Sex offences and jumping through hoops

[hughnique]

MAD87, Unfortunately not my experience, regarding crooked police, and even a well respected judge, who used to preside at Croydon crown court many years ago.

[Pathca]

As more women are becoming police officers the old misogyny is beginning to fade away and there’s an increase in women working their career in the police were previously 7-8 years was a good service for a woman now 30 is getting more common
Like Mad I have seen little evidence of corruption but it’s a popular thing to claim
BTW I speak for county Mounties not the Met

[Pathca]

MAD87, Unfortunately not my experience, regarding crooked police, and even a well respected judge, who used to preside at Croydon crown court many years ago.

That explains a lot if we are talking about many years ago your experience isn’t current

[hughnique]

So what year did it stop then??

[Pathca]

There was a concerted anti corruption effort in the late 70s early 80s. Which removed a lot. However I am not saying it has gone completely and it never sadly will

[Blaze]

So what year did it stop then??

Rome wasn't won in a day and there are corrupt and misogynistic men everywhere everywhere, not just the police. Fortunately a lot of the old-style police officers have retired/died or just gone. I can't speak for the Met, but other forces have many dedicated officers who work long hours (no, it's not just a question of being paid) for what is often a thankless job. It can be hours of work preparing a court file for a DV case, work which keeps you inside and off the streets. A sloppy file will not get past the CPS ('eh MAD !) and rightly so. The victim then says he or she can't face going to court. It's frustrating but you can't blame the victim even though you know it won't be long before they're back in hospital. Arguments like stopping him doing the same to other women don't wash nor an explanation that if the perpetrators are never convicted, they can continue putting women in hospital.

[niemeyjt]

A while back Mad helped me with an instance of a woman being abused by husband.

Despite letters to the Police and the French DV unit it was ignored - until she "escaped" and ran to a petrol station. He followed with an iron bar - luckily customers at the filling station intervened.

He went through judicial process and got a suspended sentence. She ended up back with him - although at least he has behaved since.

But again there were children and nowhere else for her to go.

[MAD87]

[quote=niemeyjt post_id=57241 time=1731927685 user_id=51

He went through judicial process and got a suspended sentence. She ended up back with him - although at least he has behaved since.

But again there were children and nowhere else for her to go.
[/quote]
And therein lies the problem. At least Mme Pelicot is retired (as is her husband), but many women (as exile says) are unable to escape completely without compromising their children.
It also raises the question of suspended sentences in France ( apparently the rule rather than the exception!) which leaves offenders free to re-offend, often undetected. The result, as I've said often before of the policies of Holland and Taubira, who both refused to accept that - in every country- there is a proportion of people who break the law, and who refused to build more prisons to house offenders.
And before anyone howls their objection: prisons are there primarily to punish and remove the offender from society, not to reform. In any event, I've yet to be convinnced that sex offenders can be "reformed" - just about the only category that can't.

[Blaze]

prisons are there primarily to punish and remove the offender from society, not to reform

Absolutely. To deprive the offender of liberty, to get them off the streets (drug barons find ways around this ...).
One problem is that there are people in prison who are not a physical danger to the public, i.e violent but should they be jailing people for tax evasion/avoidance ? It may be glib to suggest they do community service, though to my mind it's exactly what people who defraud (Marine Le Pen ?) should do. It could be far more useful to the community and perhaps cheaper than locking them up. But it requires huge organisation and supervision .... and sweeping it under the carpet or just not bothering to do something about the situation is not the way to go.

Did you know that someone who hasn't paid the fine for not having a TV licence can be sent to prison for 3 or 4 days instead of paying ? Something needs reforming .....

[exile]

The one other objective of prison is to act as a deterrent - and of course if people are not/cannot be sent to prison, or if prison becomes too "comfortable", that deterrent vanishes.