Police accountability

[Deleted]

So basically the question of "are the police ever held accountable for their actions"?
I'm currently working on a project covering this topic with reference to the case of Harry Stanley in 1999
(can't post links apparently so heres a small intro from wikipedia if you need it)

On 22 September 1999, he was returning home from the Alexandra Pub in South Hackney carrying, in a plastic bag, a table leg that had been repaired by his brother earlier that day. Someone had phoned the police to report "an Irishman with a gun wrapped in a bag".[4]
At the junction of Fremont Street and Victoria Park Road in South Hackney, close to his home, Inspector Neil Sharman and PC Kevin Fagan, the crew of a Metropolitan police Armed Response Vehicle challenged Mr. Stanley from behind. As he turned to face them, they shot him dead at a distance of 15 feet

I will be revising government policy changes, how the police dealt with this and how they were dealt with while under investigation etc.
which lead me to run a very small survey on the matter (5 questions). given that its winter and today is a bit wet XD, in-case I don't get alot of responses outside, hopefully something comes up here =)

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance


1. were you aware of the case of Harry Stanley prior to this survey?

Yes / No

2. Do you feel the police should be held accountable for the death of Harry Stanley?

Yes / No

3. The events leading to the shooting of Harry Stanley started from a member of the public tipping off the police that he was armed with a shotgun, if we say he was doing his part to protect society by calling the police, and we say the same for the police who were attempting to protect us from a man believed to be heavily armed, does this change your opinion on the previous question?

Yes / No
Comments…..

4. This case was in 1999, more than decade on, do you feel that if these events were to re-occur today, would the events have occurred as they did back then?

Yes / No
Comments…...

5. What are your views on the fact that a number of cases, where police shootings have led to a low amount/no convictions of police officers?

[Tradewind]

Maybe if you remove the obviously loaded question #5. That might be a start.

[Deleted]

thats the point of it though though, it is a very broad subject, the aim of that question was to just get a straight to the point personal quote from people so that I may be able to quote society's responses in the article

[obdigore]

Since you included almost no information about the case in your OP, or anything that happened to said police officers afterwords, IE an investigation or anything, and you didn't bother to ask if people are in the same country or even continent as this case, I'm not sure that this is a good 'study' at all.

Especially question 5.

[Tradewind]

thats the point of it though though, it is a very broad subject, the aim of that question was to just get a straight to the point personal quote from people so that I may be able to quote society's responses in the article

What does it being a "broad subject" have to do with question 5 being loaded? can't help but feel there's an agenda. But at least you came to the right forum to validate your agenda...this place hates cops.

[Speaknoevil]

1) no
2) yes
3) no
4) yes
5) N/A

[Deleted]

I'm not gonna bother going into another "arguement" online but the questions are basically structured in a way that fills in the blanks in what I've written, now I'm studying at Access level, so it doesn't have to be extremely detailed or amazing but I've got what I need to meet the criteria, all this attempts to do is show some primary research and be able to quote people's responses.

However thank you at least showing time and thought into it as your last response at least provides me with something to validate that the people generally don't like the police

- - - Updated - - -

1) no
2) yes
3) no
4) yes
5) N/A

also would like to point out, something as simple as this is still very helpful and thanks

[Tradewind]

provides me with something to validate that the people generally don't like the police

Worst conclusion ever.

[Speaknoevil]

Them being accountable for shooting a man to death has nothing to do with feelings such as liking them or not, what they did was wrong, and they are responsible for what is essentially murder; regardless of whether or not they were ever held accountable.

[obdigore]

However thank you at least showing time and thought into it as your last response at least provides me with something to validate that the people generally don't like the police

This is a thing.

[Deleted]

at no point did I say that was the conclusion ..... it's just a view, if I can show something that people say, that's showing evidence.
academia doesn't give a shit what you "think" unless you provide evidence of it.

[Tradewind]

...what better way to get "evidence" than posting leading questions. Or treating off-the-cuff statements as self-evident. Right?

[Ahuraa]

1. were you aware of the case of Harry Stanley prior to this survey?

No

2. Do you feel the police should be held accountable for the death of Harry Stanley?

No, based on the one sided information you have posted here I feel that there is much more than being told, also I am too lazy to look into the matter further.

3. The events leading to the shooting of Harry Stanley started from a member of the public tipping off the police that he was armed with a shotgun, if we say he was doing his part to protect society by calling the police, and we say the same for the police who were attempting to protect us from a man believed to be heavily armed, does this change your opinion on the previous question?

No
Comments - Again if someone was holding something that appeared to be a gun and was turning toward the police, they should shoot them, but again was he ordered to put down the "weapon" and place his hands out to the side? Most times if police believe someone to be armed they will order the suspect to remain facing away from them.

4. This case was in 1999, more than decade on, do you feel that if these events were to re-occur today, would the events have occurred as they did back then?

N/A
Comments- No information on what happened after the shooting...

5. What are your views on the fact that a number of cases, where police shootings have led to a low amount/no convictions of police officers?

While corrupt police officers do exist, the majority of people become police officers to help people. and unfortunately when it comes down to it, police officers leave their house everyday underpaid and put their lives on the line to protect people. and when a high stress situation arises where someone appears to have a gun and turns to face them with it in their hand, I believe that the officers did the right thing.

[obdigore]

...what better way to get "evidence" than posting leading questions. Or using off-the-cuff statements as self-evident. Right?

Ssshhh... Hes academic. So no one can review his 'study' or conclusions, right?

[Tradewind]

Ssshhh... Hes academic. So no one can review his 'study' or conclusions, right?

and I'm a chinese jet pilot.

[obdigore]

and I'm a chinese jet pilot.

Are you Chinese, or are the jets you pilot Chinese? Both? Academic minds want to know!

[Deleted]

...what better way to get "evidence" than posting leading questions. Right?

it doesn't matter if it's a really deep question, in a 1500 word limit to explain government policy, how police are controlled, rationale for choosing a case, how the IPCC operate and did in this case + more, you don't have room to be detailed, therefore you will be left with very obvious questions.

simply posing them and gaining the required evidence that PRIMARY research was carried out is enough to be meet the criteria for the highest grade, the answers to these questions won't be written out as the assignment itself, but just a few words here and there.

but anyway I'm done with you since your not aiming to provide any help or discuss the matter with others

[Tradewind]

it doesn't matter if it's a really deep question, in a 1500 word limit to explain government policy, how police are controlled, rationale for choosing a case, how the IPCC operate and did in this case + more, you don't have room to be detailed, therefore you will be left with very obvious questions.

simply posing them and gaining the required evidence that PRIMARY research was carried out is enough to be meet the criteria for the highest grade, the answers to these questions won't be written out as the assignment itself, but just a few words here and there.

but anyway I'm done with you since your not aiming to provide any help or discuss the matter with others

in other words, my disdain for your "research" methods will never produce a result that corresponds with your prejudice. So you don't like what I'm saying....sounds academic indeed.

In short, the wording of your questions indicates a bias.

[Deleted]

1. were you aware of the case of Harry Stanley prior to this survey?

Yes

2. Do you feel the police should be held accountable for the death of Harry Stanley?

No

3. The events leading to the shooting of Harry Stanley started from a member of the public tipping off the police that he was armed with a shotgun, if we say he was doing his part to protect society by calling the police, and we say the same for the police who were attempting to protect us from a man believed to be heavily armed, does this change your opinion on the previous question?

No
I agree that the shooting followed use of force continuum and proper thread assessment.

4. This case was in 1999, more than decade on, do you feel that if these events were to re-occur today, would the events have occurred as they did back then?

Yes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11420337

5. What are your views on the fact that a number of cases, where police shootings have led to a low amount/no convictions of police officers?

Police forces in England the the most transparent and heavily scrutinized in Europe, only a few officers within each constabulary are "armed" and these officers undergo very, very stringent psychological evaluation, security vetting at DV Level and extensive training.

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/

[Raiju]

it doesn't matter if it's a really deep question, in a 1500 word limit to explain government policy, how police are controlled, rationale for choosing a case, how the IPCC operate and did in this case + more, you don't have room to be detailed, therefore you will be left with very obvious questions.

simply posing them and gaining the required evidence that PRIMARY research was carried out is enough to be meet the criteria for the highest grade, the answers to these questions won't be written out as the assignment itself, but just a few words here and there.

but anyway I'm done with you since your not aiming to provide any help or discuss the matter with others

If you're just trying to tick boxes to pass then make up the results. If this is genuine you should be taking advice from the people in this thread so far, such extreme bias makes for a terrible report. You can be brief without being heavily biased.