Cyril Haearn wrote: ... You could have mentioned that you are a retired police officer
Do you ever do that, do you have any powers?
I would try never to talk to them, just ignore them
Even had I still been working, I doubt if I'd have mentioned my job: it's too easily construed as abuse of authority, although in retirement, the authority is nil/zilch/ zero: powers the same as every other member of the public. I didn't invite conversation with this person. I just said enough to avoid being assaulted. It's not easy to ignore somebody who jumps out of a car and confronts you. I do like to think that if I was in a position to intervene to prevent a serious offence I would do so, but I'm an old man with a dodgy ticker and I've never been one for fisticuffs, so I cannot be sure.
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PS The only reason I refer on here to being a retired police officer is that a dozen years ago on the old - unmoderated - CTC forum I was identified as such by somebody who must have known me personally through my cycle campaigning in Leeds, when I used the pseudonym Thirdcrank, but who preferred to skulk behind the anonymity of an internet forum.
viewtopic.php?p=14472#p14472
I've survived various trolls on here.