Esteemed, assured, and trusted by the public; police officers make great witnesses. In court, that makes for lousy justice, writes The Law Horse, an anonymous criminal barrister...
This is not an attack on the police. They work to keep my family safe, our city free of trouble. I’m glad the police are there to protect me. What I cannot accept is their disproportionate influence in court.
The Bobby’s party-line opinion of the criminal justice system isn’t positive. Officers tend to greet barristers grudgingly, with an ingrained suspicion. From their pro-prosecution perspective, the independent status of most criminal barristers – instructed to represent defendant or Crown, as duty calls – is an abhorrence, a mercenary betrayal of their public protection principles. And we’re the lucky ones. Criminal solicitors can be regarded with disdain.