I have no wish to drag up the violent scenes of yesterday on the Ponty, but as I watched them unfold I asked my son "where are the police?" It reminded me of Wembley with plod taking forever to get there. Yesterday the stewards had been fully engaged let's say for at least 10 minutes, and only then did SY plod eventually stroll around to intervene, and I mean STROLL, in fact they looked like National Trust ramblers in hi Viz jackets. This is what the BBC reported "The game was also marred by pockets of crowd trouble after Wood's opening goal, but police seemed to quickly separate opposing fans and the rest of the match appeared to pass off peacefully." I am not on about the trouble, but I am concerned that the vast amounts of money SYP charges us seems to be to no avail, where is the protection they are supposed to provide?- to both sets of supporters?
The stewards sorted it as best they could. For the amount of money in policing costs, the coppers were totally pointless. The trouble didnt die down either. It was always threatening to boil over
Actually I was describing their style of walk as they went to do their paid duty when lots of people were in fear of assault Lets hope it's not you awaiting their arrival to save you from a beating, eh?
It was a carbon copy of Wembley and the Milwall fans. Suddenly there was a surge of hundreds, and i mean hundreds of opposition fans coming from the other side of the stand, and what made me laugh was that they all stayed down in that corner for the duration of the game, they were loving it the set of scumbags. The minority of our fans are no angels of course.
Ever thought that Sky Television chose a 5.30 slop so the potential of thi could happen, and in the event of a dull game.........
They were at Taco Bell and KFC. My husband drops me off at the match and then goes for a Taco Bell and wander around town before picking me back up afterwards. When I got in the car he mentioned that there were loads of police at Taco Bell and the KFC next door. I told him that explained a lot!
What like some adults who spend all there time bitching and sniping at folk on internet message boards whilst safely hiding behind their keyboards, sithi.
This is always a favoured subject at football matches, officers being on overtime. Couldn't be further from the truth. Almost every officer working yesterday were supposed to be on a day off but it would have been cancelled a few weeks ago, no extra pay. I'm not saying this excuses any sort of poor response, but this would be the match commander's responsibility. The officers on the ground haven't a clue what's going off until they get inside.
I thought that the trouble in ES lower at the away end, then the kick off in the Ponty went on for a long time before the PLOD turned up. People were getting hurt, minimum wage poorly trained stewards were having a hard time containing the violence (is it their job?) SYP have a lot to answer for, but be careful, they'll get you driving 3 mph over the limit with their "safety camera" vans! Boosts their "crimes solved" figures
Not the most reliable of sources --- I was told that the police only intervene if the security firm in charge requests it. Once security ask for police back up part of the police cost is met by the security firm.
I've heard that too but legally it is wrong. The police's job is to uphold the law and to protect the public. Yesterday they watched the law being broken and watched assault take place which is contrary to their job description. No excuse for that
The officers on the ground Were inside the stadium. They were watching assaults take place. And of course it is overtime. If you do 40 hours per week and then get asked to work your Saturday off for 5 hours football then it's 5 hours overtime. If you are supposed to be on holiday but get asked to come in and get holiday days later instead then essentially it's overtime. Work Monday to Friday but get asked to do Saturday as well? Overtime. The word overtime may be technically incorrect but they certainly work football on top of their standard hours or instead of them which means they are getting paid for very little when they ignore the law. You can't justify why police stood watching assaults and then walked SLOWLY round the pitch towards the criminals.