http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10888435

Is it me, or is there something going very wrong with our police officers?

So he drove off after being stopped? How did he expect the police to react? If any teenager did that they'd have their window smashed and be dragged out of the car too. He should have thought about it before doing a runner.

Saw that last night. There is something wrong. Why would they need to wreck his car like that?

Er, okay. Apparently the guy thought he'd been dealt with and was free to go. I wouldn't be sitting about waiting either.

In any case, the level of violence used was not commensurate with the crime committed. It was a pensioner, not a drug-addled hoodie.

Slow internet means it'll take a few minutes to buffer the clip, but shouldn't law be applied equally regardless of age, sex, etc etc?

There are extenuating circumstances surrounding this case that aren't mentioned in the clip (the police took exception to something as he drove away, and the guy supposedly refused to stop for ages), but smashing the door window with a baton, and leaping on the bonnet of a vehicle and kicking in the windscreen seems just a tad overzealous under the circumstances.

It does not look justified. The car was stationary and the police would have known that they were dealing with a 70 year old from the prior stop. Then the repeated swings at the window would petrify anyone. The officer being able to climb on the bonnet to kick at the window clearly indicates that he did not think that the driver was going to drive off. The worst place to be if a car was about to drive off is standing on the bonnet. This looks like three pissed off coppers determined to do criminal damage to the car, on the pretext that he did a runner. Desk jobs is too lenient a sentence.

There are no excuses. Let the cops go and visit him later at home, maybe in a less confrontational manner. Judge Dredd or what.

Yes but if you have just seen the police at a stop and then see them behind you do not necessarily think that it is for you again.

In which case should you be driving at all?

I'm with the Police on this one. He was trying to drive away, I expect the Police were smashing his window to try and remove the keys from the ignition (as all forces do across the country).

This was long after he drove away they followed him from the original point of contact. Secondly what about trying to open the door rather than simply use a baton. Why not throw the stinger in front of the car?

Well they might have tried the door and found it locked. I have a sneaking suspicion that the pensioner isn't telling the whole truth TBH. I await the judgement of the IPCC with great interest.

Many high value cars have a automatic locking system to stop car jacking. It was a Range Rover. Also the vehicle was stationary and the police officers were next to the vehicle. It never moved until they dragged him out when it rolled back. A few seconds extra footage at the beginning to show the immediate events preceding might help a lot. Though if the officers walked out to the car, and then smashed the window without asking the driver to get out then it is clearly inappropriate use of force. Also remember one office climbed on the bonnet from the front, very stupid if it is about to pull away. Though clearly he could see that was not the case, otherwise he would not have done it. My best guess is that the officers heard him call them [LIFTED] or something and decided to follow him. He may not have realised what was happening and they came out angry and determined to smash his car.

I'm sorry? Smash the window of a vehicle in the process of moving off and reach down past the driver to try to turn the key to stop the car then take the keys away all the time with the car moving off and, presumably, the driver objecting in a very active and possibly violent way? Since when is that an at all sensible thing to do? The most likely outcome is the car buried in the nearest obstacle with both the driver and the police officer being injured. If police all over the country are doing that then frankly they need to start adding self preservation tests to the entrance criteria. As for climbing onto the bonnet and kicking the windscreen in to try and stop the car, that's even more idiotic. Swerve a bit and your copper is under the back wheels.

The police simply do not try to stop moving vehicles when they are on foot. They let them go and use tracker cars or airborne surveillance to try to stop them when it is safe to do so and they can ensure they won't drive off again (i.e. when they have their car coralled in or they've used stingers and the like to immobilise them). They they take the driver out of the car.

This is plainly a couple of coppers who lost their rag for whatever reason. Post facto justifications based around what the bloke might have said to them doesn't cut it - as far as I'm aware, industrial language is not considered justification for the behaviour that has been reported. Police are supposed to act in a calm, considered manner if at all possible and being insulted by a 70 year old bloke doesn't exempt them from that requirement. At best they have acted unprofessionally, at worst they are guilty of gross misconduct, criminal damage and possibly even assault.

repeat after me : The police are not above the law.