Wednesday 7 April 2010

Every Child Matters

I do wonder now the election has been called what initiatives are going to be scaled back after the poll assuming NuLabor no longer hold the tillers of power. I'm all for a smaller state and less state interference in personal affairs.

One area I for one would like to see some discretion allowed is "Every Child Matters". This is an information sharing protocol we are told is to protect vulnerable children. As police officers we do of course come across many children. Most of them are already known to the system be it criminal or for at risk matters. We always did complete a form in these cases which was faxed off and disseminated by youth services.

The new system as brought in takes away any discretion and we are required to complete a computer record for every child, even in cases where we've not even seen them. For example if a neighbour called the police because you were having an argument with your spouse. This is classed as a domestic and even if it is a minor matrimonial dispute with no violence or crime involved it's recorded as a non crime domestic. Forgetting the completion of the domestic booklet and crime report, if you have children it also triggers a computer record for any children in the household (even if not present). So a non crime is fully recorded and details of minors are sat on a database for what reason?

My point is that we are recording so many non records that the important ones that need action are going to be missed. I feel very uneasy in having anything recorded if you've done nothing wrong.

I've had situations myself in the past where my ex would go walkabouts when mentally ill, and be missing with my daughter who was about four or five at the time. Was she at risk? possibly, but would it be the business of social services to intervene in a private matter. I think that it would be my personal choice to have sought their assistance if that's what I wanted. For the record everything was sorted with the help of my family and although the ex had a CPN - I would have been mightily peeved to had my daughter's details held on police records. (Misper PNC reports were cancelled on being found).

After this all came in I recall seeing my force put out a release boasting how many reports they had taken in a short time. It was thousands. There will still be disasters in child welfare where inaction takes place, but should thousands of children have these records held on them. We've gone to a catch all system of police recording which in my opinion is unnecessary and very time consuming.

5 comments:

Rach said...

Its a really difficult subject this Stressed because even in the Health Sector it has to be marked as an incident whether it affects the child or not. DV in particular is the most recorded but half the time I don't think the parents are aware of this either.

It's a tough one!!

Stressed Out Cop said...

Rach

Wouldn't mind if they acted on the ones that we do put on and are concerned about ..

Anonymous said...

I agree 100% with you Stresed. The government have taken the original concept of the Child Protection System way too far, in data collection in the systems records, and also in an assumption of "guilt" which hangs over far too many normal and loving parents.

The worst part of it all is the "Alice in Wonderland" aspect of the data held by the Health and Social Care Agencies, as Rach has pointed out. A child having a fall and a concerned parent seeking reassurance from the hospital, that there is no serious injury, can and HAS resulted in the defamation of the parent. Which stays in NHS records as "suspected non accidental injury". Quite how these people can be allowed to smear the name of a good and innocent parent simply beggars belief. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

It has to be said, that this NuLabour lot are a dodgy bunch and they do have a hidden agenda, and it is NOT especially in the best interests of all children and their parents. It's quite Stalinist in fact regarding all the databases and the collection of non crime personal information, which WILL be used against people.

A long time ago a great deal of information was foretold and recorded by special branch officers and also by a Royal Protection Officer. The Intel was and is for the protection of the public, national and global security. The government are well aware of this Intel and have cherry picked it to suit themselves and their dubious agenda.

One of the warnings was to abolish the use of all Nuclear, power and weapons. Other Intel concerned terror plots, many of which have been foiled by the security services, including plots against some of the politicians who have ignored the rest of the Intel.

There was a clear warning that certain NuLabour politicians would seek to introduce a system that would be VERY oppressive towards parents. Intel warned against creating a children's database and information sharing on ALL children, because of foretold abuses of power. The government in recent years have DELIBERATELY allowed some of the worst cases to happen, knowing full well that children were suffering.

Why? To justify all the data collection and a "tightening up" of the system, with a view to removing targeted vulnerable kids from "witch hunted" parents. There are paedophiles in every walk of life, and those in the professions who hide behind a cloak of respectability, are trying to gain access to fresh victims for abuse, especially via "fostering".

Years ago a great deal of sexual abuse went on behind closed doors and especially in council care homes. That all changed when the Child Protection System was kick started in the late 80's, early 90's, and especially after the North Wales Child Abuse Inquiry.

The government have been as negligent as the Catholic Church in dealing with and admitting that there has been and is a problem of paedophiles in positions of power and authority. They have prefered to sweep it under the carpet and to find a new way to gain access to vulnerable children for abuse.

The system's Health and Social Care Agencies have been manipulated to this end, to have a negative tick box view of parents.
The agencies are supposed to be there as a safety net for kids to go to for help, and for intimidated parents too, who may be too frightened to speak out about paedophiles in high places.

Every child does matter, and the best way to protect them, is for government to admit that mistakes have been made regarding "Child Protection" and the undermining and oppression of many good parents. I feel sickened by what they have done and seek to cover up.

Minority Report Officer

Stressed Out Cop said...

Anon / MRO

And actually very few child sexual abuse cases are prosecuted ... especially within the family.

Anonymous said...

That doesn't surprise me one bit Stressed, including no prosecutions of the police "family" - been there and have the T-shirt from 1957!

You really couldn't make it up....