Rebecca Tidy Profile picture
Feature writer. I mostly cover criminal justice, organised crime + public health.
Aug 3 8 tweets 3 min read
The police repeatedly requested my phone passcodes in the interview + kept returning to this topic + pressuring me.

One of them said, "You're under a duty to disclose the passcodes + we're requesting them formally. Your refusal means that you may be committing a RIPA offence." I was under no duty to hand these passcodes over. They hadn't obtained a RIPA notice.

Furthermore, the police knew that I was a journalist when they applied for their s8 search warrant, but didn't declare it when asked if they knew of any info that undermined their application.
May 4 11 tweets 2 min read
🧵 An innocent 46-year-old woman was knocked unconscious + hospitalised – with serious long-term injuries – by a police officer in Feb. 2024.

Yet the police are refusing to release the officer’s body cam footage or CCTV, only allowing her + a friend to view it at the station. The woman was on a night out + the police were dealing with a fight, while she was trying to leave a Guernsey club.

Footage shows her speaking to a male officer.

Witnesses say she expressed concern that officers were using batons + being heavy-handed to the public.
Jan 27 15 tweets 3 min read
In England, police can put a marker on a central database to say you're suspected of benefiting from crime with ZERO evidence to support this false claim + the banks will close your accounts, leaving you bank-less.

I've no criminal charges/convictions, but now no banking access. Image Just like for an arrest, the threshold for this marker is "reasonable suspicion".

A police officer's "reasonable suspicion" can get you de-banked for life, with no need for a judge, magistrate or independent person to review + approve this. 🤷‍♀️ Image
Jun 25, 2023 10 tweets 3 min read
🧵Ever wondered how @MetPoliceUK officers feel about Baroness Casey's review into misogyny, racism + homophobia in policing?

Fortunately, many serving cops shared their opinions via the force's intranet.

Here's a thread of their comments.🍎

(1/10) Cliff's heard it all before + he ain't buying the bullshit.

Like a drug dealer caught shottin' weed, he's feeling victimised by how the Met blames people for their "wrongdoing".

I guess some folk call it a blame culture, but others call it taking responsibility for your actions
Nov 4, 2022 13 tweets 5 min read
There's a series of interlinked Discord groups for Britain's cops. You must show policing ID – such as a warrant card – to gain entry.

These groups are packed full of misogyny, racism + homophobia that – quite frankly – makes the recent WhatsApp revelations look tame.🍎 Over the next week or so, I'm going to share excerpts from these groups, which – collectively – have a membership of many hundreds of police officers. And of course, we can be certain they're emergency services workers as they all foolishly flashed their ID to join the group.🍏
Sep 13, 2022 10 tweets 3 min read
THREAD: The retired railway cop, Norman Brennan, is often inaccurately described on TV as a knife + gun crime “expert", as well as a homocide “specialist” + "former Metropolitan Police officer".

It’s really disappointing, as Brennan is none of these things. Image He has almost no operational – or professional research – experience of homocide nor knife + gun crime. And he’s never been a Metropolitan Police officer.

There’s also the inescapable fact that he’s not worked in policing for 13 years.
Jan 23, 2022 8 tweets 3 min read
A mother just told me her son has been on remand – in prison – for almost a year after being supected of couriering an ounce of a class B drug. The prosecution submitted a truly ludicrous valuation of this substance to the court – and they've provided no evidence to substantiate this price whatsoever, despite repeated requests from the defence.