Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson quits

[Biker Biggles]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

OK, so he accepted a freebie stay on a health farm but how is that corrupt? You say it was from an interested party but my understanding from an article in The Times is that the cost of the stay was paid for both by the Met, and the MD of the clinic who was a personal friend. The fact that the PR advisor for the clinic was also the bloke involved in this hacking scandal seems to have been taken slightly out of context and twisted to suggest that he provided the Commissioner with the stay in exchange for him not being investigated.

As for me wanting my cake and eat it.....I'm not saying they were the good guys, I'm saying they were senior police officers who knew a thing or two about keeping London safe. Personally I'd rather have an effective villain guarding me than an ineffective saint. Oh course an effective saint would be nice, but we seem to be a bit short of them these days, unless you're offering?

And these two are not the only ones either.The MET has been exceptionally careless in recent years in the way it has "mislaid"senior officers.And taking your point about politicians setting themselves up for early retirement I recall one of the MET's most senior doing just that and taking a nice retirement job with News Int.
Now I don't know if these latest two were good guys or not,but what is apparent is the slightly seedy culture that has pervaded the top of the MET for many years,and the current scandals just add grist to it.That's why I liken it to the MP expenses thing.Its just a culture that those in positions of power think is acceptable,because they are in positions of power.Sheer arrogance really.

There are almost 140,000 Police officers in this country. Just how many d'you think have been involved in the "cash for telephone numbers" bung scandal???

Could I ask that all those who wish to post on here try & remember that 99.9% of the 140,000 are decent people, just like you, who are also upset & angered by what has/is going on...........

If there was a high profile case where say a head-teacher had been taking bungs from parents to admit their creation to his/her school & it was getting this much media coverage, would it be right to class all head-teachers as corrupt bung takers???

If there was a high profile media case in which a specific doctor or nurse etc was described as being totally incompetant, does that mean that the entire NHS medical profession is incompetant???

Yes, as in all walks of life/industries/professions there are things like this that go on. Are all football fans thugs & hooligans just because out of a crowd of 28,500/35,000 at a game 20 or 30 "get it on".

At the risk of being sot down in flames & ridiculed; I would suggest that anyone who says that the entire Police service is corrupt, when it's clearly just a very very small minority, may not have the mental capacity or intelligence to fully grasp what is going on.

[Biker Biggles]

Originally Posted by grh1904

There are almost 140,000 Police officers in this country. Just how many d'you think have been involved in the "cash for telephone numbers" bung scandal???

Could I ask that all those who wish to post on here try & remember that 99.9% of the 140,000 are decent people, just like you, who are also upset & angered by what has/is going on...........

If there was a high profile case where say a head-teacher had been taking bungs from parents to admit their creation to his/her school & it was getting this much media coverage, would it be right to class all head-teachers as corrupt bung takers???

If there was a high profile media case in which a specific doctor or nurse etc was described as being totally incompetant, does that mean that the entire NHS medical profession is incompetant???

Yes, as in all walks of life/industries/professions there are things like this that go on. Are all football fans thugs & hooligans just because out of a crowd of 28,500/35,000 at a game 20 or 30 "get it on".

At the risk of being sot down in flames & ridiculed; I would suggest that anyone who says that the entire Police service is corrupt, when it's clearly just a very very small minority, may not have the mental capacity or intelligence to fully grasp what is going on.

If that is aimed at me I should make something clear.
Some of my friends,neighbours and former colleagues are coppers and Im not having a go at the 140000 ordinary foot soldiers out there.Im talking about leadership and the **** culture that exists in the upper ranks.Not just the police either,its there in many organisations,but right now its the MET that is under the spotlight.Its in everyones interest to clean this up and restore some confidence,especially for the rank and file bods.

[Red Herring]

I don't think anybody is saying all officers are corrupt, and I don't see this as a police bashing thread. My understanding of this discussion is that it is about should or should he not have gone? Have the Met been seriously careless recently, or is it just that there is now an appetite within the media for this sort of thing, especially now that politics and policing are apparently so intertwined?

Now this is very mysterious!!!!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-...d_Dead_At_Home

You couldn't make it up.........which is so unlike the tabloids

[yorkie_chris]

Well, about the whole scandal... I dunno, but I've sharpened my pitchfork and am going to join in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Qdj7pt7Iw

This whole business has turned into a McCarthy-ite witch hunt.

Well when I was 8, good Catholic boy and all, I nicked sweets from the school tuck shop.

Does that make me a bad person?

Stephenson was a fine police officer and I am sorry that he has gone. Those who are smirking, just think when you last did something which, whilst not criminal, you nonetheless regretted.

Originally Posted by Ed

This whole business has turned into a McCarthy-ite witch hunt.

Well when I was 8, good Catholic boy and all, I nicked sweets from the school tuck shop.

Does that make me a bad person?

Stephenson was a fine police officer and I am sorry that he has gone. Those who are smirking, just think when you last did something which, whilst not criminal, you nonetheless regretted.

Sorry, hard to resist shouting, "Witch, witch, Ed's a witch!"

Seriously though, if there is anyone on this site who, hand on heart, can say they have never broken a law, they probably needed to get out more as a kid.

[Bri w]

Personally I don't think either of them should have resigned. I've never agreed with the falling on the sword aspect when serious wrongdoings occur.

Those two senior officers were promoted to their positions because of how good they are/were. And that hasn't changed just because there are now officers implicated in bungs. At the very least they both should have stayed in office until any/all investigations had been carried, and if they were then found to be directly culpable then should they have either resigned or been sacked.

Should the Home Sec resign because she is topdog in charge of the Police in the UK? Should the PM resign coz he's boss of the Home Sec?