A Random Rant at Night
There's something that's been bothering me for a long time now. On a discussion group I have been known to frequent, one of the regulars had some medical thing - a seizure or fit or psychotic break or something, which as I recall was exacerbated by the paramedics giving him a drug he was allergic to. Or something - I've been getting the tale in dribs and drabs, so I may well be missing vital bits of the story. The point is, the confluence of events made him violent - and, according to expert evidence, non compos mentis - and police were called to restrain him.
In the process of being restrained, he did a fair bit of damage to the police officers including breaks and sopranos and things, with three of the six having to take sick leave. He's now been discharged from hospital, while the officers are still recuperating.
Now, my problem isn't with the event itself; hazards of the job and whatnot, and if someone genuinely doesn't know what they're doing and is in the throes of a fit, it seems churlish to blame them for that.
No, what really irks me is the smiley, and by extension a number of his other remarks. With things like "the fun of beating up a few cops" and saying suffers from a clinical dislike of police, and a number of other things, it seems uncomfortably likely that he's quite pleased with himself for having attacked police officers.
But where it really gets strange is that the denizens of that group, normally a fairly peacable lot, seem to all be coming down in his support. Yes, of course he should be pronounced Not Guilty - the expert said he was clinically insane at the time - but I really can't understand how someone can enjoy having harmed someone else like that.
I don't get it. For a start, how people with diagnosed mental issues can be irresponsible about their meds ("...washed down with a pint"), but worst of all how they can be so self-congratulatory about injuring police. What next? "I sprained my ankle, but at least I broke a few paramedic noses"? "Yeah, my house burned down, but at least I toasted a fire engine and eight firefighters"?
The emergency services exist to protect and help the public. They're underpaid, understaffed and underequipped already. In many areas, paramedics and firefighters have to wear stab vests because they get attacked. And still people sign up! These aren't people who are in it for the money - these aren't careers where that's an option. These are people who sign up to put their own comfort, health, even lives at risk to help others, and the thanks they get for it is a gleeful "Look how fun it is to punch coppers".
I find that rather depressing.
Perhaps there's an element of "they're not people, they're coppers" in there. Perhaps it's "well, they shouldn't have tried to restrain him". I don't know. The point is, I really dislike the general air of disregard for the emergency services.
Yes, of course there are bad apples in the police; people who have joined because they want power, people who have ended up abusing their positions, people who mean well but are too quick in jumping to conclusions. But in my experience, those are few and far between (though you only hear about them - after all, "Cop with perfect disciplinary record does job well and by the book, everyone happy" is hardly a front page), and the vast majority of cops - and paramedics, A&E staff, firefighters, soldiers, PCSOs, bouncers, security guards, etc - are in it for the right reasons. They want to help people, they want to make society a better and safer place. They don't deserve to be punchlines. They don't deserve to be punched.
Accidents can happen, of course they can, and of course someone can react badly to medication and end up in a delirium that leaves innocent people injured. But the thought of someone gleefully enjoying having harmed someone who did nothing wrong except show up for work that morning... That's reprehensible, and supporting that is a pretty poor show.
I've rambled on a bit, it seems. This has been eating at me for a few weeks now, since I read one of the updates on the case. I didn't reply at the time - I don't think I would have been able to keep my temper fully in check. I don't think I will reply to it at all. I'm just writing this one post on the matter, and then I'm going to sleep.
Seriously - by the time Semagic's finished uploading this, I'll be asleep. It's twenty past four, and I'm knackered.
In the process of being restrained, he did a fair bit of damage to the police officers including breaks and sopranos and things, with three of the six having to take sick leave. He's now been discharged from hospital, while the officers are still recuperating.
Now, my problem isn't with the event itself; hazards of the job and whatnot, and if someone genuinely doesn't know what they're doing and is in the throes of a fit, it seems churlish to blame them for that.
No, what really irks me is the smiley, and by extension a number of his other remarks. With things like "the fun of beating up a few cops" and saying suffers from a clinical dislike of police, and a number of other things, it seems uncomfortably likely that he's quite pleased with himself for having attacked police officers.
But where it really gets strange is that the denizens of that group, normally a fairly peacable lot, seem to all be coming down in his support. Yes, of course he should be pronounced Not Guilty - the expert said he was clinically insane at the time - but I really can't understand how someone can enjoy having harmed someone else like that.
I don't get it. For a start, how people with diagnosed mental issues can be irresponsible about their meds ("...washed down with a pint"), but worst of all how they can be so self-congratulatory about injuring police. What next? "I sprained my ankle, but at least I broke a few paramedic noses"? "Yeah, my house burned down, but at least I toasted a fire engine and eight firefighters"?
The emergency services exist to protect and help the public. They're underpaid, understaffed and underequipped already. In many areas, paramedics and firefighters have to wear stab vests because they get attacked. And still people sign up! These aren't people who are in it for the money - these aren't careers where that's an option. These are people who sign up to put their own comfort, health, even lives at risk to help others, and the thanks they get for it is a gleeful "Look how fun it is to punch coppers".
I find that rather depressing.
Perhaps there's an element of "they're not people, they're coppers" in there. Perhaps it's "well, they shouldn't have tried to restrain him". I don't know. The point is, I really dislike the general air of disregard for the emergency services.
Yes, of course there are bad apples in the police; people who have joined because they want power, people who have ended up abusing their positions, people who mean well but are too quick in jumping to conclusions. But in my experience, those are few and far between (though you only hear about them - after all, "Cop with perfect disciplinary record does job well and by the book, everyone happy" is hardly a front page), and the vast majority of cops - and paramedics, A&E staff, firefighters, soldiers, PCSOs, bouncers, security guards, etc - are in it for the right reasons. They want to help people, they want to make society a better and safer place. They don't deserve to be punchlines. They don't deserve to be punched.
Accidents can happen, of course they can, and of course someone can react badly to medication and end up in a delirium that leaves innocent people injured. But the thought of someone gleefully enjoying having harmed someone who did nothing wrong except show up for work that morning... That's reprehensible, and supporting that is a pretty poor show.
I've rambled on a bit, it seems. This has been eating at me for a few weeks now, since I read one of the updates on the case. I didn't reply at the time - I don't think I would have been able to keep my temper fully in check. I don't think I will reply to it at all. I'm just writing this one post on the matter, and then I'm going to sleep.
Seriously - by the time Semagic's finished uploading this, I'll be asleep. It's twenty past four, and I'm knackered.