Are Pint-sized Coppers Heart-stoppers?

[Matron]

Are shorter policemen and women statistically more likely to use tasers to immobilise suspects than their taller and physically stronger colleagues? Has the physical criteria, such as height, that wannabe coppers have to measure up to, been relaxed, resulting in smaller and weaker police, who may be more likely to use a taser, in a situation where a bigger copper could just use brute force?

[flamingreen]

Yes the height requirements have been eased to up the intake of ethnic minroities.
I donbt know if theyre more likely to taser, possibly.

Britains shortest policeman happens to be ethnic British though.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...uring-5ft.html

[Marilyn]

Interesting point. Police who are not desk-bound should be tall strong men as they used to be .. and yes, it looks like standards were lowered to let in some ethnic minorities. Female police should never be used in crowd control and I think they and slightly built men would be more likely to use Tasers. Tasers are terrible things and I can see them being used with little provocation.

[Road_Hog]

Yes the height requirements have been eased to up the intake of ethnic minroities.
I donbt know if theyre more likely to taser, possibly.

Britains shortest policeman happens to be ethnic British though.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...uring-5ft.html

As does our (even shorter) shortest policewoman.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-4ft-10in.html

I don't remember it being about ethnics, I seem to remember it was something NuLabour brought in, as discriminated against the vertically challenged. I remember reading not long after it was changed, two female twins who were 5'2" joined the same police force and thinking what a joke, if I'm getting beaten up on a Friday night, I want decent sized male officer/s to be employed to sort it out.

[Patman Post]

From fg's link:

The MacPherson report of 1999 ruled that the height restriction discriminated against those of ethnic backgrounds such as the Chinese, who are generally shorter. There is no longer any height requirement for joining any British force.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...uring-5ft.html

The strange thing is, the noticeably shorter Police officers don't appear to be Chinese or from any other ethnic minority. Shorter women Police officers don't seem out of place. But being able to look down on the top of a male Police officers helmet (no puns please) did seem a bit weird a couple of days ago on the tube...

[lankou]

Some of the meanest most dangerous ****ers I know are only about 5 feet 3 inches tall and around 8 stone soaking wet. As Churchill said, it is not the size of the dog in the fight it is the size of the fight in the dog.

[flamingreen]

From fg's link:



The strange thing is, the noticeably shorter Police officers don't appear to be Chinese or from any other ethnic minority. Shorter women Police officers don't seem out of place. But being able to look down on the top of a male Police officers helmet (no puns please) did seem a bit weird a couple of days ago on the tube...

Do you think the PC media would actually show any pint sized Bangladeshis or Chinese? Even the Mail is too hidebound for that!

Also if theyd placed some kind of ad asking short police to come forward in this competition, there is no way ethnic minority Liliputians would have chosen to draw attention to themselves! Its absolutley ridiculous, even more so now that we have Congolese and Nigerian giant thugs livign among us. However well trained the police, the gap in brute strength between these thugs and Liliputian police will ensure the latter are useless. Its psychological as well, it is a known fact that taller people are more successful and command more repect. African gangsters lookign down on these shorties will do so metaphorically as well as physically. p

[Patman Post]

I was referring to Police officers I see out and about, not any pictured in the papers.

On the size thing through, most of the SAS guys occasionally shown on TV seem fairly short. Many have little ginger moustaches, too. I wonder which makes them the most aggressive...