Stereotyping

My daughter recently had to complete ten facts about the police for school, as did everyone else in her class, for discussion. The word doughnuts did not appear anywhere in her list, bless her, and I can absolutely guarantee that she will be the best informed in her class this time, rather than it just being quite likely.

They also had to do a drawing of a criminal, and she drew an ordinary person. Much to the amusement and derision of her classmates, until she pointed out that criminals do indeed look like ordinary people, because physically they are.

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As proof, I offer you three photographs. One should be recognisable to everyone in the UK, the second will only be recognisable to his friends, family and colleagues if he has a job (sorry buddy, you're probably a really nice guy!), and the last will be recognisable to some students of 20th century history. For those that are not, it is the Nazi Dr Josef Mengele, whose enthusiasm for sending people to the gas chambers or the medical labs knew no bounds, and did not require frequent large amounts of alcohol to make it bearable.

Two of the above are known to have been pleasant people to know socially, otherwise law abiding, decent people. The third I can't comment on, but I have to be honest, to look at them contestant number two would look most like a criminal to me and I imagine most coppers. Which just goes to show how wrong you can be sometimes.