It was hardly a copper shocker story but I was watching sky news about the conviction of Ingrid Tarrant, the presenters commenting about her arrest for illegal parking. It would appear the facts were rather more complex, her driving off whilst getting a ticket for leaving her car in a bus stop when shopping. There then followed a 2 mile chase before she was arrested and "thrown" into a police cage.
The gist of the presenters was this was over the top for a parking matter. Of course the presenters are entitled to their opinion but this woman was out of order, and committed a quite serious offence of failing to stop for police. Nothing contentious at all as far as I can see, but she got a sympathetic airing for some reason. This is exactly the sort of story that sticks in the mind of the public and might alter their perceptions of police if they are asked to fill out a public satisfaction survey.
See The Sun article here and a natty picture showing the officer described as an "out of control psycho" by her. Well it looks to me that he was just writing out a ticket.
All this on the same day as the police bravery awards, also sponsored by The Sun. The winners of the award were Sgt Stephen Hayter, PC Barry Leban, PC Richard Cousins, and PC Michael Carroll from the Metropolitan Police. They were fired at by a villain with a gun, chasing him down and making the arrest.
OK it was on the news and got coverage, but was a small detail missing? Correct me if I'm wrong but are these officers not all from the Territorial Support Group? The same unit that has been slaughtered in the press recently over G20 events and a high complaints record. Now is it the media who choose not to mention their unit or is the Met doing some spinning?
Top work by The Rhinos
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