Hi oldskool, you make some valid points.

Reasonable force can be anything, even killing someone can be deemed reasonable, depending on the circumstances obviously. as for the assault during arrest, I have know police be found guilty of assault for going overboard so we are not talking about a one way street here.

as for the police not being the police you grew up, well nostalgia isn't all it was cracked up to be fair and the police force had to do what we termed fire brigade policing, this meant being in cars racing from one job to another as we were so thin on the ground, also the police in the old days would think nothing about giving you a kicking but the advent of cctv put paid to a lot of that, also the police and criminal evidence act that came in 1984 also put paid to a lot of underhand police activity. personally I think you get a better service now but a less effective service (if that makes sense).

as for menzes being 'murdered', we had a situation were the officer on the ground 100% believed that he was a target from the intelligence he was given, menzes then decided to do a runner to the tube giving more fuel to the officers on the ground that he was a target, all this not long after the bombings on the underground mind you, he got on the train and made the wrong move and the officer in my view was 100% right in his actions, what wasn't right sadly was the information fed to him.

I really am not trying to sound patronising here but until you have been put in that situation it is hard to comment and the actions and our opinions may differ on whether it was right or wrong.

As for reporting crime, you have a point, but the vast majority still report the crime, I want you to understand that being in the police is not easy, they are not superhuman, they are just people drawn from society to protect society and uphold the law and doing the best they can with the resources they have. Of course there are bad apples and that is a sad fact, but it also remains a fact that the police are only allowed to police with the consent of the public and while the vast majority still support the police they will continue to do the best they can. the sad thing is that I agree 100% that the service is fuc_ked and that has happened when the political correctness groups got more vocal and made policing harder than it needs to be.

Hang 'im from his feet and lower him into the shark tank at the BKK aquarium...

most likely has to do with getting a lesser punishment if they fess up right away.

as for thai police methods, could be just hint of getting a confession "the hard way" mite make any coward tell all.

Its funny to see someone (mostly in provinces) at a table in cuffs admitting he beat his wife or something similar, only to have the wife ( or whoever) get to take a few whacks at him before the police "restrain" her

Update:
Cab driver admits he killed woman, mutilated boy

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok cabbie, who has confessed to murdering a woman and her five-year-old son, admitted in court yesterday he had committed three of seven offences filed against him.

Siriphong Kanjananiwit,40, appeared at the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court hearing yesterday in which he heard and acknowledged the charges. The defendant confessed to the murdering of Sunan Srisusan, 38, and her Thai-Japanese son Cho Makino, the mutilating of the boy's body to cover-up the crime, and carrying a firearm without permission.

Siriphong however protested his innocence on four other charges: attempted murder of Sunan's 13-year-old daughter identified as Mint; armed robbery at night; sexual molestation of a minor under 15; and restraint of freedom. He also asked the court to assign a pro bono lawyer for him. The court listed the case for trial on the morning of January 25.

Siripong later told reporters from his detention cell he had confessed to only three counts and denied four others. He said that he hadn't collected evidence yet for his defence in the upcoming trial.

He said - in accordance with his wishes- no relatives has visited him at Bangkok Special Prison. He said he would not apply for a bail release because he wanted to pay for the crimes he committed. He didn't want to apologise to Sunan's spirit.

The recovery in an abandoned house on October 12 of five plastic bags containing Cho's body parts, and the previous discovery of a woman's body on October 10, led to an intensive police investigation, and to part-time taxi driver Siriphong confessing his involvement.


-- The Nation 2009-11-10