No sympathy for Gunmen

[VNA]

It's easy to call them a private army, but it's a tough job and they are at the front line of what can be quite a challenging boundary between order and lawlessness.

I did not call the police a private army.  But they did appear often during the miners strike to be acting as a private army, inciting violence and acting against the ordinary people they are supposed to serve.  They destoryed a great many innocent people's lives during that dispute. 

Indeed I don't know what happened in this instance, and I do hope the police got it right.

But unfortunately for the police, and very much so for the many good and proffesional officers etc within the service, is that the history of the force and it's often poor decisions, wrongful actions and charges inevitably undermines public trust in the force as a whole. 

I'll always side with the old-bill

I believe in justice, not blind alligence.  The police like all of us, should (generally) abide by the law.