’t exactly oppressed by their police, or made to feel like they live in police state, but cops can stop anyone at any time and ask for identification.
I find the decision to get belligerent over police requests a bit strange, when hardly anyone complains about the fact that there is hardly a square metre patch in London that isn’t under a camera. Very British, and very much like one of my toddlers at home.
The time before was at the BM.... (yeah what a weird place to take a camera).
The whole operation at the BM and BL were later found by Lord Carlyl (whatever the spelling)to be illegal and specifically set up to fudge the stop and search numbers to prove they are not stopping a disproportionate number of minorities. (the irony being I was meeting a black friend at the museum)
and if you want to go back even FURTHER the whole of Section 44 in the Act voted on in the houses had a specific clause about the maximum amount of time a whole area can be declared that had been bypassed by simply renewing it every time it expired.
The whole thing is just bad/corrupt and open to abuse from the very top...
and finally another reason .... prior to these incidents I'd seen people being searched and thought nothing of it... or what I reaaly thought is they must have been doing something or the police wouldn't have stopped and searched them.
I think what struck me is this "no smoke without fire" ... that I had been an unwitting part of.
I think overall carrying a DSLR gave me an insight into the complaints of minority groups and whereas in the past I might see a black youth being searched and think "it's just co-incidicence they must have done something" I now questioned all the times I'd probably thought that.
To be pedantic, I think you mean they are skimming, not scanning.
Nope, I meant scanning. According to the first hit I got on google:
Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific information, e.g. figures or names. It can be contrasted with skimming, which is reading quickly to get a general idea of meaning.
When people read things on STW they are scanning for anything that seems like a mistake so they can make a pedantic rebuttal.
Read it again. Read the OPs post again.
I have.
They are two different scenarios. The first one (the OPs) would lead to the person being given directions to her hotel. The second one (yours) could lead to an escalation given the right (wrong) circumstances.
As we are discussing the OPs version of events, we are asking whether or not we have heard the full details of events. Had we been discussing your made up account, we might be suggesting ways she could seek advice to make a complaint about police brutality.
johndoh
Steve – did you make a complaint?
Nope, though I probably should have but really I doubt anything would have happened anyway except just one extra complaint ???
what do you think happened? Please write a detailed narration of what you believe occurred and document all the evidence that supports the account.
Are you being serious? The OP asked how to make a complaint against the police. Many people decided to jump in with variations of, 'Yer mates talking shite.
I pointed out they have absolutely no way of knowing that and the fact they jump to that conclusion is scary.
Telling someone whose friend may have just been assaulted she is a liar is a crap thing to do and that attitude only serves to let abusers continue abusing.
Are you being serious?
Yes. You wrote a lengthy piece of fiction about what you think didn't happen. Surely it makes more sense to put the same amount of effort into explaining what you do think happened.
Let me just quote myself again:
I wrote it because so many people on here seem to have trouble imagining a set of circumstances where what the OP described could happen.
People are calling the OP's friend a liar because they cannot imagine a set of circumstances where what she said was true. I was trying to help them out. Unsuccessfully, it seems.
It was pretty tedious, melodramatic writing too, from a stylistic perspective. I don't think you're going to make a living writing fiction TBH.
because they cannot imagine a set of circumstances where what she said was true
Err, because the OP told us that she was simply asking for directions so we do know the exact set of circumstances. However those circumstances do not lead many of us to believe she would be beaten up so we do imagine there is a further set of circumstances leading to what did happen, therefore many of us do not believe the story as it was told by the OP.
Yours is an entirely different story, to which many of us may have reacted differently had it be true.
It was pretty tedious, melodramatic writing too, from a stylistic perspective. I don’t think you’re going to make a living writing fiction TBH.
But my mum says I'm really good!
Err, because the OP told us that she was simply asking for directions so we do know the exact set of circumstances.
Try taking some acting classes. The exact same dialogue can be interpreted in radically different ways.
We do not know the exact circumstances.
We do not know the exact circumstances.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So you agree we shouldn't be calling her a liar until we have more information?
So you agree we shouldn’t be calling her a liar until we have more information?
No, I am saying that the OP gave us a story which many of us do not believe for a minute (and you even made up another story to illustrate what may have been the real sequence of events leading to a single woman being beaten by three police officers for having the temerity to ask for directions). If we did know the exact circumstances we may react and advise differently.
BruceWee - do you believe she was beaten up for asking for directions?
Wheres the op? We need more info! Have the rozzers been round to his gaff and roughed him up a bit to put the silencers on?
As I've said many times, I think it's really dangerous to call alleged victims liars just because it seems unlikely a person in a position of authority would commit the crime.
BruceWee – do you believe she was beaten up for asking for directions?
No, because the OP doesn't say anything about her being beaten up.
No, because the OP doesn’t say anything about her being beaten up.
Okay, bad choice of words, but do you think she was manhandled, leading to bruises on her face, arms and legs because she asked for directions?
This was the 3rd time in not many more months I’d been stopped and searched for simply having or using a camera. In this case it was just hanging round my neck with the lens cap on.
I'm being thick, whats the connection between having a dslr and being stopped and searched?
Okay, bad choice of words, but do you think she was manhandled, leading to bruises on her face, arms and legs because she asked for directions?
It seems unlikely. It also seems unlikely that someone would make it up. I don't have enough information to form an opinion either way.
If your mother/sister/wife/girlfriend came to you and said she was dragged into an alley by three policemen and thrown to the ground after she asked them directions would your first reaction be, 'You're lying.'
Assuming the answer is no, what is it the OP said that makes you assume his friend is lying?
I wrote it because so many people on here seem to have trouble imagining a set of circumstances where what the OP described could happen
Including you apparently.
The little story you told was basically an illustration as to why Assaulting a Police Officer is a bad idea.
Not what the female in the OP said she did.
So even you don’t believe her version of events?
Including you apparently.
The little story you told was basically an illustration as to why Assaulting a Police Officer is a bad idea.
Not what the female in the OP said she did.
So even you don’t believe her version of events?
Just out of interest, what sort of grades did you get in English?
Go back and read it again. Did the woman actually assault Paul? Do you think his state of mind could have led to him mis-interpreting an innocent attempt to get his attention?
Why people feel the need to tell the OP his recently assaulted friend is a liar I really don’t understand.
Because the OP posted enough details to pique interest and cause some of us to question the events as posted (if he'd have just posted "a mate was assaulted by police, how do they complain" I doubt many people would be questioning whether the assault actually happened (OK we'd probably be asking for more details...)
The STW Chat forum is (I think...) mostly populated by bored people at work, anything vaguely interesting is going to get commented on and often opinions given (we don't have anything better to do, or at least more interesting to do). It's normally not done in a nasty way but some people chose to take offence if an opinion is given that doesn't match their own.
Personally if I wanted non-opinionated advice on a subject likely to generate opinion I'd avoid posting here (or on Mumsnet) or at least only provide sufficient detail to get an answer but not 3 pages of opinions.
If your mother/sister/wife/girlfriend came to you and said she was dragged into an alley by three policemen and thrown to the ground after she asked them directions would your first reaction be, ‘You’re lying.’
An interesting scenario. If they claimed they only asked for directions and that there were absolutely no other mitigating circumstances (say, for example, they were being a raging drunken bitch) then yes, I think I would believe they were lying.
It also seems unlikely that someone would make it up
Unless they were a raging drunken bitch at the time, did something spectacularly embarrassing and were trying to cover it up by making up a story about being manhandled by the police?
It also seemed unlikely to Rolling Stone that someone would make up a gang rape story so they didn't bother to check if there was corroborating evidence. But then it turns out that people do make up crazy stuff sometimes.
Unless they were a raging drunken bitch
And what sort of grades did you get in English?
Go back and read the story again. Are we dealing with a reliable narrator?
I feel sorry for the Chief Constable whose now burning his computer due to being asked a favour where there is a recorded paper chain. Best asked for in person.
I’ve been stopped countless times in the past for stop and search and refused to comply. Never been duffed up or threatened. The coppers I was out drinking with on Saturday just want to get to retirement in one piece. Stories not very credible for me. I’d taser the lot of you.
"whats the connection between having a dslr and being stopped and searched?"
In the early part of the century some of the more hard-of-thinking members of the constabulary went through a phase of believing that everyone with a camera in public was either a pedophile or terrorist.
After a few court cases for compensation the policy got changed.
Amateur Photographer covered it.
It also seemed unlikely to Rolling Stone that someone would make up a gang rape story so they didn’t bother to check if there was corroborating evidence. But then it turns out that people do make up crazy stuff sometimes.
While it's true that sometimes women make things up, it's also true that people are all too willing to believe that's the case before they've seen any of the facts. That's what I find most depressing about this thread.
Did the woman actually assault Paul?
She grabbed his arm and spun him with - and I quote from the witness statement - 'surprising force'. It was at that point he turned violet.
And what sort of grades did you get in English?
Why the personal attacks? Feeling threatened?
So, if I am to interpret your scenario differently, am I to assume the drunken bitch was, in fact, sober (or at least not too drunk to function properly) and just apparently drunk in the eyes of the three police officers present? If so then I would be doing all I could to ensure the person/s responsible were brought to book. However, it is entirely supposition to believe an officer happened to be recovering from a session of binge drinking having just being dumped by his wife at exactly the same time an innocent member of the public simply touched their arm to get their attention.
On balance, I still tend to err on the side of thinking the OP hasn't been told the full story.
Go back and read it again. Did the woman actually assault Paul?
Yes.
Why the personal attacks? Feeling threatened?
Frustrated more than anything else. Is the narrator reliable? Did all three officers assault her or did just one do it with the other two, initially unsure what was going on, try to support their colleague and then restrain him when it became apparent he was out of control?
Read it again and try to understand the concept of perspectives and how we report events.
The STW Chat forum is (I think…) mostly populated by bored people at work, anything vaguely interesting is going to get commented on and often opinions given (we don’t have anything better to do, or at least more interesting to do). It’s normally not done in a nasty way but some people chose to take offence if an opinion is given that doesn’t match their own.
This is what I find worrying. STW has a relatively well-educated user base and yet for many the default answer to the report of a woman being assaulted by a policeman is 'She's lying'.
Not "a policeman", three (3) policemen. Its a significant difference
Read it again and try to understand the concept of perspectives and how we report events.
So we shouldn't believe that she was just asking for directions?
yet for many the default answer to the report of a woman being assaulted by a policeman is ‘She’s lying’.
Because, on the face of what we know, the claim sounds rather incredulous - especially as their reaction was to post the pictures on Facebook.
especially as their reaction was to post the pictures on Facebook.
The thing is, this is the first reaction of many people these days, odd as it may seem to both the older and younger generations.
The thing is, this is the first reaction of many people these days, odd as it may seem to both the older and younger generations.
True - I know I wouldn't do that if I had been assaulted by the police as I would be doing all I could to get justice but I can see why some would. However it just smells a little of helping weave the story for when they need to face friends and family when covered in bruises.
Good grief.
We have a scenario here where all we have is some FB pictures of some bruised arms and legs, and an account that those marks were caused by three police officers with no apparent motive to cause such injuries.
In a society like ours which is generally trusting of the police, this account sounds, if nothing else, lacking in detail. Those members of the forum who have had nothing but positive interactions with the police find it hard to believe that the assault by the police officers on a lone female would have taken place in the circumstances SO FAR relayed to them. Some have expressed incredulity, others have simply stated that they doubt it would have happened in the way it has been narrated, no doubt suspecting, as is only reasonable to do, that some other factors were at play.
Those that have had negative interactions with the police for whatever reason, are more likely to suspect that there is some grain of truth in the original account, no matter how scant it is on detail.
What is lacking is any form of motive, or explanation as to why three police officers would risk career, family life or reputation by behaving in such an apparent criminal fashion. This isn't just a bit of misconduct that's being alleged, these are life-changing allegations of serious criminal behaviour.
Some members of the forum are more familiar with the way the police in the UK are likely to behave, and point out that this is very far from what would be professional or acceptable. In fact, many police officers or ex-police officers are, I would imagine, both horrified to think that such a scenario would be possible, and extremely cynical that it would have happened in the way it has been narrated. (we'll leave lurid fiction aside for the time being)
However, nothing is impossible, and any supervisor who had such a complaint made to them would move heaven and earth to get to the bottom of what actually happened. In circumstances like these, there would be no "standing together" or "cover-ups", or "whitewashes." If nothing else, a supervisor recording such a complaint, or having it referred to them for investigation, would want the actual truth to be discovered from a reputational and integrity point of view.
I can't quite believe - well, yes, of course I can because STW - that a completely fictional bit of whataboutery has probably generated more traffic then the actual (alleged) incident.
Can we just agree that the post was a perhaps ill-conceived attempt to say "you don't know the background, people are fallible and act rashly sometimes" and get back to character-assassinating people who actually exist instead?
We need the OP to update this really
@Scapegoat - very well said (though whilst I hope it's definitely the case I don't have 100% confidence in your final paragraph).
Well said Scapegoat and I will step aside from this thread now.
I've have seen and been on the receiving end of cops who like to **** people for fun, so I can believe all of this. My advice to the OP's friend is, never trust a copper, forget the complaint it will only lead to more pain. Just avoid them. They do not serve us.
Are you invalidating Paul's feelings, Cougar? He's under a lot of stress. What he did wasn't right, but he deserves to have his side of the story heard. And while they could have been quicker, Tony and Reg did a great job doing what they could to diffuse the situation. They go way back with Paul and know he needs a little help to get back on his feet.
stevet1
“whats the connection between having a dslr and being stopped and searched?”
Yeah, I know ... ajaj mostly covers the "connection"
ajaj
In the early part of the century some of the more hard-of-thinking members of the constabulary went through a phase of believing that everyone with a camera in public was either a pedophile or terrorist.
After a few court cases for compensation the policy got changed.
Amateur Photographer covered it.
It's a bit more complex as for quite a while AFTER it started the Met offical published including website line was that people shouldn't be stopped for owning/carrying a DSLR... and apparently officers had all been briefed on this.
BUT they kept doing it anyway until they got sued.
However the reason I think I brought this up after over a decade is because of how it made me see the police vs "suspects".
It wasn't like I was under an illusion of the police being perfect to start with but despite that if I saw someone being searched or what looked like unnecessary force I'd always just assume there must be a good reason.
This really changed the way I saw police and people being searched... especially when you tell someone and the reaction was "you must have been doing something".
Out of 3 times I was stopped and searched in perhaps 4-5 months only once did I actually have the lens cap off. (At the British Museum)
It occurred to me that previously I'd be on a bus or walking down Oxford St. and see the police searching someone and just assume.. well they must have a good reason. Then it occurred to me that people going past me are just assuming ...
This is what I find worrying. STW has a relatively well-educated user base and yet for many the default answer to the report of a woman being assaulted by a policeman is ‘She’s lying’.
Assaulted by 3 or four policemen, without motive, in an area likely to be covered by CCTV and police who may have been wearing bodycams. All on this based on a facebook post by someone who cannot even work out how to raise a formal complaint.
My education taught me to question things. That is why I question this account of events.
Are you invalidating Paul’s feelings, Cougar? He’s under a lot of stress. What he did wasn’t right, but he deserves to have his side of the story heard.
Paul is undergoing existential angst. He has recently begun to wonder whether anything around him was real and more recently if even he was real, or if he was in fact a product of someone else's imagination. He has tried to test this by committing acts of atrocity to see if the consequences are real or imaginary, or if in fact he has broken free of the author and is now able to drive the narrative in his own story. As result, following the rapid escape from the recent incident, we now find him in a high class hotel room, being approached by a sensuous woman clad in a tight leather jumpsuit.
My education taught me to
question thingsbe prejudiced
FTFY.
Can we supply last lines that offer a twist to Paul's story?
"It wasn't until several hours later, as he slipped into an whisky-fuelled sleep, that he remembered the clown's face peering at him from the fire escape above the alley throughout...'
They do not serve us.
Even as late as the 80s i might have believed the chance of this happening. Now I think it is highly unlikely. Police culture as I have seen it in Oxford, Bristol and London doesn’t bear that out in my view.
I’d hate to live in a world where your statement is true.
In my run ins with the law in this country the police have behaved reasonably, especially over the last two decades as the older members of the force move on.
I do accept that others have a different experience. I’m middle class and white.
I am also middle class and white, and law abiding. But I have seen some awful behavior from cops on power trips and cops who are just plain violent bullies.
In my run ins with the law in this country the police have behaved reasonably
In my first run-in with the law I was left feeling disillusioned. I was told to pick up the litter (chip wrapper) that I had thrown on the floor. Despite my arguing it with him that I hadn't done it (and indeed, as I was still eating my chips and therefore was still holding the wrapper) he insisted I picked it up or he'd arrest me.
(Me, aged 14)
In my second, I was climbing scaffolding surrounding a Post Office at 2am on a Saturday night. I was shouted down, I climbed down, they asked me what I was doing so I explained I was drunk and thought it would be a laugh. They radiod in a name-check then let me go on my way. I thought they behaved quite reasonably given the circumstances.
(Me, aged 30)
If the lady in question is claiming to have spoken to the Greater Manchester Met about it then I think we ought to let her sober up and get her story straight. See if she can remember if she was in Manchester or London for a start.
they’ve never suddenly turned violet for no reason
crims-on the street do get treated roughly
they’ve never suddenly turned violet for no reason
#fakehues
Vaguely knowing a (now ex) copper who spent a few years at her majesty's pleasure after assaulting a homeless man I don't find it as difficult as I'd like to imagine a scenario in which asking for directions led to a bit of "over exuberant restraint" or an outright kicking. But, and it's a big but, even the downright nasty piece of work he is, it never went from one immediately to the other. He'd go to lengths to orchestrate a situation in which he'd get away with getting physical because he knew, the instant he could incite someone to provoke him, he'd get (or quite literally give) his kicks. On the one occasion he didn't force a provocation he ended up suspended within a week and in prison a while later.
So no I don't think the op's friend is necessarily lying but I'm pretty sure there's something missing from the story and that needs to be laid out in detail in the complaint (not here or FB) because, when it's dragged out at a later date the decision to omitt it now looks guilty enough to risk the complaint being dropped.
See if she can remember if she was in Manchester or London for a start.
I did wonder about that but assumed Manchester MET might be something new
Maybe she's a POC, that could explain the police's heavy handed response
Dickyboy - not something I’ve ever heard of but if so, I’ll retract my sarcasm 😀
If only a dslr had some way to record moving images, that could be stored with a date and time stamp. It would be a most useful feature if repeatedly getting stopped and searched.
If camera crews can follow the police and film arrests then it follows that you should be entitled to film your own body cavity search..
Although having a 6ft copper who is 18stone offer to insert your 300mm apo tele up your arris might persuade you not to
Have you never watched those late night “Police Action” type fly-on-the-wall documentaries? You’d have to pretty much commit ABH to get chucked in the van, their MO is to stop things escalating and convince drunken quarter-wits to bugger off home. If they charged everyone who had “done something” the courts would grind to a half.
No I have never bothered watching any of it. Do you think they behave the same on camera and off?
If 3 officers wrestled to the ground then she must of been violent towards them, which would constitute Assaulting a Police Officer. What other behaviour would justify physically restraining her? Definitely worth arresting and charging that offense. Really good for them.
Just because they charge someone doesn't mean the CPS will take it to court, however you know but can't help contradicting what I post.
Quite sad. As others have said, you really shouldn't be a mod.
you really shouldn’t be a mod.
I agree, you should become a rocker. Motorbikes so much cooler than mopeds.
Have you never watched those late night “Police Action” type fly-on-the-wall documentaries? You’d have to pretty much commit ABH to get chucked in the van, their MO is to stop things escalating and convince drunken quarter-wits to bugger off home. If they charged everyone who had “done something” the courts would grind to a half.
Someone needs to read up on embedded journalism, it isn't done to inform the public, it is nothing short of propaganda.
Do you think they behave the same on camera and off?
I've no idea, I meant to say as much in my post but forgot.
Just because they charge someone doesn’t mean the CPS will take it to court,
Fair enough. Point stands though, they'd still have far too many people to cope with to charge regardless of who's doing the charging.
however you know but can’t help contradicting what I post.
Don't flatter yourself, I couldn't care less who's doing the posting. Half the time I don't even look at usernames, if you'd asked me who I'd replied to there I wouldn't have been able to tell you without going back and checking.
Quite sad. As others have said, you really shouldn’t be a mod.
I'm posting here as a regular user just like you. Thanks for that though, really makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
Can someone please message the OP we need answers or at least an update!
Point stands though, they’d still have far too many people to cope with to charge regardless of who’s doing the charging.
You really think they wouldn't arrest for assaulting a police officer? Which could be the only possible reason for their actions and using such strong physical force.
I’m posting here as a regular user just like you. Thanks for that though, really makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
It's a bit like the police we are discussing here, the fact you want to be a police officer should automatically stop you from being one.
You really think they wouldn’t arrest for assaulting a police officer?
Of course I don't. My point was the opposite, they won't arrest you unless you really warrant it.
It’s a bit like the police we are discussing here, the fact you want to be a police officer should automatically stop you from being one.
I didn't ask to be a moderator, I was approached by Mark.
Crack on with the ad hom digs though, if you feel it strengthens your argument.
I didn’t ask to be a moderator, I was approached by Mark.
Being a Marked man isn’t an easy thing to live with.
Of course I don’t. My point was the opposite, they won’t arrest you unless you really warrant it.
So they used enough physical force to restrain someone that caused bruising.
However her actions didn't warrant an arrest? WTAF?
Bloody hell! STW at its best/worst! I only wanted a bit of advice for an old friend who seemed to be getting nowhere with the police channels and she gets character assassinated. All I can say is she is lovely person and I have never seen her acting aggressively.
I’m afraid I can’t offer any more information on the events as she has deleted the post on FB ( probably been advised to). I can remember she had managed to get some kind of response from the GM police and they were going to look into it and contact her on Monday. Presumably they have and she is satisfied something is going to happen.
The only thing i can take away from this thread , judging by some of the naive & trusting attitudes of some commentators towards the conduct of todays plod , is that the British public are sleepwalking into an unchallenged police state.
All the other tittle tattle being posted just looks petty and childish to the casual observer.
Deleted as cross posted with an update.
When I was 12 I got stopped riding my new racer down the street in my new ski jacket. A copper stopped me by pushing me in the chest and and shouting stop loudly, nearly fell off the bike. He asked me where i had got the bike (i had saved up all year and my dad paid the rest for christmas) i told him so. He then proceeded to pull my ski jacket and asked if it was nicked at which point i told him to leave me alone as my mum had bought it for me. He called me a little shit and punched me in the face and off my bike. No, the police never assault anyone unprovoked...
gobuchal thats really quite common to be restrained until the person calms down and then is sent on their way. The cops want to remain on the street not get tied up in charging someone.
If the cops really had beaten her up then the injuries would be much worse
IMO the injuries are consistent with being restrained not with being beaten up.
( I have worked alongside the police treating detainees that have been arrested)