A police officer wrote this on March 15, 2021 at 5:27 pm. I’ve reproduced it here because I found it humbling, worrying and really quite frightening.
‘I’m a cop of 20 years. I’m leaving. I’m done.
I’m done with the duplicitous liars and twisters of truth in Parliament, who have destroyed policing in order to further their own careers. I’m done with those charlatans and snake oil salesmen and women who spread their bile, whose acid eats away at society and it’s values and future. I’m done with the utter lack of consequences for their corruption.
I’m done with duplicitous liars and twisters of truth in the media and “journalism” with their spin, lies, misrepresentation and half truths. I’m done with their 24 hours news, their twitter echo chambers, their pile on tactics and agendas, in order to invent the next “big” story or extend the life of the old one. I’m done with their sickening pretence that they are on some crusade to make the world a better place.
I’m done …
I’m done with the socially corrosive special interest groups who want to be top of the victimhood ladder and are prepared to burn the world and anyone different to them, to ensure they are heard above anyone else. Their constant screaming for attention and ever more fantastical claims, that bear no scrutiny, but which they know they will never be challenged on, because, you know “cancel culture”.
I’m done with the public, their violence, their lying, their abuse, their spitting, their constant screaming for instant gratification and destruction of anything and everyone around them if they don’t get their own way, like a bunch of petulant adolescents. I’m done with their demand for every right real or imagined and their utter lack of personal or social responsibility to each other.
I’m done with the senior officers who will jump on any bandwagon, throw any officer under a bus for doing their job, do anything at all to get that next rank and more power. I’m done with them pretending to be cops, when they are just politicians in uniform. At least real politicians don’t seek to hide their stench and are there for all the world to see, in all their obnoxious, odious glory.
I’m done with the far left and far right, two sides of the same violent, socially corrosive and destructive coin, trampling over anyone and everyone, destroying anything in their paths, if it doesn’t conform to the “right” narrative or world view. I’m done with their red and black flags, their balaclavas, their violence, bullying and intimidation. I’m done with them calling themselves Nazis or Antifa and pretending they are any different to the opposition. I’m done with their anti locution and persecution of anyone that isn’t on their side. I’m done with their cheerleaders in the media, who adopt their cause but absolve themselves of any responsibility for the harm they cause.
I’m done with the Soviet era scale bureaucracy that stops me doing my job, the projects that strangely never fail, the nepotism in the promotion boards and the boys and girls clubs in policing that look after each other, no matter how incompetent and screw everyone else who isn’t in their gang. I’m done with their self promoting cliques and associations, they hide behind when they are professionally incompetent, but always useful for a photo opportunity to make the force look good with whatever group is having their week or is fashionable that day.
I’m done with the (few) corrupt cops who drag all our names through the mud and the false narrative that the vast majority of front line cops are tainted.
I’m done seeing my brothers and sisters on the front line battered, criticised, unsupported and demoralised. I’m done with their fortitude, inherent goodness and sense of service, that makes them run forward, knowing the armchair critics will crucify them after. I’m done with their false hope that things will improve, that society will value them. I’m done with them being lied to by our leaders and then lying to themselves, that, maybe, just maybe, this time those leaders can be trusted, I’m done with seeing those youngster suffer and age far too fast as a decent life passes them by as they waste their lives on this.
I’m done with grandstanding cops, dancing for YouTube, wearing rainbows as self promotion, kneeling for a twitter photo, lecturing the public about things that shouldn’t concern us, forgetting we are the law police, not the public morals police, Im done with them doing anything other rather than actual policing. I’m done with the false narrative that suggests this is the norm and that all cops are more interested in being woke social workers than doing their job. A false narrative we have facilitated by allowing this self indulgent, shameless self promotion of a few individuals, to proliferate.
I’m done with cops being told they are somehow lesser without a degree and that instincts are bias and bad. That experience and street knowledge is discriminatory. I’m done with the lies that the College of Policing is on our side. That the courts value and support us. That the IOPC isn’t an insidiously untrustworthy organisation out to get us. That the HMIC understands policing.
I’m done with the anxiety, the anger, the constant state of heightened arousal in case of danger, even when I should be feeling safe in my own home. I’m done with the corrosive damage to my physical and mental health, sacrificed for a country and public, serving both in green and blue, for a country that couldn’t give a toss.
I’m done with the deaths, the suffering, the violence, the dishonesty, the predatory behaviour and all the other public faeces that you ask us to clean up.
I’m done with the the indescribable levels of frustration, rage, hate and despair that all the above has filled my life with, when all I wanted to do was look after the good people and lock up the bad. I’m done with the cynicism and distrust that it’s left me and the times I’ve put my family last, to ensure I was there for someone else’s. I’m done with the pain it causes them to see what this job does to us.
I’m a cop of 20 years service and I’m done with it. Sort your own mess up. Or don’t, and let it all collapse around you.
I’m done, and really don’t care anymore.’
This frightens me, and it should frighten you.
I hope it’s not to late to remind the few, when ill of them they speak,
That they are all that stands between the monsters and the weak.
And, while you’re here, let me share some news. No Ordinary Day, the truth behind the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, was published by Ad Lib on June 8th 2023. If you serve or served, know someone who served, or you have an interest in how our police service ended up in the state it is today, its a book you should read. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ordinary-Day-Espionage-terrorism-corruption/dp/1802471448/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1691325061&sr=8-1
Matt Johnson 
I really feel for the modern day police, they can’t do right for doing wrong.
Why because of the do gooders of this Country. The problems go back to, no discipline at school or at home. And this is the result. We need to go back to basics discipline and respect. Without these two basics, you have nothing.
LikeLike
So sad. This has touched every nerve I’ve got. I know what you’ve said will fall on deaf ears.
Sorry for our civilization.
I curse all politians money grabbing bastards
PRIMARY OBJECTS OF POLICE. Has been lost to the detriment of us all
LikeLike
I’m honoured that there are still people of this calibre around that represent what the great majority want from our police officers and the police force in general.
I’m saddened this gallant police officer who has served the people and is what we the honest people of the UK need in thd police has decided enough is enough and called it a day from serving us as a police officer.
LikeLike
I’m honoured that there are still people of this calibre around that represent what the great majority want from our police officers and the police force in general.
I’m saddened this gallant police officer who has served the people and is what we the honest people of the UK need in the police has decided enough is enough and called it a day from serving us as a police officer.
LikeLike
An excellent summing up, of the intolerable situation our Police Officers, find themselves. A situation that can only get worse. As an ex-Police Officer of 37 yrs service, I was always dead against any strike or industrial action of any form. Now I would firmly support it, whether it is against the law and Police Regulations or not.
LikeLike
What is Boris doing acting like confused . com. He and his Govt pass laws to control the virus and when they are enforced has doubts as to how and when they should be. The Police are getting the support you can expect from a poor S.American republic not from a so called educated team of politicians so lets hope we can stop the slide .
LikeLike
Heartbroken for you
LikeLike
All the best.
LikeLike
A blistering, well deserved attack. The good people of this country you set out to help and protect are also done and sick to the back teeth with everything you so eloquently and forcefully highlight. The final comment of letting it all destruct and collapse have been my own thoughts for a long time and I speak as the mother of a serving officer of 18 years until she also finally said “I’m done”. Good luck to you, you have done your bit. Go and enjoy your family and the rest of your life. Thank you.
LikeLike
I would not be a police officer if they paid me £100. 000 a week what ever they do it is wrong until you need there help
LikeLike
We need to support our police, these far left activist groups are destroying our country along with BLM. Britons are angry we have lost London, I was raised in south London Southwark and frightened to go go their now blacks so aggressive. People are angry nothing is being done to stop the boats coming into Dover.
Yes the police has a lot to deal with and offered no support, to many do gooders meddling, going against most of the peoples wishes, I think we need water cannons that most other countries have, a stronger government is also needed.
LikeLike
No other words needed! Well said that officer.
LikeLike
The job destroyed me.I was young,nieve whet I joined in 1985.
I saw too much for a young lad.
There was no mental health support at the time.
I walked away from the “Marchioness “and was expected to get on with it.
It’s hard being a police officer.You are a target for everyone if you fuck up.
If you have not done the job you will never know.
LikeLike
All I can say is thanks for your service
LikeLike
The words describe my exact feelings in 2010 when I managed to “Get Out” of GMP after 30 years service.
So accurate is the description of senior officers married in common, self serving style that I truly thought he was talking of Manchesters Mayor and Chief Constable, both present and the clown who preceded him.
I feel utter contempt for those in such office and a similar degree of sympathy for those front line officers trying to keep law and order when the system itself is broken and chaotic.
I sincerely hope the author finds an improvement in the work / life / health and family situation as being a cop in this modern day isn’t worth losing sleep, health or family over.
You will be replaced and forgotten in an instant as we all are.
Good luck for the future.
LikeLike
Agree entirely with above, very powerful statement
Society have a Police service that they have destroyed and deserve.
Too many butterflies flitting from one force to another on promotion.
Lions lead by Donkeys what would one expect in a no blame public culture.
Leaders for God sake lead.
LikeLike
Every word you speak is true and I’m sorry to hear a good caring cop is quitting and no wonder !Take care sir and enjoy a quieter life in a world that is broken 💔
LikeLike
I’m fully behind you and all you have to endure. It is a total shambles that you are
So let down and so badly treated. You deserve so much more with the Job you do. You get my upmost respect and Thanks for your honesty.
I wish you well in your new life
X
LikeLike
Superb article. I agree whole heartedly
LikeLike
Thank you for your honesty, this resonates with me.
I left the job in 2015 after 23 years service, for the same reasons, I am sad that it has only got worse in those last 6 years.
Trust me, there is life on the outside, you will be valued, our skills are highly transferrable.
You will find alternative employment, or maybe like me, do your own thing, be self employed, run your own business – you be in charge, answer to no one – it is liberating!
Most importantly, decompress and look after your health and wellbeing.
Take care
Sam
LikeLike
My friends and family do appreciate what I did but that’s all. Everything else is spot on. I’m retired since June 2019 but was asked to come back because of the pandemic. You can guess my answer when some outsourced HR firm wrote to me and couldn’t even get my name right. Such an impersonal organisation with only your brothers and sisters on the front line to rely on . They are the real Police.
LikeLike
How very sad but how very true.
Good cops betrayed by politicians betrayed by senior officers betrayed by this and previous governments.
How very glad I am that I no longer serve in the police.
The service I knew has long since gone and the sentiments set out should strike at the very heart of this country
Ross
LikeLike
Written with the integrity of a real police officer. I lasted 22 years before I was done. I applaud your honesty and stand by your words. I watched the job disintegrate into a pale and lesser organisation year upon agonising year, before it became what it is today. Well said. Those words will keep resonating with me.
LikeLike
Well said, unfortunately by a long serving police officer who has experienced much , but to the detriment of his mental and physical health. I doubt he has ever been consulted lby his management or executive about his knowledge or expertise , and that he has witnessed a conveyor belt of new managers coming in to reinvent the wheel using the latest jargon and PC language before botching a project or initiative and then getting promoted to their next disaster .Absolutely spot on regarding all the self serving ladder climbing officers and politicians, both national and local who have their snouts in the trough and don’t give a damn about service, loyalty, honesty or integrity.
LikeLike
What a sad world we live in for someone who protects us to feel like this. Crowds are killing people there has to be someone with Covid in the mix who will go home and kill a Grandad a Nanny Mother or Farther a Police man a child as they also die from Covid are they not accountable for this death, how easily this is not even said.
LikeLike
Respect mate, ex army and now ex police I barely made it to the end never a true word and all that I wish you luck, health and happiness in whatever you choose to do.
LikeLike
I did 8 years RMP and 30 Merseyside and I thank God I’ve retired. Senior officers do not support staff they hide and lick political arse to self promote. The hard grafti g Bobby is hung out to dry whilst the narcissistic cretins dance for rainbow photos. The cities are goosed the population self possessed and society’s weak knee’d have themselves to blame 🖕
LikeLike
I am so very sorry that you and your colleagues have been so badly let down by everyone. I work for the police ( staff) and I know everything you go through, you are absolutely accurate in everything you say. I’ve been ranting on media all weekend on your behalf, this was the last straw for me too. I wish this could be read out in the house of commons. Whatever you do I wish you all the very best, your force will have lost one of its finest.
LikeLike
This is called honesty .The doubters villifiers and self servers will never admit this truth. United we should stand . United we could stand .
LikeLike
Never a truer comment. We all watch as this once great country sinks into the swamp of despair and being pushed further down by the political correct brigade. God help us all if the final blue line saving us fron anarchy is in this state.
LikeLike
Depressingly accurate and spot on. I salute you for your 20 years service. Thank you. I hope you go onto something you really enjoy.
LikeLike
Every word of it resonates deeply, every word might be my own, every word carries a truth that needed to be said. Any police officer with a sense of vocation for being part of something that makes a difference in society, will know these thoughts and feelings written by one of one of their own. The truth is now out there but it will no doubt be dismissed or even buried by those it seeks to unmask, however I for one feel uplifted that after giving 34 years service, that I am not alone in dealing with the emotional scars I carry from the sacrifice made for a job I so loved. I am no victim, I have no regrets, I seek no compensation but I cannot yet let go of the same anger, frustration and disappointment found in this officer’s testimony for an institution so much maligned from without and sadly failed from within, one that I am so very proud of having served in. Thank you for writing it, I’m so very sorry for how you and so many others have been let down. Thankfully there is life after the job, go and enjoy it, free from the toxicity known as policing.
LikeLike
Whether politicians and senior officers agree, or continue to bury their heads in the sand, every single word written by this officer is what most if not all of the hard working ethical officers across the country feel. Policing for the ranks is a completely thankless task, with absolutely no support from politicians who are spineless hypocrites, bowing their heads when officers die, then throwing them to the wolves instead of standing up for them when they use the powers given to them, if it causes distress to some snowflake woke who believes their own views and opinions override the law of the land. The country is in a mess, and the future is in the hands of the spineless .
LikeLike
Wow! I’m a Police officer of 28 years and I felt every word, I’m in tears…….
LikeLike
I retired 2 years ago after 28 years in the Met
I agree with everything you said
The whole organisation is poisonous from top to bottom and is no more than a political lapdog to the government
Standards of recruitment are pitifully and embarrassingly low in order to meet diversity targets. Import the third world, live in the third world
It’s a damned shame. I joined the job from the Army in 91 and I was proud to work with such well rounded switched on people who were completely autonomous and forthright
Now look at what you get when you ring 3 9s
If anyone turns up that is
Very sad
LikeLike
Wow. Truer words have rarely been spoken. I’m sorry you feel that way, but having been on the thin blue line, I can totally get you.
I was broken, and made the best of what I had left. Please, before it’s too late – Run. Run as fast as you can, escape now while you still have a piece of “you” inside to start to heal.
Thank you for your service, you have given enough, take back yourself for your own sake.
💙💙💙🌹💙💙💙
LikeLike
Just plain and simply I am sorry, for what you have dealt with that is not of your making or desire.
LikeLike
Wow this is the explosive truth and we should all hang our heads in shame – This simmering anger has taken 20 years to erupt and I hope it receives the media coverage it deserves.. We should all wear a badge saying “I’m done” in solidarity.
LikeLike
So powerful, so heart breaking.
I am no longer in the police, thank goodness. But over the last year, I have had it with the constant the police this, the police that…
How demoralising it must be for our heroic police officers.
I am sure this is just one resignation out of many hundreds if not thousands.
How can the police carry on doing their work of basically the public are allowed to treat them the way they do, the police no longer have powers, but the public do and it’s frightening!!!
LikeLike
As a member of the public I understand and feel exactly the same about society today. I have the upmost respect for the coppers who try to do their best under impossible odds. I also share his views on fluffy woke attitudes that society seems to be drifting along with.
People like this officer are the rods that keep society in line, unfortunately these rods are starting to brake.
LikeLike
Totally get this and sympathetic to the views expressed. Hope the author continues as he has almost earned his pension and he will have earned it.
LikeLike
spot on bruv
.
LikeLike
Well done you, for having the balls to think enough is enough. Thank you for what you have done, i retired in Nov after a few months shy of 20 years, like you, “Fuck it ive had enough, had enough of the lying press/politicians and incompetent senior officers” Had enough of the staggeringly stupid members of the public that demand attention when it suits them, then claim outwardly that they support you, until you tell them something they dont agree with, then the claws come out and you are Mr/Mrs hated again. They can sort their own shite out from now, Fuck em. I used to care and thats why i joined, not any more. Go and find your peace with your family and loved ones, youve dealt with enough shite in anyones book, best wishes, a sympathiser, ex job.
LikeLike
Totally agree. my dad was a policeman for 30 years and I’mso glad he policed at a time that was so different from today, he passed away 16 years ago, you have my total respect
LikeLike
As a 10 years retired Police Officer having served 30 years this is the most chilling account I have read of the feeling of a 20 years serving Officer. I really do feel for the Officer and many others who I have no doubt, feel the same and are in the majority. Unfortunately I feel as he does the whole country from the top down is in a mess and “you reap what you sow”
LikeLike
This is so sad but obviously very heartfelt. You can only use and abuse people for so long, if nothing changes they will leave, many through suicide because the job is not the job it should be. Police officers today are the cannon fodder of the two world wars. There is no respect except for the occasional lip service by some MP or a Home Secretary. Priti Patel is a known bully and will have no respect or regard for serving officers. What’s the point in boasting about recruiting twenty thousand more police officers when that won’t bring the numbers back up to where they were when the tories decimated the number of officers in the first place? Four members of my family are serving officers so some may think I’m biased. If wanting officers to be valued and supported is bias then yes I am, if wanting to let officers police rather than spend hours and days on paperwork that is unnecessary, then yes I am, that a university degree doesn’t make you a better copper than the one who’s been doing the job for years then yes I am. We have an excellent police service (though I preferred police force), yes there is the odd bad copper but the rest are working hard to protect the public with one arm tied behind their back! I’m done and how many more officers are going to come to that decision if something doesn’t change?
LikeLike
It’s about time the people doing wrong are punished for doing wrong. And our police are backed regardless of the race colour sexual preferences of the people doing wrong . If they are doing wrong they are wrong .
LikeLike
I was an ordinary cop for 30 years and now I’m an ordinary detention officer for the last 10 years still working for the police. All of the above may be true to some extent however I’m also loyal to the cause which is the basic fight against the wrong, the bullies and all of the above mentioned groups and pretentious self righteous persons. Never give up hope, we’re not here for long, 100 years if you’re lucky, and that’s not long at all. Make the most of what you have and spend it metaphorically speaking on the people around you. The silent majority I believe sympathise with us and what we have to put up with, the tabloid press etc as indicated above only print and try to control the nation, this has always been the case, so don’t be disheartened . When we are fiercely criticised unfairly I feel the pain and hurt and it frustrates me tremendously, I am institutionalised but in a good way, never ever give up or stop believing that good triumphs over evil. I could go on and on.
LikeLike
I was a col for 38 yrs But you couldn’t give me the job today for double the wages. This country doe sent deserve the loyal, honest hard working and trustworthy police force it has and the rot started with that anti police bitch Teresa May.
LikeLike
Every copper that has been one for a good while knows you speak the truth . We are not allowed to protect the law abiding people. I have been retired for over 20 years but I can remember the days when we still had some power to protect the public. We were called a Police force and we did our job without fear or favour. We didn’t have to convince the CPS that we had the evidence to charge . We were feared by the bent and welcomed by the victims. We lost it to the moaning minority. I am ashamed to admit I don’t recognise the Police now and preach to those that will listen to all you can to protect your own. You wanted a service instead of a force , you have it ,and it’s as useless as the courts ,the Social Services ,the probation service ,all are led by inept Politicians. Let us do the JOB.
LikeLike