An unnecessary level of violence.

One of the phrases used on Crimewatch tonight by the police was "An unnecessary level of violence", used to describe the aggression used in robbing a sub post office. However the level of violence used was comparable with that used by Police when arresting people. The police justification is that the shouting, pushing around jumping on and smashing of car windows is necessary as they do not know what the person is capable off and that to ensure the safety of themselves and the person they are arresting. Surely the same logic applies in the case of the robbers there shouting and aggression will, by the Polices own logic minimise the risk to the thieves victims. However in this case the behaviour was described as cowardly and resulted in fairly serious trauma and long term illness.
The Police are prepared to and do openly use this tactic on innocent people, who are at risk of the same level of injury, but the reality is as far as your average Police are concerned as soon as they decide to arrest you the punishment starts. So much for innocent until proven guilty, so much for due process.