The Scottish Police Federation released 3 videos last year all entitled '#itswhatwedo' following the story of a certain police officer in a given scenario. Though they are now somewhat old I would like to see the views and reactions of some of you!

Links to the videos:
#itswhatwedo - Maggie
#itswhatwedo - Andrew
#itswhatwedo - Robert

All of these are fairly gut wrenching, and all scarily possible. I think due to training, scenario 1 & 2 would be unlikely to happen (although you never know) but 3 has certainly been experienced by officers and civilians alike who have come across an RTC.

Let me know what you think!

I don't know why.. maybe because of the way it was filmed, or how they were acting.. but for some off reason at the end of each one i was expecting The Bill theme/titles to start playing.

But seriously, number 1 is realistic, but seems a bit.. eh. even with that level of noise you'll still hear a struggle from behind, for me.. if i was the female in that situation i'd pull out my ASP and spray.. spray him first then beat the crap out of him.. well if it was LSPDFR anyways, no. i don't know what i'd do in that situation because i don't know protocol for UK, Australian officers carry guns.. so i would've pulled out my sidearm and put 4 rounds into the suspect. 

number 2.. well, that's your standard fight. i would've quickly put him into the patrol car (surely he can get to the car safe without the woman beating both him and the suspect up). then deal with whatever was happening. 

number 3. i don't think i'd do things differently tbh.

Keeping in mind, that these "what would you do" scenarios don't really do much.. it's one thing to watch, sit back and plan it.. but when you're there you have to do split second decisions so you don't have a plan at all.. for me to come up with a proper answer to what i would do in that situation, you'd need to put me in that situation.. the answers i gave is after watching and thinking. 

While I like the idea of these "what would you do" situations I question whether these would actually help people understand police work any better. Essentially you are asking people with no training and no experience in that profession to make decisions. That is like asking people what would you do in a paramedics job, they might have a little bit of basic knowledge on first aid but they don't have anywhere near the amount of knowledge as a paramedic. Overall, I like the videos though.

I can't speak for things in the UK but scenario 1 and 2 are very possible and scenario 3 is even more possible.

For scenario 1 the kitchen is one of the most dangerous places in the home for police officers because, obviously, there are lots of sharp objects around. That is why police will try to avoid talking to people in the kitchen. Of course in this scenario they didn't have that option because they needed to make contact with him somehow. If I were in that Maggie's situation in the US I would obviously shoot him. I am not sure how I would react in the UK without a firearm. You are essentially being held hostage, the suspect has a deadly weapon (and has already used it) and as a officer in the UK you have no deadly weapon to counter him. So I see two options there, you can try to talk to him and talk him down, but I see this as very risky since he has already stabbed the other officer he has shown he isn't really interested in talking. The second option, I have noticed most officers in the UK do carry tasers so you can try and tase him. This option is very risky because he is very close (within 21 feet if you are familiar with that rule) so you probably don't have enough time to draw and fire the taser before he closes that distance, he is wearing some lose clothing which carries the possibility of one or both of the probes not getting a good hit, and of course you could have one or both of the probes miss all together or hit too close together. I think I would go with the first option, hopefully I can talk him down enough and if he decides to come after me I will just have to hope my hand to hand is good enough to keep me alive and just accept that I am going to be stabbed or cut (because he will get at least one blow in).

Scenario 2 is not uncommon in the US (not always in that manner, but similar). I think that one is a little more clear cut for me. I would release the original suspect and accept the fact that they will start fighting again and assist my partner who sounds like he is in dire need of help. The original suspect and the lady while aggressive towards each other did not appear to be really violent, just two drunks slapping each other basically (non life threatening). On the other hand my partner sounds like he needs help now or someone will be seriously injured or killed so I need to get to him as quickly as possible.

Scenario 3 is pretty easy. Obviously you want to avoid moving victims in a car crash (even minor ones) due to the possibility of spinal injuries and making those injuries worse. However getting the victim to a safe location takes priority over everything, their spinal injury won't matter if they are being burned alive. You have a vehicle on its side, smoking, and a fluid (likely gasoline) spill, you need to get that guy out of the car and to a safe location as soon as possible. I would quickly extract him from the vehicle while trying my best not to move his neck or back around and move him a safe distance from the vehicle.

I don't know why.. maybe because of the way it was filmed, or how they were acting.. but for some off reason at the end of each one i was expecting The Bill theme/titles to start playing.

But seriously, number 1 is realistic, but seems a bit.. eh. even with that level of noise you'll still hear a struggle from behind, for me.. if i was the female in that situation i'd pull out my ASP and spray.. spray him first then beat the crap out of him.. well if it was LSPDFR anyways, no. i don't know what i'd do in that situation because i don't know protocol for UK, Australian officers carry guns.. so i would've pulled out my sidearm and put 4 rounds into the suspect. 

number 2.. well, that's your standard fight. i would've quickly put him into the patrol car (surely he can get to the car safe without the woman beating both him and the suspect up). then deal with whatever was happening. 

number 3. i don't think i'd do things differently tbh.

Keeping in mind, that these "what would you do" scenarios don't really do much.. it's one thing to watch, sit back and plan it.. but when you're there you have to do split second decisions so you don't have a plan at all.. for me to come up with a proper answer to what i would do in that situation, you'd need to put me in that situation.. the answers i gave is after watching and thinking. 

Yeah I agree, you would think you would hear more of a struggle behind you but who knows. Maybe you have a radio ear piece in one ear and the dispatch is saying something at that moment, there are plenty of possibilities. The ASP is a possible option but I am not sure how effective it would be in a tight space and the OC spray will not provide the incapacitation you need not to mention you probably won't be able to draw and use these weapons before he covers the 8 feet in between you (expanding the ASP or shaking up and spraying the OC). But hey, in that scenario you are kind of SOL and have to do whatever you can do.

For the second one I'm not sure putting him in the patrol car is a good idea. First you have to assume your car has a cage (which I'm not sure how many in the UK do) but even if it does you cannot guarantee the man or the woman won't beat the window out. Plus most agencies have a policy against leaving a suspect unattended in a vehicle for multiple reasons. That is why I think it is better to just let them go, they just looked like a couple of drunks hitting on each other and hopefully someone at the bar will keep the separated until more units arrive.

I agree with you on the sitting back and planning. It is a lot different when you are on the spot in real life and have to make the decisions right then and there. When I was watching it I tried to put myself right there and make the decisions as the video played out but even that only works so much. Watching a video doesn't provide the same adrenaline or the same feelings you would have actually being there.

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Very interesting, thanks for the input. I'm not 100% sure what these videos are supposed to achieve, and showing untrained/experienced MOPs it might serve only to reinforce the delusion between Copper and Average Joe.

My responses to these situations are:

1) Maggie) Despite not knowing what the original 999 call was, my guess would be that two or more double crews would respond to it - this has become common practice with domestics and I'm sure this would be treated as one of those. There is no way the male officer would have not been looking at the suspect, this would make a slit neck massively less likely and he would surely see the knife and shout up. However if it did happen I would activate my panic button with my left hand (I have my radio on my right chest) while going my ASP with my right (worn on the tac belt just left of my stomach). Though it isn't taught in training, the ASP can be used as a deadly weapon - any strike to centre mass or the head will cause massive injury and likely kill and in this situation I would most certainly use this option if I was able to draw it in time.

2) Andrew) During night time economy patrol you NEVER leave your partner no matter what is happening, so this would never occur. These patrols are rarely mobile (as in they don't have a car) and are carried out on foot which is why I assume the officer was holding him against the wall rather than removing him to the car. Again should this happen I would uncuff the suspect and go to my colleague who sounds be in serious danger of being killed - life over limb I'm afraid. His message was transmitted over local airwave channels so any officers in the area would also be responding.

3) Robert) Now that would really suck. I would certainly have to pull the guy out, as I3ubba said there's no use him frying to death so you might as well try to get him out.

Thanks for the replies!

1. If I were an American cop, I would have shot the guy. If I wasn't an American cop and didn't have a gun, I'd try to taze him. This decision would vary based on country, and based on experience as a cop. I have no experience of being a police officer, so I can't accurately describe what I'd do. Training and other things would determine my decision, but based on the way things are now for me, I'd shoot him.

2. Help my comrade. His health is much more important than a criminal. We can catch him another day.

3. Pull the guy from the car. Nothing else matters if he burns alive.

Are the Scottish Police trying to scare people into respecting them....? A little odd I must say lol.

Are the Scottish Police trying to scare people into respecting them....? A little odd I must say lol.

I wouldn't say scaring them into respect. Though I certainly can't see a clear objective of these videos.

I wouldn't say scaring them into respect. Though I certainly can't see a clear objective of these videos.

Don't get me wrong I have a huge amount of respect for police, particularly European police. Just seems like an odd PR strategy lol. 

Edited August 12, 201510 yr by Riley24

Are the Scottish Police trying to scare people into respecting them....? A little odd I must say lol.

They are just trying to show them some of the situations police come across. It is just a way of showing people the types of difficult decisions police have to make in their job, I don't think they are trying to scare people into respecting them.