Monday 27 November 2017

"There's No Risk" Say The Women...

...who sit in comfortable offices where no agitated mental patient or junkie will ever spit at them:
Rachel Halford, the deputy chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, said she agreed that police should be protected from health risks, but rejected the force’s implication that the virus could be transmitted through spitting.
“Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus and is therefore only transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. The virus cannot be transmitted via spit,” she said.
“Stigma and misinformation about hepatitis C and other blood-borne viruses is a key challenge faced by patients, who are already disproportionately from the most marginalised and disadvantaged groups in society. Many patients report feeling ‘dirty’ and experiencing social exclusion due to misinformation about transmission risks.”
Yes, they are the victims. Even when they are facing arrest for their actions.
Kat Smithson, the director of policy and campaigns at NAT (National Aids Trust), said Avon and Somerset’s claims about HIV and hepatitis C were wrong and stigmatised people with the conditions.
“HIV is irrelevant to the debate about spit hoods because spitting simply is not an HIV transmission route,” she said.
“In the history of the epidemic, there has never been a case of HIV being passed on through spitting, even when the spit contains blood.”
They said it couldn't be passed on by visiting a dentist too.
According to Avon and Somerset police, the restraints will be used only when a person threatens to spit, has attempted to spit or has already spat, and only when officers’ body-worn cameras are switched on.
Despite those safeguards, Deborah Coles, the director of Inquest, raised concerns over their introduction to another police force. “There should be no doubt spit hoods are a use of force and have the potential to cause acute trauma and injury,” she said.
“We know from our work that mental health concerns or other difficulties often sit behind agitated behaviour. Our fear is spit hoods will become the default response and used against vulnerable detainees.
“We had hoped that after the restraint death of James Herbert, Avon and Somerset police would have prioritised safer, more humane policing methods with a focus on de-escalation and detainee welfare.”
I prefer to concentrate on police officer welfare, love. Since I'm paying for them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't spit then. Easy peasy.
I've worn a spit hood in training. I could see and breathe and here I am still alive.
I'm sure the Huddersfield buffoon will disagree.
Jaded

jack ketch said...


Don't spit then. Easy peasy.


A rational and reasonable answer of course, unfortunately as you well know, you and your colleagues don't always get to deal with rational and reasonable people. Hooding a paranoid psychotic is really not a good idea and might well increase the risk to the officers ( because in the torture porn kino of a psycho's mind the only other people to wear hoods are those being renditioned or being taken for execution).



JuliaM said...

"Don't spit then. Easy peasy. "

But as jack points out, what to do with those who have lost their reason?

"Hooding a paranoid psychotic is really not a good idea..."

What's the alternative? Gags are likely to be just as misconstrued...