Police Reprimanded

I’m so glad the report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has decreed a new, softer approach to policing in the UK is needed.
It’s bothered me for a long while that the attitude in this country seems to have moved away from a presumption of innocence and towards one of guilt.
I recall berating a boss of the Met back in the 70’s - in Thatcher’s day – for the heavy-handed policing of a demonstration in Hyde Park. Before the demo had even got going, there were dozens of coaches parked along the Bayswater road filled with expectant cops all eager, it seemed, to get out and control the masses. I put it to him that having the coaches so visible was tantamount to a challenge, likely to rile some demonstrators enough to encite violence. And that it would surely have been better to keep the police at a distance until, or in case, there was any suggestion of violence.
But he couldn’t see my point of view, and it was around then, I believe, that things deteriorated until we reached the desperate situation of police thinking it’s OK to hurt people with their shields, kettle people without even letting pregnant women leave a demonstration for the sake of their health or in order to pee, and basically, assume every one of us is a criminal in the making.
It's been a nasty insidious form of bullying that has crept in.
What upset me most about the tragedy of Ian Tomlinson’s death, was that it was a member of the public who went to check he was OK and attempt to help him up while the police in their riot gear stood unfeelingly watching.
I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to live in the kind of society where the police are on our side, there to look after us, protect us and help us when we’re in trouble rather than looking upon innocent people like Ian Tomlinson as trouble-makers and standing idly by while they suffer....and die.