Rainbow coloured police cars

[Nirish guy]

The (stated) reason for Police adding rainbow colours to their police cars etc, is to attempt to show the LGBTQ community that the Police have changed their outlook towards them and that they now aspire to proving policing for ALL of the community ( which they were MEANT to be doing anyway of course this whole time).

However after many many years of the police generally harassing, arresting, disbelieving ( when it came to assaults etc) and generally treating LGBT people fairly shabbily ( understatement of the year there), they now seem to want to very visibly show their support to the LGBT community (AND that also to the straight community) to say that "things have changed" and that LGBT should now approach and be able to trust the police when they are dealing with their every day policing needs, perhaps in a way they couldn't and didn't before - and THAT can't be a bad thing.

Personally if it's for a short period of time as a temporary PR campaign I've no issue with it. Longer term I'm not quite so sure that the police should be getting into politicising every day policing like that as once they start where do they stop. For instance next month will we all be seeing police cars with "Police support Black lives Matter" or Police support "battered husbands" stickers on them etc etc - although MAYBE THAT isn't such a bad thing either actually if they've also performed poorly in those areas too?

Anyway, so that is the reason Police are now stepping up across the UK ( and in other Countries around the World too it seems) so they can now send a clear message of support and display the (new) understanding they ( claim) to have when dealing with LGBT people and their issues now after having such terrible track record in that area.

I'm glad to say that where I live we also have a nice, shiny, newly painted police vehicle here too, but being N.Ireland it is of course a bomb proof, armoured police Land Rover ! lol ( pic below)

It should also be noted too though that when the Police first announced their intentions to run their campaign here the usual mouthpieces from the Christian (rarely) right brigade protested loudly in the local media, saying they objected against the use of the vehicle being used out on the roads as they viewed it AS a message of support to for "gays' (which would of course be going against the bible blah blah blah).

Unfortunately the Police chief here bottled the decision and finally decided to paint up only ONE land rover and it was then ordered to be used solely sat parked up during PRIDE parades etc "rather than offend the straights'. So to me that sort of watered down the whole point and intent of their original message in my opinion, but I guess it was SOME progress at least so is to be welcomed.

The police here also changed their internal staffing rules so as to now allow LGBT police officers and their allies to march for the first time in PRIDE parades here ( and in Dublin) in full police uniform (which had been denied to them before) and which was a big (visible) change too.

So again that additional visibility that LGBT police officers DO actually "exist" and LGBT people can feel comfortable applying to join the Police can only be seen as a good thing too, as THAT message is certainly better than the alternative one which existed for many years before.

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