Viewpoint: the dangers of unremitting criticism on social media

We now have a situation on social media, especially ‘X,’ where those who loathe police are constantly seeking incidents which will both justify their contempt and garner support says Chris Hobbs.

Police critics were very much in evidence over the weekend with that criticism emanating primarily from those on the right of the political spectrum including prominent politicians from Reform and Restore.

Once again mainstream and social media headlines accused the beleaguered Metropolitan police of curbing freedom of speech based on an incident involving the removal of tables and chairs from outside popular riverside pubs idyllically located by the Thames. A local man used social media to point the finger at a newly elected Green party councillor as being responsible. The tables and chairs soon reappeared but a police visit to the man responsible for the post went viral on social media with claims that Britain has become a police state.

Yet those who bothered to examine the incident in any detail will have seen that within the original post that eventually gained nearly two million views, reference was made to the Green party councillor deemed responsible; the post specifically stated that the councillor, who was named, lived ‘very, very, very’ close,’ to the pubs in question. It isn’t known who contacted the Metropolitan Police but there were clearly concerns that the post could have led to the home of the councillor being targeted. The result was an ‘informal’ visit from officers clearly designed to ensure that the situation didn’t escalate still further. The encounter was filmed and placed on social media by the individual who initially ‘pointed the finger’ at the councillor.

As a result, the Met and the police service in the UK were duly pilloried with accusations that they were curbing ‘freedom of speech,’ yet the question no-one has asked is the reaction that there would have been had the councillor’s home been targeted with resultant damage and/or injury.  Doubtless the police would have been criticised for their lack of action with a likely complaint being made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

A fracas in Birmingham leads to controversy

The next incident that went viral concerned the arrest of a youth in Birmingham. There has been some sort of skirmish involving several youths and a female officer arrested one of the apparent protagonists. He was arrested for allegedly punching the officer as she apprehended him. He may well have a defence that he wasn’t initially aware that he was being apprehended by a police officer but that will be doubtless be a matter for further consideration by the CPS and perhaps the courts.

The point at issue here as far as police critics are concerned is that the youth was arrested because he was white while other protagonists were ignored and this is yet another example of police ‘anti-white’ racism. The incident was inevitably linked to the Henry Nowak tragedy.

Police critics seemed uninterested in following the footage posted after that arrest was made which walked the viewer a short distance back up the road to a bar where all was clearly not well in terms of drink-related disorder. Security staff could be seen struggling to maintain order and were joined by increasing numbers of officers in what was clearly a challenging situation. The person behind the camera clearly captured the arrest by officers of another individual; a black male which the above- mentioned police critics have made no reference too. It’s not known whether this arrest was related to the original incident or the fracas outside the bar.

Errant bikers and football fans

Police critics discovered more ammunition on Sunday. Footage was posted of errant bikers doing ‘wheelies’ together with a passing police vehicle. Why, the critics demanded, didn’t police take action against the bikers? Explanations that response officers are not necessarily pursuit trained fell on deaf ears as did further explanations that there could be ‘jail time’ for untrained officers engaging in a pursuit which resulted in an accident.

Morrocco’s World Cup victory saw its supporters take to the streets of London. A police vehicle was seen in their midst as a good- natured crowd tried to attach their national flag to the roof of the vehicle. The vehicle drove off on blue lights as one of the crowd managed to open the boot. Whether the response officers were on the way to a call or opted to use the blue lights to extricate themselves isn’t known but the crowd were in celebratory mood and clearly posed no threat.

Nevertheless, police critics demanded to know why the two officers failed to take action against the crowd and there were the now familiar taunts of two-tier policing together with assertions that if these were England fans, they would have been the victims of harsh treatment by ‘riot police.’
Fuelling unprecedented civil arrest.

Unremitting, unbalanced denigration makes officers more vulnerable to assaults and at present they are being assaulted in record numbers.

This in turn, together with poor management, leadership, pay and conditions also means that officers are leaving in droves. It will be interesting to see whether the current report by David Blunkett gains any meaningful traction.

In the interim, those on the extremes of the political right and left, both of whom appear to be encouraging the undermining of our political system, should be careful what they wish for. The genie almost came out of the bottle in 2011 and again in 2024. A demoralised front line police service that is now hesitant in its use of force, is not best placed to deal with civil unrest that is close to taking place on an unprecedented scale.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officer.