Ex Warwickshire Constable here, great job - loved every minute of it out on the street. Station politics was a nightmare, I'd have so prefered a Solo mode when I had paperwork to do, don't really need or want the custody block phoning every 10 minutes for an "update" on how long you're going to be with the handover package (that if done right, crime depending, can take over 3 hours to put together if you have everything you need in the station). All because they don't want to look after them and as soon as they get the paperwork they can bail them and kick them back out.
One thing you learn as part of the job, it is amazing at how fast loud mouths suddenly wet themselves when they realise their actions have consequences.
I recall one night, I was on nightclub duty and some guy decided to show off infront of his friends he would shoulder barge one of the constables in front of the nightclub (the very people there to protect him from violent drunks).
He picked me as his target, but what he didn't bet on - I'd see / heard his plan.
[h=4]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/16/section/89
Assaults on constables.[/h](1)Any person who assaults a constable in the execution of his duty, or a person assisting a constable in the execution of his duty, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
After getting my handcuffs out and telling him he was under arrest..... he wept worse than my daughters do when I won't let them eat junk food before dinner.
Even his social group freaked out. Heck even some of my colleagues looked a tad shocked (I was normally quite placid as I used to be a bar manager, so I am used to drunks and their "fun").
I did let him go with a warning and the sound of my voice ringing in his ears, his social group got a talk as well - for "encouraging" him in the first place.
And that is the thing - for the most part people want to be sociable and want others to be sociable in return, but ignoring the idiots or encouraging them is self defeating.
Unless they are shown the error of their ways, or removed from public spaces permanently, the damage they do just grows until it is beyond repair.
Open players want more people in open - deal with the idiots or put pressure on FD to deal with them. And I do not mean this daft 1 week shadowban rubbish either.
If people are shadowbanned, it should not be for laughable time frames, it should be something that makes people worried about the prospect and want to avoid it - not something they laugh about on YouTube or Reddit.
As for the forums.... well, until game accounts and forum accounts are linked and repercussions are 2 way - the Mods will always have an uphill struggle around here.
