Police State
Many years ago, there were mass protests against live animal exports near where I live. For a couple of weeks the crowds grew, trying make it as inconvenient as possible for the lorries full of soon-to-be Tesco Lasagnas to get into the port, hoping that the expense and bad PR would cause them to stop - or at least fuck off somewhere else. Which in fact they did, in the end so yay to the good guys.

Naturally, the police were involved in keeping the protestors off the road, and ensuring that the legal - if unpopular - business of the port could continue. These were local Sussex police, and they handled things well. It was a little difficult for them, as the protesters were mainly little old grannies and nice middle-class families, often including their kids. Not your usual rent-a-mob, and a certain amount of discretion and politeness from the plod kept things calm and civil.

But it couldn't last. Eventually the suits in London decided that a bunch of muesli-knitting tree-huggers couldn't be allowed to stop large companies from maximising their profits, so they decided to ship in several hundred Metropolitan Police officers from the mean streets of London. These were somewhat different from the Sussex plod: hairy-knuckled gorillas in full riot gear who were clearly relishing a good punch-up.

They barged into the crowd like a bunch of bullies gleefully lumping the weedy kids in a British Bulldog game. I personally saw one of them hit a girl so hard with his stick that she was unconscious before she hit the ground. She hadn't been doing anything in particular, the cop just whacked her on the way past because she was within reach. They really were bastards, using a level of force and violence that was entirely uncalled for. And, to cap it all, they'd removed their numbers from their uniforms, so it wasn't possible to make any complaints against them.

However, revenge was taken. Having been shipped in to town, they were being billeted at some of the large hotels on the seafront. Hotels that, naturally, employed many local people. Local people who had friends or relatives who attended these protests. I shudder to think of the amount of snot, saliva and piss these metrocops ingested over the course of their stay...
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Mon 20 May 2013, 11:40, 5 replies)

A finely roasted pea.

(Vigilante Man weeps because you're stupid., Mon 20 May 2013, 13:39, closed)

not splitting hairs (i am really)
and I like your tail of police thuggery...well you know what I mean

but people usually are unconscious before they hit the ground. That's usually why they are heading that way because we don't normally fancy a lie down in the street

just saying ;)
(sittingduck Attention seeking, bullshitting fuck-knuckle, Mon 20 May 2013, 16:07, closed)

Fair point
Although given the force with which this fairly petite girl was belted, she was going down conscious or not...
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Mon 20 May 2013, 16:19, closed)

I'm sure the locals thought about
gobbing in their food, but I'm also pretty sure none of them did.

People don't actually do that very often.
(username failed moderation, Mon 20 May 2013, 16:54, closed)

Even if they did
As pure acts of vengance go, it's hardly Inigo Montoya level is it?
(pikey, Mon 20 May 2013, 23:10, closed)