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news
Metropolitan Police Hammersmith and Fulham tweetPolice in London attacked for "victim-blaming" post addressing cyclists on Twitter
Police in London have been accused of victim-blaming and branding all cyclist as law-breakers after a picture of a car with a smashed windscreen appeared on Twitter with the caption, “Cyclists: Stop ignoring the rules or you could end up in an incident like this.” The tweet has since been deleted, and police have told road.cc they did not mean to cause offence.
The picture was tweeted from the account of the Metropolitan Police in Hammersmith & Fulham at 2.55am on Saturday morning.
The tweet was deleted shortly after road.cc contacted the Metropolitan Police at lunchtime today whether there was a specific incident that prompted the tweet - they say there wasn't - as well as whether they considered it appropriate. Before it was deleted, Twitter user Alex Oates took a screengrab.
A subsequent tweet on the borough policing team’s Twitter feed, sent at 4.57am, read, “Advice for drunk people: cycling the wrong way along a road or sleeping in buses or just being a general nuisance isn't a good idea.”
That tweet has also been deleted.
The first tweet attracted strong criticism from cyclists on Twitter. Here’s a selection, beginning with Alex Ingram, co-ordinator and vice-chair of hfcyclists, the Hammersmith & Fulham branch of the London Cycling Campaign.
@mpshammful …are you trying to tell me that was in any way my fault? And as it happens I have to file a complaint as collision not recorded.
— Alex Ingram (@nuttyxander) April 25, 2015
.@MPSHammFul Want a list of cases I've followed with the exact same result and worse when the victims *have* followed the rules? It's long.
— Bez (@beztweets) April 25, 2015
.@MPSHammFul what's next, a pic of a tearful girl in a ripped skirt and a "here's what happens when you drink too much" warning? shameful.
— Maryka Sennema (@smaryka) April 25, 2015
So @MPSHammFul post an outrageously inflammatory victim-blaming picture tantamount to threatening cyclists and then delete it quietly.
— Tom Staniford (@tomstaniford) April 25, 2015
The difference between the approach of @MPSHammFul and @MPSHaringey. pic.twitter.com/DuHGhYRHu4
— Elisabeth Anderson (@velobetty) April 25, 2015
Motorists! Stop ignoring rules or you could end up in an incident like this. https://t.co/IAT525cbOg pic.twitter.com/zLi9WktJv5
— Mark Treasure (@AsEasyAsRiding) April 25, 2015
In a statement issued this afternoon, the Metropolitan Police told road.cc:
Hammersmith and Fulham Police are working to keep all road users and pedestrians safe.
Officers from Hammersmith and Fulham would like to assure the community that crime prevention and safety messages are not aimed at any particular group but are a general reminder provided purely to keep them safe on both roads and footways.
Any offence caused to cyclists by the tweets posted by Hammersmith and Fulham Police last night was not intended. Our focus is always to ensure that those living, working, visiting and travelling through our borough can do so in safety and with confidence.
The image shown in the picture does not relate to a particular incident reported on the borough.
The tweet concerning behaviour following alcohol consumption was not directed at cyclists but general advice to anyone planning to drink alcohol.
Twitter users have noted that the assertion that road safety advice isn't directed at a particular group conflicts with the tweet sent in the early hours of this morning.
@MPSHammFul then don't aim them at one particular group. Your cyclist-head-smashing-windscreen one was aimed at cyclists heads. Woeful.
— ️PedroStephano (@PedroStephano) April 25, 2015
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
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You didn't mention The Scottish Dodge, whereby if, by witchcraft, you manage to force your HD video upon the reluctant Scottish Police and they...
- mdavidford 54 min 31 sec ago
Not particularly sure that follows.
- mdavidford 1 hour 12 min ago
There's one that's always lurking outside our house at night.
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When these were designed in to the new development near us the excuse was 'well if we didn't it would be impossible to get a rubbish truck in to...
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I should get onto the Guinness Book of Records people then, as they have the world record slowest heart rate for a healthy person down as 26bpm,...
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I made a complaint within an hour of the story being published. I have zero faith that they will amend anything....
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TBF I think that's before she saw the light and got on her bike. Not so great if her views have been informed by Mr. Briggs though.
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That's a great price. Just bear in mind Import duty and handling charges will be applied pre delivery.
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One less thing to clutter up your jersey pockets no? Though difficult to retrieve in a hurry...
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34 comments
Ok, I didn't want to at first, but now I do have to comment after all.
This is not the first time, that specific Road-user groups were targeted with shock-messages to try and change their behaviour. Think of the campaigns about drivers using their mobile phones while driving or the seatbelt-adverts. All of these were targeted at a whole group of people, even though not all of them were behaving in that specific way.
Now, while I agree that the Police in question should have thought this through a bit more carefully before posting something like this on twitter, the message itself is quite right. Of course not every cyclist ignore Red lights or cuts off traffic, but there are still too many out there that do! And it isn't the people pointing that out, that give all cyclists a bad name, it is the cyclists that behave in such a way!
Troll-oll-oll...
Nice collection if wrong-headed platitudes there. Got bored of the Daily Fail comments section?
Campaigns designed to change the behaviour of a certain group are fine. I don't think anybody has a problem with such campaigns but this was not one. It looks to me that some bobby with a bee in his/her bonnet about cyclists tweeted this after attending a bike vs. car incident. The fact that the tweet was later withdrawn shows that this was off-message and embarrassing for the Force. It's a shame that they couldn't see their way to apologising; instead they've just spouted a load of nonsense:
'Officers from Hammersmith and Fulham would like to assure the community that crime prevention and safety messages are not aimed at any particular group but are a general reminder provided purely to keep them safe on both roads and footways.'
Clearly not the case here. This was directed exclusively at cyclists. There's nothing wrong with targeting a specific group but why lie about it?
'The image shown in the picture does not relate to a particular incident reported on the borough.'
So they are saying that the tweeter took the time to locate a picture of a car with damage that, in theory, could be the result of a car-on-bike collision and invented a hypothetical back-story that involved a cyclist transgressing one or more road rules resulting the the collision? And that they did this with the intention of providing a useful public service message about road safety?
Must say I find it quite amusing all you getting offended by a tweet.
It is somewhat offensive but that's not really the point. If a random individual of C list celebrity had made such a comment that's one thing. We're all entitled to our opinions and stupid tweets etc. but that's not what has happened here. This is a public message from a major public organisation tasked with upholding the law and keeping us safe on the streets. If the Met insist on employing people with such attitudes they should at least prevent them from making public statements.
It is pretty offensive when it's our taxes that are paying for these people to protect us.
Dear police, Australian research has shown that motorists are at fault in about 85-90% of incidents and usually it's the alert cyclist who avoids the careless &/or rule breaking motorist. Refer to Monash University reports on their web page. USA research showed that 75% of police reported crashes between bicycles and cars were caused by the motorist not the cyclists but police often got their facts wrong, were probably prejudiced against cyclists and falsely laid blame on cyclists in over 50% of cases. The fact is that too many police are ignorant of the facts and suffer the same prejudice against cyclists as the general public. Unfortunately, posts like that on Twitter reinforce incorrect stereotypes and contribute to hazardous and poor behaviour on roads. Police are supposed to upholding the law in a fair and even manner and setting a good example. That Twitter comment was certainly not to the standard that police should display. Improvement and education are required.
Could you post any links to these two pieces of research that you might have?
And no I'm not taking the piss! Cheers!
Edit: Is this the Monash Thesis you are referring to?
http://arrow.monash.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/monash:80938
It seems mad that an organisation like the Met have so little control over the content that is published in their name. Do they just allow any officer to have a rant on Twitter under the Met's brand whenever they feel like it?
only useful thing David Cameron has ever said?
"How many tweets make a twat".
Twitter is serious business isn't it?
It is when serious people use it for serious things, and I'd say the police and road deaths are both pretty serious. A large part of the Internet may be a silly free for all, but not everyone wants to use it like that.
If they'd written instead "Cyclists: If you ignore the rules you could end up in an incident like this", there probably wouldn't have been a fuss. Maybe just a little one.
It's the presumption of guilt in "Cyclists: stop ignoring the rules" that's offensive rather than the targeting of a group. The Police have to target groups all the time for quite legitimate reasons.
All road users break the rules but it's motorists that cause almost all the devastation as a consequence of the kinetic energy invested in their vehicles. That Hammersmith and Fulham coppers chose to single out cyclists is a demonstration of a prejudiced perception, which in all likelyhood is a reflection of the way they police the roads.
Police officers: Obey the rules or you could end up meeting this fella:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/10/23/141...
Thoughtless tweet no doubt.
Although, the offendatrons need to get a grip of themselves. Social media is full of big babies constantly wanting apologies or people sacked like the clown who posted on here.
There also seem to be those who are quick to take offence at anyone pointing out evidence of people in authority having the kind of outlook that helps perpetuate a situation that causes unnecessary deaths and injuries. Indeed, they seem so offended that they jump in and start throwing abuse around.
Seems odd behaviour, to me. Why are you so scared of anyone wanting anything to change?
The point about this tweet is the (probably unconcious) underlying outlook it reveals.
People are going to object to attitudes that potentially cause them harm. Perhaps you should get used to that and get a grip on yourself?
Haha what on earth are you going on about?
I can assure you I'm not offended by the angry mob. Scared of people wanting change?
Have you got your meds mixed up?
The tweeter shouldn't be sacked because they offended many cyclists. They should be sacked because they failed to understand that organisations twitter and FB pages are essentially front desk, customer facing. If the front desk is manned by a slow witted moron the public will think that every one behind them is a slow witted moron. Should sack the tweeters boss too for failing to maintain some editorial control.....
Oh dear, just start sacking people left right and centre that's the answer is it? No retraining and/or discipline the staff? Thankfully offendatrons like you don't have the authority to bring your draconian vision to reality.
@quince: Well said.
While I don't doubt that some cyclists are to blame for the trouble they get into, this sort of thing only perpetuates an idea that we are all lawbreakers and that it's our fault when bad things happen. Very unhelpful.
It's the police, they aren't that bright. I wouldn't bother taking offence.
A victim-blaming tweet mostly read by drivers, I suppose. No acknowledgement of any error, as article notes. Idiotic, unsurprising.
As much as I'm in the "Society: Stop being outraged at every little thing" camp, the fact that the main organisation we have to protect us is issuing cheap threats to try and enforce order is at least highly worrying (more loaded words are available).
It is not impartial to tell a vulnerable minority that if they break the law, it's not the law that will punish them, but the very thing the law should be designed to protect them from that will literally kill them. It's even less impartial collectively accuse a whole group of people who have nothing meaningful tying them together of breaking the law.
"[Bunch of unrelated people]: Stop [doing negative thing] or you could end up in an incident like this: [graphic picture]"
Is not a good template for any official statement.
Can we persuade some London cyclists (or rather 'lycra louts' and fakengers) to ride past any fuzz they see no-handed and giving them the finger, ideally while on the wrong side of the road and through a red light.
Just so they have some evidence to back up the tweet.
It is nonsense to say that messages are not aimed at specific groups when the first word of the tweet is 'Cyclists :'.
To say that is not aimed at Cyclists is simply a lie. Maybe the Met should just man-up and say
"We were wrong to issue this message. ".
Authority does not admit mistakes unless proven in a court of law.
Note that they didn't say they were wrong, just that they're sorry people got upset.
While lying about the actual message content.
"Note that they didn't say they were wrong, just that they're sorry people got upset. "
Which shall forever be known as the Matthew Parris defence; "I'm really sorry you cyclists have no sense of humour about being threatened with death."
"Note that they didn't say they were wrong, just that they're sorry people got upset. "
Which shall forever be known as the Matthew Parris defence; "I'm really sorry you cyclists have no sense of humour about being threatened with death."
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