Nomination For Hero Badge

Police spent £18,000 and sent more than 100 officers to 45-hour stand-off with one man who was MOONING them from rooftop

  • Christopher Foley, 51, mooned and taunted officers during a 45-hour standoff 
  • Armed police and £3,000 drone were also used in operation to surround Foley 
  • Cardiff Crown Court heard 900 hours of police time were wasted on operation.

Here is an example of getting sucked into a situation because the responding officers didn’t think it through. Just because YOU can do something doesn’t mean you should.

Police squandered more than £18,000 of taxpayers’ money to deal with a builder who pulled his pants down at them.

Christopher Foley, 51, mooned and taunted officers during a 45-hour standoff in Tredegar, South Wales.

More than 100 officers, armed police and a £3,000 drone were used in the operation to surround Foley, after he had scaled to the top of a derelict building.

Some officers seem to have the belief that if they don’t respond to an affront the whole structure of law enforcement will come tumbling down. Here we have a drunk standing on the roof of a derelict building shouting obscenities. The first officers on the scene could have saved a lot of time and expense if their response to his shouted, “Fuck you” had been “Fuck you back,” and then drove off.

Sometimes doing nothing is more effective than doing something. Any patrol cop worth his pay knows the “eye fuck.” It is typically deployed when some idiot is acting the fool in a public place. All that is required is for the officer and idiot to make eye contact. The stare down sends the message, “You are not worth the effort, but if you continue to irritate me…” Generally the idiot decides to move on. 

People are of the opinion that cops can’t do certain things. Bravado that allows an idiot to “flip off” a police officer turns into consternation when the officer returns the gesture. It’s tough to be macho when all your friends are laughing at you.

Shine a spotlight on a drunk pissing on a dumpster and see how quickly “Mr Happy” disappears, usually with an accompanying piss stain down the front of his pants.

My old roommate, “Heart Attack” drove up on a “panty raid.” Another officer called for backup and was doing his level best to turn a college prank into a riot. The students were ignoring him. “Heart Attack” pulled up and announced over the PA system, “All you assholes get outta the street.” Thirty seconds later there was peace in our time. The only person in the street was the hapless patrol officer.

With a little prior planning, reputation can accomplish what brute force fails to do. A new school year started and with it came a new crop of students. They brought with them disturbances, loud parties, bar fights and other boorish behavior. We soon noticed that situations suddenly calmed down when an officer wearing a SWAT badge joined the festivities. A single officer with a SWAT badge could handle situations that two or three non-SWAT officers couldn’t.

We later found out that the University Police liaison for the fraternities and sororities was responsible. He conducted orientation sessions and finished the presentation with a Q & A session. It didn’t take long before the audience would get around to complaining about the city police. He would point out that the city cops weren’t as mellow as the university cops. He especially warned them to be careful around the cops wearing a SWAT badge. He assured them that the only way a city officer to get one was to shoot somebody. 

That wasn’t true, only three officers were shooters.

I’m a dinosaur. These days there is a policy governing how to handle every situation. There is probably a policy for how to handle situations not anticipated by a policy. Good little bureaucrats never deviate from policy even when it violates common sense.