It may have been unwritten, but part of the LE job description

has always been "You may well have to put your ass on the line to save or help someone; if you haven't considered that, you'd better before you take the job."

Except now in formerly great Britain.
The public have ' unrealistic expectations' that police will put themselves in danger to protect ordinary people, according to new safety guidelines for officers.

The Health and Safety Executive caused outrage by declaring that officers confronted with dangerous situations-while fighting crime or trying to guard the public 'may choose not to put themselves at unreasonable risk'.

Its guidance published yesterday firmly plays down the need for officers to show bravery in the course of their duty if they make a 'personal choice' not to.

It states: 'There is often an unrealistic public expectation that officers and staff will put themselves at risk to protect the public.'

The document concedes that 'very occasionally in extreme cases', police may be justified in putting themselves in jeopardy - in which case they may be let off without being prosecuted under health and safety laws.

The report - which has the backing of senior police chiefs - prompted anger and astonishment last night.
To quote somebody: "Jayzus! You think MAYBE??!?"

We've got problems in LE over here(Lord, do we!) but this isn't one of them: it's the rare exception where somebody calls for help and the cops won't show up because 'it might be dangerous'. And when somebody does do such a thing(seems I've heard of a case or two in the past, but can't remember any particulars), the outrage lands on them like a truckload of bricks. And rightly so. Wearing the badge is like wearing the uniform of the armed forces; you damned well know when you take it up that when the time comes part of the job is putting your ass on the line.

Combine that with the first part of Kevin's post:
REPORTS of the law-abiding being serially neglected by the police when their property comes under attack are proliferating. Every day brings new stories about people who have been let down by constabularies that always seem to have higher priorities than protecting the public.

It appears that far from being an occasional aberration, such neglect is the norm in many parts of the country.

Too many forces have fallen under the command of politically correct top brass who think officers should be at best neutral when they intervene in altercations between harassed householders and gangs of thugs.

The latest examples are all too typical. In Lincolnshire, Ted Nottingham has felt compelled to advertise a reward for the capture of yobs who have vandalised his car more than 40 times and have now wrecked his neighbour’s vehicle.

In Stourbridge, disabled widow Brenda Hill has been forced to put up notices in her car, begging vandals to stop smashing it up after five attacks in the past year.
You know, trying to be an effective cop in Britain has to be like being an honest cop in New Orleans: so damned frustating at times you wonder why they don't say "To hell with it" and walk. The bad ones just sluff along playing the game; the good ones break their heads trying to actually be a Police Officer. And you know the good ones are thinking the same thing we are when we read the above: "If we cannot or will not do the job, sooner or later people will start dealing with the yobs themselves. And when we show up to arrest them for it, the war starts."