YOU might have noticed the creeping mockery and demonisation of frontline police officers in the national press in the last couple of weeks.

The same papers which praised the actions of police during terror attacks have this month returned to ridicule Humberside Police after a couple of them were photographed riding dodgems before or after they’d spent eight days of 10 to 12-hour shifts policing a Hull fair attended by half a million people.

Yes, they were in uniform, but the fair hadn’t opened at that point, and the pictures were tweeted from an Inspector’s account to give the public a chance to see the human beings behind the fluorescent uniforms and protection equipment.

You may also have seen stories highlighting forces showing support for light-hearted social media campaigns - painting their nails etc - and tales claiming forces spent all their budget getting their faces painted at a Pride march so can’t turn out for Remembrance Sunday, or have dared to eat breakfast in public while in uniform.

These stories - on the whole - deliberately misrepresent the truth of the matters and are designed to whip up public outrage before gleefully reporting public confidence in police is at an all-time low, and maybe more money should be spent getting private companies involved.

Wonderfully - and spectacularly in the case of the Hull Fair story - the stunt front pages often backfire, with public opinion frequently raging against the redtops for making mountains out of molehills.

Before I’m accused of bias for writing in defence of police as this paper’s crime reporter, I’m not suggesting our local force or any force is perfect.

York Press:

On patrol: the police aren't perfect, but they do a diffuclt and dangerous job to keep us safe and deserve respect, says Dan Bean

Time and again, I’ve written about watchdogs highlighting errors they’ve made, improvements required and errors in judgment which lead to problems for the public. One of their stock answers to any report is “of course, we’re not complacent”, and while it’s a cliche, I think there’s an element of truth to that. They can’t afford to be.

Do I think they should be spending so much on policing a protest in rural North Yorkshire, for example? Personally, I think there are a huge number of officers on site - most of whom, I’m guessing, would rather be somewhere else - but there are a large number of campaigners too.

It’s effectively a building site, with all the dangers and risks that entails, and I’m sure that if the cops weren’t around and someone was injured or assaulted at the site, the criticism would be about the wait for them to turn up or the fact they weren’t there when it happened.

Still, I’m not sure that warrants 50-plus officers every day with all the daily wages and overtime the taxpayer is burdened with, not to mention the fact those 50-plus officers can’t be dealing with crime, anti-social behaviour, education or patrols elsewhere.

On the whole, forces around the country have never been more poorly funded or less well staffed. North Yorkshire Police has been trying for the last two years to get frontline staffing back to levels last seen in 2012 which, even at that point, were still considered to be low for the amount of streets, roads and countryside they were expected to deal with.

So they, like all forces, come up with other ways to work. When a Primark Scarface makes a fool of themself in a town or city centre, you might see a PCSO or a Special Constable have a little talk with them.

That approach of a uniform might be enough to move the Lidl Caesar on, but if it’s not, that’s when things get taken further. But while they are being dealt with by volunteers or non-warranted officers - often targets of mockery by the public or nationals, but vital for keeping a local link between the force and the community when resources are practically skeletal on the ground - regular PCs can be tackling something a bit more serious elsewhere.

Whatever problems there are within national policing, management or funding, it’s more important now than ever to remember that the men and women in the uniforms who spend their days and nights on the streets doing a job we wouldn’t be prepared to do, are human, and - whether they’re giving directions or taking a selfie with a hen party - deserve our respect.