Your Experiences of the Police at Matches

Just posted this on J&S, thought you guys may want to comment too.

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I've been asked to comment on this tomorrow morning Radio WM. I explained I didn't go to many games, but they said they would be happy for me to represent J&S member's experiences. Here is the release, please comment your experiences giving specific examples if you can.

Many thanks for your help on this. We really appreciate you time and your contacts on this one.

The headline details of the Football Supporters Federation story are as follows:

The Football Supporters Federation says the attitude of some police to football fans is stuck twenty five years in the past. It says while many forces have a positive approach, some match commanders still use heavy handed tactics and treat all fans as potential hooligans. It says it wants officers who regularly cover games to be trained in football fan culture, and for official guidance on policing to be better followed.

I think it is Totally true they are stuck in the past ok i can understand it for some games but not every game like they do. Funny how we can stand face to face with fellow fans in the pubs of Birmingham but once you get near the ground the police start using the them and us attitude which only fuels tension when maybe a softly softly approach would be better appreciated by both sets of fans.
They should take a leaf out of the Bruges Police before we went their we were told to expect this expect that but because the police joined in with the banter and had a relaxed attitude it was party time for 24hrs no trouble whatsoever. They should have an assigned branch that will mingle with away fans have a good laugh, a joke away and Helpful away from the ground then I'm pretty sure when fans get near the ground they will have a different attitude a non aggressive one like in the pubs. No interaction between fans and Police just generates bad feeling, i remember seeing somebody ask one just outside the ground a question about which entrance so obviously not a regular for him only to be told hurry up and move you can guess what the answer coming back was they just dont try to help themselves.

Never really had a problem with the police tbh but maybe because i am a lady but i dont feel i can approach the police at a match and when i did just got ushered on!

Well what can I say, being an ex cop, (way back in the 1950s). Totally different now. All we had was our normal blue uniform, whistle, truncheon, handcuffs and pocket first aid kit.

How times have changed, body armour, yellow plastic jackets. tazers and radios. (we had a whistle).

I think what tends to alienate them is they have been made to look like a military force. This makes them more like the continental type of policing where they come out mob handed all the time, and it obviously makes them look aggressive before anything at all kicks off.

On my way into the matches, I always make a point of stopping and having a chat with one or two of them, and I must say I haven't had much unpleasantness. On Tuesday, I noticed up Kingston Hill they were in pairs, and as I got up to two of them near the gate, I remarked that it looked like Noahs Ark, as they were all in two by two. They took it pleasantly, one of them was black and he thought it very funny.

A different experience last summer, on my way in, it was a very warm day and walking along I saw two guys in yellow jackets on the corner of Coventry Road,. From a distance, I could see they had no helmets on, but yellow jackets. As I got closer I saw they were carrying their helmets in their hands behind them.

Now when I was in, if we had been seen on the street in view of the public without helmets on we would have been reprimanded and possibly charged with being improperly dressed. Discipline was stronger then, and most of us were ex forces too.

Now I went up to these two and told them, that without their helmets on and with yellow jackets, and from a distance. They looked like a couple of council workmen. They didn't take kindly to this remark and told me in no uncertain terms to P--- off.

I wasn't too happy with this and told them I was an ex policeman and about discipline in my days etc. They accepted what I had said, agreed with me and promptly apologised and replaced their helmets,saying it was hot and that's why they took off their helmets. We shook hands and I left.

By the way across the road and in full view, about 50 or so yards, was a Inspector and sergeant. My Inspector would have been having kittens.

This is genuine and happened a month or two agao.

Whilst walking towards the ground past the St Andrews tavern a police car drove past me, nothing unusual about that.
However, the copper in the passenger seat leaned out the window and shouted VILLA at me and my son! Serious.

Couldn't find another police officer to complain to so I tweeted the WM police football twitter feed @WMPBCFC

They found it funny!!!

Now i wasn't bothered and saw it for what it was, a laugh.
BUT to do that just outside the St Andrews tavern (luckily was empty at that time) was ridiculous. Imagine if it had been a chav they shouted at? Could have caused all sorts of trouble,