A well-known author has penned an open letter to the UK’s 122,000 police officers following the obscure criticism they have received over the past few months.
The author of the letter, Peter Bleksley, has written several books and has also written three plays for BBC Radio 4, as well as being involved with the hit Channel 4 show ‘Hunted’.
In an open letter, Peter (Twitter handle: @PeterBleksley) said:
“Dear Police Officers of the UK,
I last wrote an open letter to you on 1st April this year. Back then I had been enraged by the nonsensical suggestion that we were living in a police state, and that it was all your fault! Recent events have left me equally cross, so here I am again.
This morning I simply Googled ‘Police criticised’. Please don’t do this at home, it will irritate you immensely, and I’m sure you have far more important things to do like sleeping after night duty, preparing for your next shift, or perhaps enjoying a very well earned rest day. Sadly a number of you will be off sick and recovering from the injuries you recently received. I wish you all a swift and full recovery.
I apologise for reproducing a couple of the headlines that my Google search found. They were both published since I last wrote to you, but I use them to prove a point;
‘Police in UK criticised for overzealous enforcement of lockdown laws’
‘Police criticised for not enforcing social distancing during Clap For Our Carers event’
What fine examples of how you are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Who’d be a police officer eh? Thank goodness you brave men and women are.
Talking of bravery, I found myself shouting at the telly recently, as I watched you being subjected to mindless violence at recent protests. To see some of you wearing only flat caps, as the bottles and other missiles rained down on you, concerned me deeply. One reporter said live on air. ‘The bottles are plastic, not glass’, as if that somehow made the violence you were facing more acceptable. I sincerely hope this reporter’s editor arranges for her to attend one of your public order training courses. Alternatively she can pop down to my local park, and with her permission, I shall launch 330ml bottles of water at her, to see how she feels when one of them whacks her on the head.
Social media has been a cesspit of criticism for you recently. Those of you who choose to avoid all of that are very sensible. Those of you who post about your daily experiences of dealing with baby deaths, murders, rescuing domestic violence victims and arresting the offenders, rushing to attend to stabbing and shooting victims and much, much more, provide a great insight into the job like no other, and I thank you for that. I wonder how many of the spineless keyboard warriors who spew their bile in your direction, have ever washed the blood of a stranger, whose life they have just saved, from their hands? Not many I reckon.
I have read about the disillusionment many of you are feeling. I hear about those of you who are contemplating leaving the service. I don’t blame you. Please, listen to this old sweat that left the job 20 years ago. Life after the police can be difficult. I suspect there will be many more unemployed people this time next year, who will all be scrapping over the same roles. If you stick with the job and get your well-deserved yet depleted pension at the end of your service, it will make your later years more comfortable. And by crikey you’ll have earnt it.
In the meantime, please remember that many millions of people support you and thank you. Blue lives matter as well.
Peter Bleksley – 10th June 2020″.
Can you help?
We need your help to ensure that we can continue to bring you the stories, blogs and videos which matter.
One of our many aims is to act as a voice for the emergency services, armed forces and healthcare sector.
But with ad income continually fluctuating, we need your help so that we can carry on bringing you the stories which many sections of the mainstream media choose to ignore.
You can pledge a one-off payment, a monthly payment or a yearly amount by merely clicking HERE
TODAY’S TOP VIDEO:
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
I lived in the U.S for several years, wish some of those shouting about our police could experience the difference. Am so thankful for our police service, wouldn’t think twice about calling them if I needed help, never felt that way in America. So protest if you must, but PLEASE don’t compare our police to those across the pond!
Every word spot on, I would like to see one person who criticises the Police to walk a week in their shoes, I bet they wouldn’t finish the week.
People criticise our Police but just watching American police this week and Chinese police I think we should be thankful for our police and the fact they run towards danger as we run away
There is not a lot wrong with our Police Forces; what is lacking is leadership. (Retired Police officer.)
I am right and so you are wrong. What rubbish- nothing is as simple as that. Woke folk need to grow up and accept that different opinions may well have validity.