Summary:
For those who hate "long" posts:

> I will help forces in investigations where a series of racist, homophobic, terrorist etc.etc. views have been made on the forum.

> I will not help forces who have a bad taste in their mouth about an officer telling the truth about that particular force. I.e "Our probationers get terrible support from superiors" - I believe that you are well within your right to express such views.

> Should we introduce a 'verified officer status' so officers can have a right to anonymity as well as being trusted as a 'real' officer at the same time? PM me or post your thoughts on this and how it could work (especially on an international scale) in our suggestions forum if you like.

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For those who like "long" posts :

It is true to say that nowadays a number of police forces monitor online message forums such as these. It is in some ways a shame to see that some people sometimes find themselves feeling blocked about expressing their true opinions and feelings on a particular topic in case their force's professional standards department happens to be spying on them.

I have actually received a few PM's about this issue since we opened a couple of months back.

Basically folks, it's quite OK for a member to have their right to privacy. Therefore, if they wish to give no more details than the force they work for and maybe their rank / specilism (if applicable) then I know it is hard to not automatically assume they are pretending to be an officer (well it's what I'm guilty of a lot of the time) but in fact they might just want to be able to express their full opinion without risk of repurcussions.

Don't get me wrong here. Any police officer who makes public messages on this board which are homophobic, racist, promote terrorist extremism, law breaking (not joking around obviously, like seriously), give away op. info to help criminal activity or any of the such like - if a force contacts me and asks to assist, then I will.

Quite frankly, if a force contacts me just because they don't like a particular view of a particular poster because it puts them in a bad light (i.e *** supply awful baton holders. I had to buy my own it was so rubbish. The support we get from superiors is awful) then I will not help. I feel that you are perfectly within your right to express views like this. Really, I doubt any force would contact us because of a comment like the above but I hope you get the gist of it.

Finally, If at any point you suspect somebody is lying about being a police officer, and have evidence i.e a few postings where they have provided incorrect information about a particular force or seem to think it's all about what they see on THE BILL then please do PM me. It can be sorted out pretty quickly one way or another.

I'm considering introducing a 'verified officer' status, any suggestions about how this would work (not just for the UK, but worldwide - could be tricky) please direct them to our suggestions forum or my PM inbox. The V.O.S would allow users to have their right to anonymity but at the same time be trusted and not treated with suspicion.

Any questions or queries about any of the above, PM me!

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