Since1982 wrote:A man CAN be arrested for exposing a bulge in underpants even though he isn't arrested for showing a bulge in the front of trousers.
Not here in the UK, he can't. The authorities here have had enough difficulty getting an exhibitionist-weirdo prosecuted for rambling the length of the country stark naked!
Cops tend to believe anything reported if it seems to them that what is reported was possible even if nothing was done. Then, unfortunately it would be up to you to prove you DIDN'T do it.
As a cop, I find tha a rather sweeping generalisation. I always keep an open mind and start from the premise that somebody is innocent until there is persuasive evidence that they are not.
In America and other places that the law USED to be "Innocent until proven guilty" has changed to "Guilty until proven innocent" and some cops WILL brutalize you in a legal way until you prove yourself innocent.
You are still "innocent until proven guilty" here, and the prosecution must prove your guilt beyond reasonable doubt. As for brutalizing people, I don't recognise that. I am, like the vast majority of British cops, unarmed when on duty. What I need is for people to co-operate with me, otherwise my job becomes much harder, much more dangerous and at risk of getting myself into trouble. To brutalize someone would hardly elicit their co-operation nor keep me safe.
For instance, if a cop tells you to get on the ground and you don't move fast enough to do that, it's within his "rights" as a cop to tackle you to the ground no matter how injured you get when he does that.
I'm baffled. Why on earth would a cop tell you to get to the ground? Certainly, if they physically attack you, it may be necessary to force them to the ground in order to overpower them and handcuff them, but that's only in extreme situations. I've been a cop for more than 28 years and I have never ordered anyone to get to the ground. If you are going to arrest them, and they are going to obey your instructions, you want them on their feet so that you can walk them to your police car, not prostrate with their faces in the dirt.
Stu