The video was filmed by members of the public from across the street and posted on social media networks, where it has sparked outrage.
Instead of whipping their bloody phones out why didn't they just go over and see if they could help? Doesn't filming this poor woman and slapping the footage on social media effectively rob her of her right to privacy and dignity?
Instead of whipping their bloody phones out why didn't they just go over and see if they could help? Doesn't filming this poor woman and slapping the footage on social media effectively rob her of her right to privacy and dignity?
Play the footage with sound, and they are laughing, so hardly concerned or outraged at all.
On the second video she was having a fight with a police officer and then ran from what looked like a pub to the police car. She was NOT incapably drunk. She was having a tantrum.
Play the footage with sound, and they are laughing, so hardly concerned or outraged at all.
And here we have maybe the number one thing I hate about the world today - people able to film and share the suffering and humiliation of others at the press of a button. If there was one invention I could erase, it would be the video phone.
On the second video she was having a fight with a police officer and then ran from what looked like a pub to the police car. She was NOT incapably drunk. She was having a tantrum.
Watch the whole thing, you can see her running around like a headless banshee.
Well I take back my previous comments, that'll teach me for judging based on a few seconds of video. I still think they should have left on the pavement however.
Absolutely not. But they should not leave someone who is so drunk that they are vulnerable lying in the road. They have a duty of care.
Seeing the latest clip I'd say she wasn't that drunk nor incapable of getting up from where they left her, she could even have got on the bus that stopped if she wanted to,
She was having a tantrum like a kid so no sympathy for her whatsoever and no blame apportioned to the police either, any normal person would have left her to get on with it just the same.
It's not a "bus lane", it's a marked-out parking lane wth a small stretch marked out as a bus pull-in beside a bus stop. John St. doesn't have any bus lanes...the local N.I. Road Service depot have marked out ticketed parking lanes in Derry with red gravel overlay, just like bus lanes elsewhere. The police deposited her "on the verge". They'd possiby have been at fault depositing an obstreperous drunk on the footpath!
A poster much further back up the thread may have actually called it right accidently - that the police were FAR more interested in the car and its driver, I.E. the Traveller (as in gypsy) behind the wheel - drunk, and yes probably no licence, and the car untaxed, uninsured, unMOT'd...:p She's lucky she's not getting an "Interfering with the police in the performance of their duties" Obstruction charge.
Let's face it, dumping her there was wrong, pure and simple, there's no other argument to it.
They didn't dump her, they moved her. She wasn't the incapacitated poor soul portrayed at the beginning of the thread. As usual with short film clips, we don't get the full picture.
She was quite capable of moving herself. She was having a drunken tantrum.
I can't think of any logically explanation as to why they felt it sufficient to just move her a few yards and still leave her in the road. She needed an ambulance, and they needed to wait with her for one. Regardless of what else is going on, she becomes the primary concern because her life is quite clearly at risk.
However the police have a duty of care to those who are drunk and incapable, and the most suitable place for them to uphold such a duty of care, unfortunately, is A&E. What else can be done with them?
It now appears in this case having seen the full video, this woman wasn't drunk and incapable.
Well I take back my previous comments, that'll teach me for judging based on a few seconds of video. I still think they should have left on the pavement however.
A lesson learned for me too. Agreed, though, that it was still an inappropriate place to put her.
Let's face it, dumping her there was wrong, pure and simple, there's no other argument to it.
Absolutely! no question about it, the apologists are clutching at straws claiming anything other. I'll be first to stand up for good policing as and when but leaving a person on side of road in a busy urban street was wrong regardless of circumstances, and be under no illusions about it, these officers will pay a very heavy price for their action, or lack thereof.
However, this person is far from being a victim, she sees pounds signs dangling in front of her eyes and seeking the sympathy vote. She also comes from a family circle heavily steeped in criminal activity and anyone who knows the name with vouch for that.
Absolutely! no question about it, the apologists are clutching at straws claiming anything other. I'll be first to stand up for good policing as and when but leaving a person on side of road in a busy urban street was wrong regardless of circumstances
So you agree she should have been arrested for drunk&disorderly and obstruction?
Absolutely! no question about it, the apologists are clutching at straws claiming anything other. I'll be first to stand up for good policing as and when but leaving a person on side of road in a busy urban street was wrong regardless of circumstances, and be under no illusions about it, these officers will pay a very heavy price for their action, or lack thereof.
However, this person is far from being a victim, she sees pounds signs dangling in front of her eyes and seeking the sympathy vote. She also comes from a family circle heavily steeped in criminal activity and anyone who knows the name with vouch for that.
That explains a lot. Surely anyone in the grip of alcoholism watching themselves in that situation would get a short sharp shock. She is her own responsibility. Not this woman, she's blaming the police, as I would have expected. She wasn't incapacitated by alcohol at all a few seconds earlier. She was throwing a tantrum. They got her off the road and it wasn't a bus lane where she was left. Why wasn't she arrested? They did her a favour.
I don't think there's too many arguments against this being unacceptable behaviour by the Officers, and I'll run with what the Assistant Chief Constable and a politician subsequently said about the incident:-
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton said "at a first view" the police were seriously concerned.
Mr Hamilton said the behaviour, was "well below the standards we expect from our officers in dealing with vulnerable people whether the vulnerability is due to alcohol or anything else".
"This is a bad day for confidence in policing," said Mr Hamilton.
"It was horrendous. There was a build up to this incident from ten to 15 minutes previous.
"Our job is to keep people safe it didn't look to me like we were doing that.
"Suspension will be a consideration but the police are awaiting ombudsman recommendations."
Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tweeted that the video was "totally unacceptable".
He said it showed two police officers "failing to ensure the safety of an incapacitated woman on a public roadway".
Sinn Féin met the police on Wednesday to discuss the incident.
I don't think there's too many arguments against this being unacceptable behaviour by the Officers, and I'll run with what the Assistant Chief Constable and a politician subsequently said about the incident:-
Bit in bold is all we need to know.
I agree that she shouldn't have been left in the road. I disagree that she was vulnerable however.
In hindsight she'd probably have been arrested if it wasn't for Monday being Saint Paddy's Day and police being outstretched with festivities in the city running alongside their normal patrolling.
In hindsight she'd probably have been arrested if it wasn't for Monday being Saint Paddy's Day and police being outstretched with festivities in the city running alongside their normal patrolling.
Comments
Instead of whipping their bloody phones out why didn't they just go over and see if they could help? Doesn't filming this poor woman and slapping the footage on social media effectively rob her of her right to privacy and dignity?
Play the footage with sound, and they are laughing, so hardly concerned or outraged at all.
And here we have maybe the number one thing I hate about the world today - people able to film and share the suffering and humiliation of others at the press of a button. If there was one invention I could erase, it would be the video phone.
Where is this video?
On the BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-26660733
Watch the whole thing, you can see her running around like a headless banshee.
I very much doubt this would have even been news had it been a bloke.
Well I take back my previous comments, that'll teach me for judging based on a few seconds of video. I still think they should have left on the pavement however.
Seeing the latest clip I'd say she wasn't that drunk nor incapable of getting up from where they left her, she could even have got on the bus that stopped if she wanted to,
She was having a tantrum like a kid so no sympathy for her whatsoever and no blame apportioned to the police either, any normal person would have left her to get on with it just the same.
A poster much further back up the thread may have actually called it right accidently - that the police were FAR more interested in the car and its driver, I.E. the Traveller (as in gypsy) behind the wheel - drunk, and yes probably no licence, and the car untaxed, uninsured, unMOT'd...:p She's lucky she's not getting an "Interfering with the police in the performance of their duties" Obstruction charge.
They didn't dump her, they moved her. She wasn't the incapacitated poor soul portrayed at the beginning of the thread. As usual with short film clips, we don't get the full picture.
She was quite capable of moving herself. She was having a drunken tantrum.
Drunk people do not deserve an ambulance.
However the police have a duty of care to those who are drunk and incapable, and the most suitable place for them to uphold such a duty of care, unfortunately, is A&E. What else can be done with them?
It now appears in this case having seen the full video, this woman wasn't drunk and incapable.
A lesson learned for me too.
What happened seems to have been a bit different to the initial portrayal of events.
Absolutely! no question about it, the apologists are clutching at straws claiming anything other. I'll be first to stand up for good policing as and when but leaving a person on side of road in a busy urban street was wrong regardless of circumstances, and be under no illusions about it, these officers will pay a very heavy price for their action, or lack thereof.
However, this person is far from being a victim, she sees pounds signs dangling in front of her eyes and seeking the sympathy vote. She also comes from a family circle heavily steeped in criminal activity and anyone who knows the name with vouch for that.
So you agree she should have been arrested for drunk&disorderly and obstruction?
That explains a lot. Surely anyone in the grip of alcoholism watching themselves in that situation would get a short sharp shock. She is her own responsibility. Not this woman, she's blaming the police, as I would have expected. She wasn't incapacitated by alcohol at all a few seconds earlier. She was throwing a tantrum. They got her off the road and it wasn't a bus lane where she was left. Why wasn't she arrested? They did her a favour.
Bit in bold is all we need to know.
I agree that she shouldn't have been left in the road. I disagree that she was vulnerable however.
Well yes I guess so, or arrested for her own safety.
Have you actually been in Derry on March 17th???