Stressed Out Cop

Nirvana - Maybe The Problem Is Me !

2010-05-23T00:01:00.017+01:00

This is my final post and after today this blog will remain forever in the Blogosphere possibly being of interest to somebody. The whole blogging thing was just a questioning of myself searching for the answer to something. There have been no agendas or need of approval from others, it's all I'm afraid been about me. I put it up and analyse it myself and have been helped in my stress battle by those who have visited and taken time to comment. To each and every one of you I am grateful.

Why finish today? Well I made the decision ages ago but my mild OCD wouldn't let me go unless the blog was symmetrical. It is two years since I started and you don't know the agonising I've been through whether to finish yesterday or today. I finally took the plunge for 23rd May, but you know what it doesn't really matter it's just my thoughts that have caused this illogical turmoil.

I've had a good look at myself through the last two years and want to examine further how I can progress along my journey. A narrative has been useful up to now but it is I think a negative influence in my life. I wouldn't leave it and just close without comment like one of my favourite stress blogs Intelligence Detective, I'm going on a positive. Whatever did happen to the General?

I've got a few stress monkey followers and to you I say stick with it and try reading the above book by Jon Kabat-Zinn which I've found very useful. I could go on about it but that would be my judgement, so be open and see if it helps you too.

I've had to get my head around how I go about being a police officer. I have always been a high achieving productive individual and that's before the target culture of recent years. I pushed myself to near destruction to the detriment of my personal life and for what? I think what is happening in policing is unhelpful and gets away from what it's about. Policing should be about compassion and fairness things that are generally lacking in society today. Unfortunately especially on the front line people are driven from higher up to produce more and more, never having time to actually take a moment and think. All these performance departments get caught up in this madness too - when actually if we took a breath and became more open we'd see it was all crap. Policing is simple - just let us police as individuals - all these figures don't matter because they are lies anyway.

I have hopefully managed to break the cycle. I have seen the light and no longer have the desire to be at work all the time striving to be the best and competitive in the extreme. The financial rewards of doing that for years have enabled me to pay my clever daughter through university. No debt for her, paid for through me taking all overtime available over the years. You can call it performance related pay.

So it wasn't being a policeman that done for me I did it to myself, and all the negative stuff was I think just a reaction to job pressure. It would have been the same in whatever job I'd done as that's the way I'm wired up. I think the technical term is emotionally intelligent. I accept that label and all that's happened in my past including a difficult personal life. I'm still here so the past is irrelevant and the future an illusion, all that matters is now.

I'm back in the Zone and have learnt that one can make judgements and decisions in the right way. This needs to be done without automation where we as police officers often fall into the trap of labelling jobs. There is no such thing as just another domestic or just another call about problem kids. I approach things with a beginner's open mind and I've found that connection with my old self. I'm happier in my life and am now only a slightly stressed cop. When Ian Blair left the Met on his last day he said "You have good days and You have bad days". That really does sum up policing for me, in fact it can be applied to life itself. It's how you cope with things that matters.

In my new role I find myself dealing with countless officers suffering from stress in one form or another. Currently 25% of my people have got issues ranging from total Burnout to bereavement problems. I line manage over 20 so that's alot at one time. I'm best placed to deal with it having been there myself. When is somebody going to wake up and look at this within the police? I suspect the baseline data would be shocking if my team is replicated across the force area.

I'll pop into the usual places now and again just to be sociable but for now it's Goodbye. I don't intend to come back but you can never say never. Not had a video up for a while so enjoy ..... just a few more years then I can grow my hair like Kurt's again !!

If I Ruled The World

2010-05-18T09:41:00.002+01:00

This blog has only given my perspective on how I see policing and life issues, and that perspective is from somebody who by my own admission has suffered stress so take it as you will. No doubt some of my views have been strong at times and not to the liking of all.

As I'm relatively chilled and at ease with life at present I can roll with it and not get too worked up about work. There are however things I would like to see changed in policing. During the course of writing this blog and confronting my issues I've actually managed to get promoted to Inspector. You might think this gives me control over front line delivery but sadly this isn't the case. I am the duty officer on a response team in a busy area with a derisory amount of officers to deal with the demand of calls. I could actually provide a better service if I was allowed to but others removed from what I do seem to know best. Here are the solutions:

Response policing is actually quite simple, all you've got to do is meet demand. Pro activity in the old sense is lost to us and left to the squads who have time to go hunting for villains. Making it better means bringing back dispatch of resources to the local Division. I'm old enough to have worked in an old comms room as a PC and went on to be a Controller responsible for all local deployments. The sad truth is that the centralised radio dispatch system brought in by most force areas is not fit for purpose and isn't working for the front line. Everybody knows this apart from senior management who are mightily impressed that their targets for picking up the phone to the public are improving.

It's a shame that we are not as good in actually getting to those calls. I sit and look at the long list of calls and many of them don't require a police officer to attend. As a controller I would have sorted out most of them as not being police matters or by giving advice over the phone. Unfortunately the Controller is long dead. By bringing back this role local supervision would be improved with the right units being sent to the right calls. Knowing the abilities of your staff and who might be ducking and diving never escaped the Controller.

There are actually dozens of police and PCSO's on duty each day but they are not deployable because policy dictates they are ring fenced to look after their own portfolios. Neighbourhood teams can only take calls on their beat if the call type matches their local priorities. This is madness and it is madness inflicted by police managers looking after their own areas of business. Now I've worked in community and it's no hardship for those working in that field to take some of the work from response. I actually preferred to report all burglaries on my patch so I could take time to look after the victim's and get a feel for who was screwing my patch. It's purely a time and motion thing and using the most of resources available.

Will somebody have the balls to go back and do this? Don't hold your breath. I whined a few months back about my ever decreasing team of officers. Since then I've lost more and more to little squads that pop up. I'm told they will take work from us, but after a few weeks of them telling me how busy they are, some of the work comes back to us because of their "insufficient capacity".

I am actually shocked and flabbergasted at the numbers we've been reduced to but still we carry on, but people are beginning to wobble. How long before they fall over? I don't rule the world - I can't even be trusted it appears to run my team the way I want to. To be fair even my bosses are dictated to by headquarters who seem to know best. I'll do my best to run my little team regardless but now I hear plans are being made to have us cover other Divisions as well in the name of efficiency. The Controller is dead, so is common sense it seems.

Never Assume

2010-05-12T13:05:00.002+01:00

Last man standing happens alot and very often the box of police officers is well ... just empty. Calls still come in to be dealt with regardless, the same target response times needing to be met. Some forces run a Class 1 and others an immediate response I grade for emergencies.

It's near the end of the early turn shift and I'm it as section Sgt. I take the call and ask for more details. It appears a suicide letter has been received in the post by the parent's of a man, who lives on a nearby estate. They call us and as an ambulance has been called it's an I grade in case police need to force entry. I'm literally just round the corner and am thinking nice easy job, knock on the door greet sender of the letter, make sure everything's OK and I'll still be off on time.

I pull into the estate and find the correct block. It's four stories high with no lift and it did cross my mind how nice it would be to find the flat on the ground floor. It never works out that way and I trudge up to the top floor and find the flat. You could tell the occupant must have issues because there are a series of padlocks and clasps on the door frame. Not entirely in line with fire regulations but the sound of the television on the other side of the door confirms my quick job theory.

I give it my finest police knock and stand back. There's no reply so it's likely the bloke is out. All the padlocks are locked so he could be out shopping having left the television on. Ever the professional I crouch down to look through the letterbox. It's a studio type flat and I look into the living room seeing a figure sat in an armchair in front of the TV. It looks like he's fallen asleep but the smell of gas has already hit my nose.

I jump up and force the door, padlocks and all, rushing in and grabbing something to smash the glass in the window. It's boiling hot inside and a look to the gas hob tells me why. There's a saucepan on the lit gas with burnt remnants of baked beans. The gas smell is due to the poor ventilation in the flat and the unburnt gas build up. I turn it off and open the windows, looking towards the figure in the chair. He's sat back, head lolling and feet out in front with a plate of beans on his lap as if he's just nodded off. He doesn't look dead but a quick knock shows me he's already in rigor mortis and beyond help. I call it in just as the paramedics arrive. They're carrying their medical bags and were probably hoping for the flat to be on the ground floor too. They are not needed and this appears a relatively straightforwards run of the mill suicide.

I have a look around and seize some medication containers putting them to one side to be bagged up later for the coroner. A late turn unit turns up offering to take over but I've got a responsibility to this dead man to see it through myself. The FME declares life extinct and I await the undertakers having spoken to the coroner's officer. The original informant his mother who lives miles away is going to get a personal death message visit from police sometime soon. Maybe she too expected everything would turn out OK. The undertakers arrive and were definitely hoping the flat was on the ground floor. They have to put the deceased into a body bag, not easy as he's stiff in a seated position and carry him down to the hearse. The estate caretaker sorts out the door so it's secure and I'm all done bar the paperwork.

A couple of days later I get a call from the control room. Can I ring the mother of the suicide victim she wants to speak to me. I didn't really give her any thought as I concentrated on dealing with her son, glad that it wasn't me doing the death message. There's no way out and I make the call trying to give her closure. No, I don't think he suffered, he looked very peaceful and had some baked beans as a last supper and must have been watching television before drifting out of this life. I don't know if it helped but it's something I dislike doing.

What prompts this story? One of my officer's lost a family member a few months back. He'd told me it was an unexpected sudden death. I've been worried about him and assumed he'd be OK but now he tells me that he received a letter in the post too.

Carry On Laughing

2010-05-10T08:34:00.003+01:00

Postal voting fraud, chaotic polling stations with people locked out and getting angry - and to be honest we're not really surprised are we? It sort of sums up what NuLabor has done to the country since being in power. They are still hanging in there in case of a last minute deal with the Libs. Brown still sits as prime minister. What a farce !!

The whole lot of them, Tories included are weak and that's why we'll end up with a wet government. What does that mean for policing? If Cameron strikes a coalition deal the Home Secretary could be a LibDem minister. No change for us then, and more of the same old same old awaits.

I hope I'm wrong and Cameron pushes through his promise to dismantle the worst bits of the Human Rights Act. In reality nothing's going to happen until the next election. It's all rather depressing.

Why can't we just be left to get on with it and police without interference? I'm sure it's the same for the NHS with Doctors and Nurses, serving not the patients but the number crunchers sat in their offices somewhere.

At least the Sun is shining today.

Reflections And Regrets

2010-05-04T11:20:00.005+01:00

The Superintendo was loving it as he'd received a letter of appreciation from a member of the public praising us the police. These things matter apparently and were at one time used as a stupid measure of public confidence locally. I did waiver a little bit as he went into more detail. The correspondent was an alcoholic who some years earlier had been stopped driving his car, having been drinking, right outside his house. The officers spoke to him and used their discretion to let him enter his house with no further action, just strong advice. He wrote that this event prompted him to sort his life out and the letter was a result of him attending Alcoholics Anonymous, attempting to put the past behind him.

He saw this interaction as an important event in his life. Not sure that DPS would have seen it the same way, but let's assume the officers smelt no alcohol. These alcoholics do hold their drink well. I had one on the intoximeter once and thought he was going to be a borderline pass or fail and was staggered when he blew 140.

I'm sure all of us have done things we regret. There are things I've been involved in that I've learnt from but still I remember them. Most were from early on in my career and they still bother me.

I was blessed with a morning on the area car when a probationer, as the operator was at court. I was expected to produce a return of work before breakfast. We sat up at a process point where there was a no U turn sign to await the unaware victims. It didn't take long before somebody drove against the sign and my old sweat driver pushed the gearstick into drive and cruised up behind the car pulling him over. I jumped out to speak to the driver who just happened to be a soldier in full uniform. To be more precise it was a Lt Colonel. I'd only been out of the army less than 9 months and didn't know whether to stand to attention or what. I'd been tapping the boards in front of my OC just before I got out and now here I was, stood in a position of authority over a higher rank. I glanced at PC old sweat hoping he'd step in and send the Colonel on his way, but he indicated I was to stick him on. I did so writing a ticket but it grated because although he'd done wrong I really wanted to let him off with a warning. That's the way it was when I joined total equality in treatment of offenders.

That incident has stuck with me for whole of my career. I've never been a process king and tended to stop loads of motorists in my early years, but looking for crime not petty traffic process. That was reserved for those failing the attitude test or known criminals as a disruption tactic. One thing I have done, is say to younger officers use your discretion and don't be afraid to do so if you think it is right.

Another time I was station officer and a chap enters with a badly bruised arm. He complained that an associate of his had injured him at his house. I'm not sure of the dynamic of the relationship between them but looking back this chap was possibly more vulnerable than I first thought and was being taken advantage of. In these days common assault as a crime didn't exist and people were referred to civil remedy. I listened and gave the legal advice and also words of wisdom to choose his friends more carefully before recording the matter in the Occurrence Book. I was a 50/50 at the time how to handle this but I dealt with it incorrectly. This bloke came for help and I failed him through inexperience. His arm was really bruised bad and possibly I should have recorded it as an ABH so it could be investigated. We dealt with domestics the same way so although I think we've gone too far with positive action things have definitely changed for the better.

What's done is done and I can't go back and make things right, but these two minor incidents have really moulded my policing outlook on how I've tried to do this job over the years. There's plenty of other mistakes that won't be written about here. I've written about my perfectionist tendencies and looking back they've always been there from the start ..... That's interesting.

Stressed Eyes ..

2010-05-01T09:55:00.012+01:00

I must admit with just a little bit of shame that I had momentary good feelings when viewing the coverage of our unelected leader dissing the lovely Mrs Duffy. It takes one to know one and this bloke is clearly suffering. It's scary that he is in charge of the country and even more scary that next week he could in theory, still be there. Oh please Britain anybody but him !!!

I had a chomp myself at somebody last week - not a big rant just a nibbling of some CID balls, which was possibly undeserved to the individual so had to issue my own apology. The difference being I probably meant it and feel good that I did so.

Shouldn't really judge, it's a fault of mine, but Brown is clearly a control freak, and when Duffers fired her questions at him you can just see the frustration as he battles to get in and speak. He clearly doesn't like it and that's what leads to his off camera reaction. Now who a few years back personally took charge of some strategic and operational policing matters when robberies were getting out of hand? You can see why we've had a very controlling government for 13 years.

Mrs Duffy did however show all the politicians up as avoiding the issues that really matter. I used to be in awe of politicians thinking them all powerful and intelligent until I met some of them and listened to the shit they spouted. Many a time I've sat in meetings and have been told how I'm wrong about things happening on my patch. They just all happened to be from the ruling party. They really do live in a different world.

I watched the debates on TV and was left rather flat. All this crack down on expenses crap. If they were true to their word then why didn't one of them also say they'd tackle the expenses scandal within the European parliament? I suspect this would be worse than our own domestic parliamentary problems. Isn't the truth that all of the parties have already lost the power to govern this country?

I'm tactically voting this election and voting TORY but it's a vote on loan. There is no difference between any of them in my eyes as they battle for the centre ground. I go Tory only in the hope they are true to form and swing to the right if gaining power and try to sort out this mess of a country.

I've had some dealings with some of their politicians the past few years and at least they listened. I've told them exactly what I think and I do believe if they gain power there will be positive changes in policing. They have also done some innovative stuff in my area which has worked to the benefit of the communities. Firm but fair policing is all that anybody wants. I do have some hope that they might actually be the party of law and order.

England 2010 ... Who Voted For This?

2010-04-23T08:39:00.007+01:00

"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England". Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

I was on the bus the other day going out to indulge in some cafe culture drinking courtesy of Nulabor. It 's a long bus ride and I get on at the start of the route to my destination in a more central location. I sat myself down in my favoured position by the window so I can see what's going on.

It gets busier and busier as we went along ending up standing room only. As I'm a people watcher I'm aware of who's around me. I'm not averse to listening in to the conversations of others. It appeared that all around me were people speaking in different languages. I felt like I was on holiday where you sit on the local bus oblivious of what everybody else is chatting about.

It's like that at work too. Every day in the custody suite I will enter to find a multi-national gathering of prisoners. I'm on first name friendly terms with one of the interpreters who I see daily too. She works very hard and we are grateful that she comes out at every request. If she's off late I've dropped her off at times so she doesn't have to get a cab back. She needs to work hard as she pays for two of children to go to private schools.

Fast forward to the election debate last night. See any inspirational leadership? No me neither just the same old same old playing it safe. The best part for me was the analysis afterwards. Kay Burley was interviewing some audience members and asked an African lady about immigration. Kay leans in with the microphone expecting a tasty little race reaction. The woman starts agreeing about a cap and then starts to ask why we are flooded with EU migrants before a disappointed Kay whips the mic away and moves quickly on.

It's no coincidence that the Tories began to lose credibility after reneging on their referendum over the European Constitution or treaty if you prefer to call it that. None of the main parties show any inclination to do anything about this. Why? Oh to see a Winston or Maggie Thatcher in one of those debates.

Happy St George's Day - Enjoy it while you can !

Wasted Years

2010-04-20T11:36:00.004+01:00

I think I mentioned it somewhere in a post that when I was 16 I took a hell of a beating when out with a couple of friends. It was the early 80's equivalent of post code youth violence, but in them days no mobiles to be robbed of and knives were for show .. not use. In fact if you'd had a mobile it would have been a useful weapon. The boys I was with legged it whilst I stayed to remonstrate with a predictable result.

Some local residents called the police and took me in and I recall bleeding over the washing up in their sink whilst they tended my injuries. They must have known the opposing gang because a couple of arrests were made later.

My relationship with the boys was severely affected. One of them could have been classed as one of my best friends at the time, having known him since early school days. We both worked in offices and after this he chucked in his job and went back to school to do A levels, whilst I stayed in my insurance job. We quickly drifted apart and it was because in my head I had this overwhelming resentment that he should have stayed and took a beating with me. I would never had left him in the lurch if the situation was reversed.

He got in touch via a school reunion website a couple of years ago and we'd agreed we would meet up but never did. I was still pissed with him and things were left. I finally decided after decades this needed to be dealt with and last week met with him for a beer. The conversation flowed about things we have done over the years and it was as if nothing had changed. I had to tackle my resentment and brought up the subject of that night. I told him that I had been really annoyed with him that he ran off and left me to my fate. I think we both knew that the reason we drifted apart was this incident in our lives. He told me that for years he'd felt guilty of leaving me. That was was it - done, and I'm glad we met up. We work in similar jobs with the same client base and I've sent a few his way.

I think if we'd had the same conversation all those years ago we would have remained friends. We will be again - maturity means you become less judgemental. This is now case closed on those negative vibes I'd harboured towards him for nearly 30 years.

Inches And Miles

2010-04-15T13:59:00.004+01:00

PC Ellie Bloggs has written a lovely post about the convictions for misconduct in a public office of a PC and a custody sergeant in Manchester. I don't know anything about her but she appears to me to be a very thoughtful and aware individual. I particularly liked her comments about looking out for her troops and making sure they don't drop themselves in it. The lady will do very well and go far in life.

Unlike her I do actually have some sympathy with the officers. 18 months for some over firm handling is one hell of a deterrent let me tell you. Misconduct in a public office carries a tariff of life imprisonment and is used where the primary offence (common assault in this case) would lead to an insufficient sentence when set against the public interest. The PC takes his chances but 18 months for not stepping in? Harsh on the criminal side for the skipper says I.

I am obviously from a time past where I recall as a young probationer attending the custody suite with my gobby prisoner who then proceeds to lay down the law and abuse the desk sergeant. I'm asked to leave the room for a few minutes and when I return I find said same prisoner stood to attention and politely calling the desk sergeant "Sir". I don't know what wise words were administered to bring about this transformation but the prisoner obviously selected the wrong option from the menu. I'm not saying it was right but that's the way it was at that time.

It was the same in School when there was always one teacher selected to dish out the punishment. I don't recall if we had the cane at my school as it never usually got that far in the discipline stakes. We were however gripped up and verbally admonished.

Same in the army step out of line and best you'd get was a verbal dressing down from a distance of approximately 1 inch. You'd be grateful for that too escaping a beasting in the guard room.

If society now wants totally professional then so be it - I'm too near pension to go back to the way it was of firm handling, and don't fancy sharing a cell with Ali Dizaei. There have been times when I've had to reflect on my own conduct, two wrongs don't make a right and I admit I've not been an angel in the past. I did however learn from those unprofessional lapses and do try to pass that onto others.

I think some more passive non-confrontational officer safety techniques should be considered in the training. At present it's all straight in kick, punch gas and asp with a bit of "get back" thrown in. We all have a level when your buttons are pressed and end up reacting - sometimes it's better to come back to reality at the outset. With recent events it's far too griefy to take the firm route.

Only last week I was called by security to a shopping centre with an internal McDonald's where a young pissed ladette was being a pain. I had to listen to her patiently laying it down for 10 minutes before physically taking her by the arm to remove her from the private property as she "ain't F ing going anywhere". Pretty thing with a foul mouth who struck out at me and really deserved to get nicked .. but busy Friday night it just isn't worth it. I did however have to record a pocket book entry for use of force and obtain witness details from security on whose behalf I was acting, just in case.

I would like to see the deterrent principle tried out on the prisoners who attend the custody suite on a near weekly basis. They know that if they do get convicted there's no way that prison beckons. If it works on us there must be a chance it would work on some of them too.

Except At Weekends

2010-04-12T13:02:00.007+01:00

I think the Station officer had crept off for a sneaky fag by the back door so the front office counter was temporarily unattended. The night duty parade had just finished and I was the closest to respond to the shrieking and cries for help from the public area. I was faced by a hysterical young woman who between gulps of air managed to blurt out relevant bits of information. I tried to piece it together and was able to understand there was a domestic situation at a nearby address where she alleged her ex was trying to take her son. It's a possible abduction so quite complicated.

I called up central control and created a message log for a unit to attend the address on an immediate whilst I tried to extract what I needed from the woman. Eventually she calmed down and I was able to get the story. It turns out I actually knew her from several years before when my team busted her address and found loads of class A in her bedroom. She was 15 at the time, had a liking for bad boys, and was holding the gear for one of my favourite dealers. Now in her early 20's she'd had a son with another lad we'll call him the ex and was currently running with another criminal and was pregnant with his baby. She was now housed at your expense in a nice flat just off my ground.

I didn't need to run any computer checks. I'd first arrested the ex when he was 14 and he was from a family made up of really decent criminals. The criminal reputation is important, they were old fashioned blaggers and high class burglars. His old man I've never met as he's a lifer doing big time for a gangland murder. They could have been the bad guys in any episode of The Sweeney from the 70's.

All I really needed to know was who had parental responsibility. She had never married the ex so it was her. Her current beau who I'd also arrested as a kid was a petty criminal and was wanted at the time for an armed robbery and smashing up a shop where this woman worked. There was also some stuff flagged up about him having possibly a gun. Their relationship was volatile and despite the fact he was well wanted she'd been off with him for a few days and left her son with her ex's mother. It would appear they now refused to give the son back.

I left her with other officers and decided to take a stroll to the address nearby. Despite creating the message I was first on scene. A crewed vehicle did turn up about 10 minutes later, but that's just another example of how much I love the central dispatch system. I was greeted at the door and we all thought it best to put past conflicts behind us. This was family business that needed sorting and I was there to make the big decisions. It does help if you've all met before and they knew they'd get a fair hearing.

The top end criminal families have nice houses. This one was no different clean and tidy. The ex's mother was mildly defensive and gives her position several times. Her grandson is at risk and she ain't letting him go back with the mother whilst she's with the current beau who she describes as a druggie and out of control. The irony is lost on me as I'd done a job on her too a couple of years previously, when she was knocking out drugs when working at a pub. That job never came off as the operation was compromised, I suspect by another family member who I later found worked on the Division.

She already looks after her son's other child from a previous relationship. The ex was present too and was visiting from Spain where he now lives. We discussed the current beau and if he might be a threat to them. With their reputation it was a stupid question but you've got to ask it. We all agreed he was too far down the chain to mess with them. It would appear the young woman had been leaving her son with his grandmother on a regular basis as her own parent's were alcoholics and I actually agreed with their concerns. I saw the toddler, who was well cared for and we come down to decision time.

Is the child at significant risk of harm? If he went back to the mother who then meets up with the current beau who is displaying violent tendencies then he obviously is. I will have to take the child into police protection. The ex and the grandmother have no rights in this situation as the mother has parental responsibility. It's a difficult one - if the ex takes his son back to Spain then it's an abduction. The decision I make is based on what's best for the child.

I get all parties together and put some pressure on the mother to agree for the son to remain with the grandmother. She signs him away in my notebook. It's the best place for him in the circumstances. I check with Mrs StressedOutCop who is an expert in child protection legalities who confirms my options. It's agreed but I'm the one taking the risk and making a judgement call.

I'm writing all night. It's a non crime domestic, a few coming to notice "every child matters" reports including one for the unborn child. Intelligence reports re the wanted boyfriend and what he's been up to. I'm sweating all weekend as the reports don't get picked up until Monday. I ring every day to make sure the ex hasn't taken off to Spain. I really don't understand why at the time of most demand for domestic and family matters all the specialist departments are off and it's for us to cover. Even social services have just one person to sort out everything in the local authority area.

I did a follow up a few weeks later. Social services didn't get involved at all despite the woman having a social worker. To be honest things had been sorted and there's plenty of more pressing matters for them to deal with. She split with the current boyfriend and aborted the baby and last I'd heard had joined the ex in Spain for a holiday. That's almost a happy ending to a shit weekend for me.

It's about judgement calls and I imagine it's the same for social workers. If this had turned out differently I suppose I'd be classed as incompetent.

Every Child Matters

2010-04-07T19:17:00.000+01:00

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.

What Is The Public Interest?

2010-04-04T10:30:00.000+01:00

A year after the event and Tony Smellie is found very much Not Guilty of assault at the post G20 gathering outside The Bank Of England. Hardly a whimper in the press on his inevitable aquittal other than he now faces discipline proceedings. Stand by for a written warning or words for not displaying your numerals Tony.

I've been relatively quiet on this as I was roundabouts on G20 but did come out in support of this officer and appeared to have called it right. To those who have a sulk on I will try and explain what was actually a rather technical case and it's implications. So let's look at three videos:

John Prescott gets egged and then punches the thrower who was stood in front of him laughing. Self defence? Well Prezzer gets the benefit of the doubt (obviously - who runs CPS?). He could of feared further attack and hit out in a pre-emptive blow. If I'm being objective he's in the clear and no prosecution would have been in the public interest.

The "lady prop" lands two knock-out punches in defence of his friend who was confronted by a yob who had prior to this picked on Spiderman. One of those punches was to an associate who appears to be trying to control his mate from starting trouble. The two follow up kicks were not in defence and strictly speaking illegal in law and you could argue that the punch to the associate was unnecessary and an assault. Again that was a pre-emptive strike. Common sense dictates that no prosecution should follow, because the yobs started it and any conviction would not be in the public interest.

PS Smellie acting in defence of others in facing a crowd alone with Ms Fisher leading the way. You can hear plenty of verbal warnings and he escalates the use of force. A clearance swipe connects with her face and still she comes back for more. The infamous baton strikes then follow and these form the case against him.

The use of force is taught within the officer safety model. You have to run through a thought process

Intelligence - Threat Assessment - Tactical Options - Action

Well he properly in my view cranked it up from verbal commands, to a clearance swipe with verbal commands until he draws his baton. It would appear that the prosecutors believe he shouldn't have gone to strike and expected him to adopt a ready stance (baton held over shoulder) with more verbals. This is a very thin line that they expected him to walk and I was surprised he was summonsed.

Two independent members of the public who were reasonable people present at the scene were called as prosecution witnesses? then give evidence that the force used was reasonable.

Other people still have the same views they held on first seeing the footage of this incident even after the acquittal. I agree it's not pretty but put yourselves in that position and I can say you'd never know how you'd react. The people featured in the video clips all have one thing in common. At the time they believed they were doing the right thing and didn't have a guilty mind.

One of them was treated differently and that was PS Smellie who was not permitted the benefit of the doubt due to the public interest considerations and the media storm that followed G20. It was a poor decision by the CPS and PS Smellie was sacrificed on the alter of public satisfaction.

A dangerous precedent has been set. I'm not currently public order trained but was expected to return to the fray last year. I kept myself out of the way awaiting the result of this trial. Will I be back? I doubt it - even though I'd stand behind the line these days it's not worth the risk of having every decision scrutinised by lawyers deciding what is proportionate. I stood up for PS Smellie because he was innocent .. I noted the lack of support from senior management who were weak. My personal view but I tell it the way I see it just as I did after G20.

20 Years Ago - Honour And Fidelity

2010-03-31T00:01:00.020+01:00

The Somewhat Sparse Line

20 years ago I was at a riot only it wasn't, as I don't recall anybody being convicted of that particular offence. Those of us present knew it was going to kick off. We knew because we'd been working at numerous smaller disturbances when tax rates were set at Town Halls. Mainly we were held in reserve at Territorial Army bases only to get a run out out at the end after the front line had been given a hard time. I recall sitting there on a PSU when urgent assistance calls were made on one demo where protesters were trying to turn a police car over, and still we sat.

The grubby demonstrators took great delight in telling us this was just a warm up for the big one on 31st March. They knew it and I for one believed them. I don't know about the big master plan for policing the demonstration that day but somebody somewhere got it horribly wrong. I think they believed it might go bent but not so early in the day. This might explain the lack of PSU's on the event. There were several football match's that day and the reserve PSU's were to police those and be called up as and when disorder took place.

My Inspector played a blinder and got a promotion on the strength of it. He got us kitted up without being told so we were jogging up Whitehall just as the uniform line was pushed out of Trafalgar Square. You've probably seen that footage and it's clear there was no Plan B at that point and no public order reserves in position to take their place.

My PSU entered the square to relative silence. It was a weird atmosphere as if everybody was waiting to see what happened next. The bulk of the crowd on the actual square were there for the rally and the black bloc had placed themselves by Northumberland Avenue, where a building site provided a ready supply of missiles. A couple of these were thrown and we ran forwards to keep a sterile area in that corner. As we stepped back we caught a volley from the crowd to our immediate right.

It's hard to explain what it's like when you get hit. I felt like a cartoon character who has an anvil dropped on their head. I actually saw stars, had a ringing in my ears and my face exploded with blood pouring from my nose and also filling my mouth. I coughed this out thus covering the inside of my visor morphing from cartoon character to a scene out of Alien. That was me out of it. It must had looked bad as a young WPC screamed "Oh my God!" as I trudged through the police line like a bloodied boxer leaving the ring, having suffered a first round knock out.

A quick ambulance ride to our delegated hospital luckily had me at the front of the queue. A very nice army doctor had been drafted in to gain experience of dealing with mass casualties. Some running repairs by her without anaesthetic had me back on the road in no time. My mate was also in the queue and was missing several teeth and his lip was hanging off. Oh how we laughed - really we did, me more than him obviously. Things didn't feel as bad on seeing the state of him. By now the police injured were arriving in police vans so I was able to get a lift to Whitehall. I rejoined my PSU back in the square and the remaining protesters were pushed out of the area into the West End. Unfortunately this led to theatre goers being abused and shops being looted.

You don't need to know what happened next but let's just say order was restored and not all looters were arrested. This was the nearest I'll ever get to anarchy and I don't want to see it again. My memories consist of the quickest ever pub clearance and a protester attempting to roll a rubbish bin into the path of our carrier before realising we were actually heading his way. We missed him just ! driver obviously never saw him.

The management afterwards tried to put a positive spin on things, but operationally it was a disaster and we got hammered. All of my PSU sustained injuries of varying degrees. Any dreams I had of being a male model ended that day with another scar added to my body. In the years that followed I've added many more alongside the mental ones. Poor intelligence, Poor preparation and poor tactics in sweeping protesters into the West End. Remember that when complaining about kettling cordons.

The black bloc was about 10 thousand strong that day and most of them couldn't be described as taxpayers. I've read that their leaders see it as their greatest day in mobilising the people to bring down the poll tax, so much so that they're celebrating the anniversary today.

My PSU that day were brilliant and didn't shirk anything. Nobody bottled it and despite being in the thick of it, could look each other in the eye and know we were one and would never let each other down ever. Honour and Fidelity, words best describing the discipline of the team that day.

I won't go into details but the missile thrower got nicked on the post operation investigation. If it wasn't for my Nato helmet I could have been killed or ended up with a concave face, and that's not an exaggeration. I wonder if he cared that I was newly married and living in a police flat within a socialist enclave who'd hiked up their poll tax rate. I doubt it very much but hey crusty .. I forgive you .. it's what we do right?

Three police forces present that day should you think I'm showing out.

It's Not Written In The Tea Leaves - It's More Obvious Than That

2010-03-28T11:45:00.018+01:00

Last year I wrote a post titled pretty patterns about the rise of gang culture. This centred on the relatively young ages of the children involved, the level and viciousness of their criminality and my concerns for their futures.

Another youth murder committed by schoolchildren hits the headlines and nearly 20 youths are arrested having allegedly been involved in a gang fight at Victoria train station in the midst of the rush hour. Let me hazard a guess as it's not been reported, and state here now that at least 80% of those involved are from a visible ethnic minority. Is is not only a couple of weeks ago that there was massive negative press about stop and search figures where police were criticised for stopping black youths disproportionally? This is what happens in reality when these kids have it out in public.

After I wrote that post there was relative peace in my shopping centre, at least on the days we had a police presence. There were the odd days when it was different. When you got two opposing groups the atmosphere was electric waiting for it to kick off. Having police uniforms right there on the scene didn't ease that and it wouldn't have stopped the groups clashing. There had to be a dominating presence from our side to remove the smaller group from the area. It would be fair to say neither group had any fear of police or any sanctions including arrest that might have been considered. Making arrests would in fact kick it off, and although some might have seen our responses as overbearing towards youths believe me - it was the right way to maintain the peace. Once they'd chilled over the following days we all got on just fine again.

It was a prophetic post in many ways and no doubt replicated across the metropolis. Young black youth are dying on the streets but still the police are battered for being institutionally racist. I've read the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and found it tried to be helpful in finding answers, however the conclusions are open to interpretation. It has been written that, one of the greatest paradoxes of your physical senses, is that your eyes actually show you what you believe, not what you see.

It's time some people opened their eyes and understand what's happening on the streets and who is actually paying the price. The Met have impacted with their Operation Blunt where extra police are drafted in on PSU's to tackle the gangs through directed stop and search. It ain't pretty but it shows who rules the streets when they're out and no doubt it's saved a few lives.

Standing Firm

2010-03-23T12:25:00.005Z

If you like helicopters then you've probably seen Black Hawk Down. Trust the Americans to paint a positive on what was a disastrous operation. One of the scenes was however true and is perhaps the most courageous actions I've ever heard of.

Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon were two snipers part of Delta Force in an Apache and volunteered to set up a perimeter after another unit was shot down. The video tells it better than I ever could. The pilot they went to save was taken hostage but eventually released.

This is for somebody having a rough time at present.

Face what's before you .. and stand firm

Looking For A Remit

2010-03-19T07:48:00.008Z

I've been feeding my recent obsession with time and motion and analysing how the uniform response team is grinding to a halt. It would appear that every unit seems to have a remit that in my opinion is rather self serving.

In days gone by the "support units" would take over the jobs that fell into their areas of responsibility, so all the response teams would do is take the crime report and report the basic facts and the unit did the rest. If an arrest was made for say burglary, prisoner booked in and a quick visit to CID resulted in them taking necessary statements before dealing with the prisoner. It must be stated for balance that some units are better than others in taking over jobs.

Something seems to have crept in called the initial investigation setting out the minimum actions required of the first officer on scene. The support unit will not take over the job until they are satisfied these actions are completed, so we end up with some 2 year service TDC reading out a list of things to be done from the remit before they will even look at the job.

The list is so long that I struggle to see what is actually left for the specialist unit to do, other than in most cases interview the suspect and bring the matter to case disposal. I have lost team members taking domestic reports for over half a shift taking statements, completing the dreaded DV questionnaire, tracing witnesses, seizing and viewing CCTV, researching previous history of suspects and victims, taking images of injuries to be downloaded onto a disc, chaperoning victim for medical examination, and conducting arrest enquiries which if unsuccessful are left for the oncoming uniform shift to do. If the arrest enquiry is successful booking in the prisoner completing any section 18 searches if relevant and putting everything together in a handover package.

If this is not completed to the remit it provokes cries of shit handover. I had a DS throw a rather amusing hissy fit in rebuking one of my constables who had completed an arrest enquiry from the call list. She'd arrested a suspect for an offence reported by the previous shift and the DS wanted to know why CCTV hadn't been seized and viewed and why this crap job had been dumped on his unit. He made himself look a complete cock especially as it had been brought to his unit's attention the previous day at the time of reporting and they'd done ... well nothing.

Another unit tried to give back a job they deemed incomplete because there wasn't a pnc print out. They could of printed one out themselves within 5 minutes, but you get my drift. A particular Detective Inspector sent a robbery allegation back to my team to be dealt with with scathing comments on it because it had been reported on the crime system 5 days after the offence despite the victim calling in on the night. Luckily I'd been on that night and the victim refused to see police to report despite us being available and wanting to take him on a drive around. He'd also put us off over the following days. This was all recorded on the CAD report which I pointed out to the DI who replied his detectives don't read CAD reports. He took it back so I assume we were in the right.

So after hours of work complying with the remit list the weary constables finally stagger up with the handover package to often be told the custody processing team have no capacity and they have to deal with the job themselves.

My response team has no capacity on most days .. and we have no remit. I'm making it known I'm open to offers for other roles .. little nibble already that could see me move off team within 12 months.

For any CID people who might bite on this post I'm well aware that the quality of some handovers is extremely poor and some stuff needs doing to determine if the allegation is what it purports to be .... just think time and motion and outstanding call list. Also uniform community police team's have remits that cause me angst too.

The Black Book

2010-03-16T11:55:00.004Z

Instruction Manuel - All You Need To Know

I came across my old instruction manuel which was issued when I joined the job, whilst having a spring clear out . For the first two years I had to study it for my probationer training and had to insert the updates that were dispatched from training centre.

It is full of common sense paragraphs so indulge me producing a couple here and wondering where it all went wrong.

Here I produce 3 paragraphs from the first page

Objects of Police

"The primary object of an efficient police is the prevention of crime: the next that of detection and punishment of offenders if crime is committed. To these ends all the efforts of police must be directed. The protection of life and property, the preservation of public tranquility, and the absence of crime, will alone prove whether those efforts have been successful and whether the objects for which the police were appointed have been attained." (Sir Richard Mayne 1829)

Attitude To Public

In attaining these objects, much depends on the approval and co-operation of the public, and these have always been determined by the degree of esteem and respect in which the police are held. Therefore every member of the Force must remember that it is his duty to protect and help members of the public, no less than to bring offenders to justice. Consequently, while prompt to prevent crime and arrest criminals, he must look on himself as the servant and guardian of the general public and treat all law abiding citizens, irrespective of their race, colour, creed or social position, with unfailing patience and courtesy.

Tact and Good Humour

By the use of tact and good humour the public can normally be induced to comply with directions and thus the necessity for using force, with its possible public disapproval, is avoided. He who in this way secures the object he has in view is a more useful police officer than his comrade who, relying too much on the assertion of his authority, runs the risk of seeing that authority challenged and possibly, for the time being, overborne. If, however, persuasion, advice or warning is found to be ineffective, a resort to force may become necessary, as it is imperative that a police officer being required to take action shall act with the firmness necessary to render it effective.

No doubt the police service of today would be turning somersaults over the political incorrectness of those words. I joined a police force and those words still mean more to me than the mission statements and dross bandied about today. We used to treat all law abiding citizens with unfailing courtesy and patience and pursued the wrongdoer, who appeared to have been excluded from the definition general public. They were criminals and were treated as such NOT victim's to be pitied and excused from feeding on the weak and vulnerable.

Sometimes I wish I was back policing the same way I could before - it was simple and worked. Of course some things had to change but even a Force more representative of the community at large could have maintained the same values as set out above. You were allowed to be an individual and seek your own solutions to reach the objects as outlined.

2010 - policing is micro managed and any creativity crushed by central control who appear to want robotic responses in line with their latest Standard Operating Procedure. Sir Richard Mayne what would you say today?

The Love Police

2010-03-10T10:02:00.004Z

Both Videos by Charlie Veitch

I've posted previously about a Charlie Veitch video and often pop over to his YouTube channel to watch his short films. They are made to raise awareness about people in authority and how they interact with members of the public. There are also some very amusing ones with the public on tube trains. You can pick through many on his site and see PCSO's, Police Officers and Security guards dealing with Charlie, and boy are there some reactions from those in authority. He also has a blog entitled TheLovePolice where you can see some of his stuff.

The video above in two parts shows a recent interaction outside The Tower Of London where a Met Inspector is ultra cool and grounded when dealing with Charlie. I think his films make some valid points but I'd be rather pissed off to get called to deal with him in the middle of a busy shift.

Common sense does in the main resolve the situations because after all he is a film maker, but is he not aware that terrorists do conduct hostile reconnaissance at iconic sites and it would be negligent not to speak to individuals? we should of course be as professional as the Inspector when doing so. If the alarm bells were ringing around somebody I think a search would have taken place ... but it's an individual judgement. I think it's a fact that some individuals taking part in small assemblies have been shown to later be involved in terrorist activities so the request for details under stop and account or sec 44 is an intelligence plus. There is of course no obligation to provide those details.

I would have done the hug. He is actually gaining cult status amongst some police officers .. Is that bad for his image or showing that his message actually strikes a chord?

Top Of The Flops

2010-03-05T13:33:00.005Z

I was once summonsed by the Superintendo to give a high profile presentation to a representative from a Government office. At the time I was working on an additionally funded policing project in a selected area, one of dozens across the country. It would appear that somebody somewhere was conducting independent public satisfaction surveys and we had scored very highly and they wanted to see what we were doing differently.

I had to justify the extra government spend and on top of my policing role produced crime figures and indicators to justify our worth, so already had an in depth Powerpoint that I had already produced for my year end report. I didn't have any reason to cheat to make ourselves look good so just produced the true data, which were the usual indicators that showed how the team worked the ground alongside crime reduction in some crime categories.

A couple of years earlier I had been given free reign to write a project appraisal and bid for a substantial quantity of government money. Nobody where I worked showed any interest in this project as the Home Office had at the time gone mad on Robbery and Burglary targets and locally this was where all the resources were put. The money bid for was to pay for extra police posts and I decided I needed a substantial overtime budget to make an impact. I put in for twice what I envisaged needing, thinking I'd be knocked back and was quite surprised to see my bid authorised in full.

I had in effect created my own empire and freed myself from having to go cap in hand to others if I wanted to do an operation. I recruited the best constables to the team who wanted to do a bit of work and off we went to arrest as many people as we could. We had no vehicles so policed on foot as we saw fit, our little bit of the Division, which was also the busiest part. I allowed my team flexible working so across a working day I got more coverage and we would single patrol and do our own thing. Once a month we would really hit the ground together for a week to tackle whatever needed sorting be it robbery, burglary, drugs or the kids.

I could use my contacts to buy in extra resources from the budget so actually increased policing where it was needed. If the punters were getting terrorised by young people I could put my people on the spot at the right times so they could see something was getting done. We could also link into the partnership to nudge our problematic youngsters into diversionary activities. It was a hard job to keep a balance between enforcement and engagement, but on the whole all the community wanted was firm but fair policing.

You wouldn't be surprised to hear that crime reduced and the punters were generally happy when we tried to do our best for them.

It was the first time I'd heard the phrase public satisfaction. I gave the presentation and the lady listened. The partnership I worked with also covered other key areas of health and education and housing. I asked how they rated when compared to policing, and the answer was very interesting. They had all scored considerably higher and policing was still the lowest in the public Psyche despite the results we had achieved. I think we would have ranked alongside estate agents in the property boom or bankers today. I don't understand the ins and outs of the independent surveys that were done on us but the point is public satisfaction will look after itself if you get on and do the job and don't go trying to influence it by not doing the simple things the punters actually want.

If I worked community today I wouldn't have the freedom to police my area as I see it, because central control seems to know best and dictates what is done. I don't think my old punters are as satisfied as they were before .. I wonder why !

Near Misses - But No Organisational Learning

2010-02-28T09:48:00.003Z

Risk assessments - are they just a way of apportioning blame when it goes belly up? I'm hearing a lot of talk from senior management about doing a dynamic risk assessment before attending calls, this is all since single patrol has been imposed. It would appear I must even record in detail my rationale if I deviate from this diktak taking into account the risks to be managed.

I've seen the ambulance service is also stricken down by this mindset. I'm aware of three calls the other day where the ambulance control called us because a risk assessment showed they shouldn't attend without police. I'm not talking about high level risks surrounding firearms but perceived low level violence. We will if we have a unit always support our first responder colleagues, but I've noticed they won't even approach the address until we get there.

Already one such call turned into what we call a critical incident because the casualty was at risk of death. If he had died, because there had been police contact a major investigation would have been launched putting every single police officer under scrutiny. It was touch and go at one stage meaning every constable had to justify what he did and why. I had an overview input after he reached hospital and without going in to details could see that, we the police would have got slaughtered had the casualty popped his clogs. A very near miss and suffice to say the single patrol policy and other decisions made by those enjoying their week-end off played a part. I could almost hear the inquest narrative highlighting systemic organisational failings and our retort of being very sorry and promising to learn from our mistakes.

The facts were evident and a number of circumstances conspired together contributing to what would have been the death of an individual. No police officers did anything wrong but the spotlight would have been on them when the blame actually lay elsewhere, around saving money and resources.

I did a report highlighting the issues and somebody higher up will read it and breath a sigh of relief. Will we learn from it as an organisation? I doubt it - but I had all of my team in to discuss things in depth. They are in no doubt they are the ones who would have been left out on a limb and criticised when actually they assisted in saving a life. It will go into their experience banks and some of them with 30 years to go will benefit from it. I'll keep the report to produce when something similar happens and somebody tries to point the finger - stating risk assessments.

Death following police contact includes non crime stuff - like us trying to save life too.

Single Patrol - The Indicators Say Yes ... But Not Really

2010-02-23T13:46:00.005Z

The response team doesn't really have many measures but of course we contribute overall to the public confidence indicators. I would have thought that getting to the calls within the time limits was our number one priority. Arrest figures and MDT (Mobile Data Terminal) statistics can also show if a team is performing but to a lesser extent. Since a few weeks back we have also been judged on our single patrol performance.

Now to be consistent I'm not against single patrol per se however I always saw a conflict between call times and the need to single patrol. To lose 6 officers to foot patrol on day shift was always going to cause me problems. It can be done up to about 2pm but thereafter the demand has always stretched us. I made a decision to ignore single patrolling and let my officers be sensible in answering the calls.

To do this 6 walkers were posted on foot off vehicles so the single patrol monitoring dept (Yes there is one) were able to see our percentage of single patrols meet their set limits. All I asked of the drivers was that when they picked up a walker and took them to a call where only one officer was required, the driver would then go and deal with a similar task before picking the walker up again and so on. This satisfied my obsessions around time and motion and maintained morale on team. We were in fact working much smarter. I would also downgrade some of the calls which in my opinion had been graded incorrectly by the call centre. They have to grade according to set guidelines and the log can only be changed by a patrol supervisor. In days gone past the old controller would have used common sense to do this.

When we were beginning to lose it I'd make the decision and abandon single patrol and put the walker back in the car as an operator. Common sense policing in action and everybody's happy as far as I can see. The slight problem is our call targets have actually been improving and the charade is making the single patrol policy look good, when in reality we've not really been doing it. We call this in the trade "Making The Job Work". Elsewhere I've heard of Divisions sticking to it to the letter and call times have plummeted.

As much as I liked to be proved right and see the improved figures (i.e. Getting to more calls in a shift and keeping the punters happy), some other teams had kept to the policy and their call times sunk making it pretty obvious who wasn't playing ball. It has now been agreed that all teams will not find ways round the policy and be expected to comply. It will be quite interesting to see the MDT stats fall off the cliff as you can't drive and use it at the same time. The call times I also expect to head South. I've already spent time between my other commitments looking at the ever lengthening list of outstanding calls and I'm starting to twitch. My only consolation is the knowledge that whoever's in charge of call times and MDT stats at headquarters is going to be very stressed in a few weeks time.

How this contributes to keeping the the general public happy please feel free to explain to me. I can just see more people getting upset when we don't turn up promptly. I know how to run a response team and wish the centre would just leave me to it.

Oh and did I mention that most of the team are now looking for jobs off response?

You Keep Calm - I'll Panic For You

2010-02-17T12:29:00.002Z

It probably creates a little bit of fear in you when the security status raises. For me I run to the books to ensure I'm as up to date as I can be with the latest contingencies. That's because I could be called upon to coordinate the initial response to any major incident.

So how much training have I had for this? If you have visions of me moving imaginary hoards of police units around a large table you are in for a big disappointment. It boils down to a bit of knowledge around command and control. If you are a regular reader you might just pick up on my concerns around lack of bodies to deal with the demand we have to currently cope with.

It's relatively simple in theory, an incident happens and to deal with it you break up the jobs and delegate somebody to sort them out. For example securing the scene with cordon tape to ensure you can then deal with any casualties. Theory is OK but without proper training, how do we know how we'll react under the immense pressure of an ongoing incident. I don't know how I'd react but hope I could detach myself from trying to be hands on and put in place the building blocks needed.

What I do know is that for that initial 30 minutes until resources start arriving from surrounding Divisions and Central Reserve it will be total chaos. In amongst all the chaos I would be expected to record every decision and consideration in a written log of events. I'm supposed to do that on smaller incidents too and I can assure you it's easier said than done. It would be easier to record these into an MP3 player for later dictation.

There's no substitute for experience and I have been used on the cordon's for major incidents. You would think that people would realise that with police tape across a road and a uniformed officer stood there, it is a hint not to proceed further. Not the case I'm afraid as they quite happily lift the tape up to try and continue in to the sterile area. The reaction towards you is often hostile and downright rude.

If the worst does happen here's hoping everybody does keep calm. It was rather humbling to see how the public reacted to the 7th July bombings in London and just took all the inconvenience on the chin. Makes you feel proud to be British, which you can't say too much these day's.

I'd prefer some more realistic training for all of the team, but somehow think it isn't going to happen - let's hope it's the same with the security threat.

Seize The Moment

2010-02-14T00:01:00.002Z

Stressed isn't prone to Romantic gestures because when he does it tends to fall flat. We were away on holiday on the West coast of Mexico and Mrs Stressed nipped off to the loo in one of those authentic Mexican Tavernas. I seized the moment and paid the local guitar player a few dollars to sing a couple of romantic numbers at our table.

She returns and he starts twanging away and singing in dulcet tones only to be ignored, cos' all Mrs Stressed can do is go on about how there's no toilet paper in the loo, or lock on the door, so she had to sit with her foot against it.

Mind you one of the songs was Bamboleo which I like and she doesn't .. it's in the side bar.

This year I'll play her Luther who sings what must be the sexiest love song ever. Play this to your wife, husband or significant other and see how you get on today.

Thoughts Running Through My Head

2010-02-12T15:00:00.005Z

When I read of another suicide in the press it just triggers something in me. I've been there at my lowest, but it was just thoughts running through my head caused by a severe lack of sleep. I still get them every time a train comes into the station but my thoughts are not me and shouldn't drive what I am. That's why suicide is a waste because situations are just that, little tests of crisis to overcome and maybe those with a busy head are more prone. Bereavement is the number one cause of temporary depression but the pain eases over time for most people. Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional.

I often had to cope with a past love who was always taking overdoses. Her mind was not her own and I often wonder what caused her to start munching psychotic pills. She wasn't in control of her thoughts and would go into hospital to get well. Schizophrenia is a horrible illness but very different from depression. Try dealing with that at home and then going to work to deal with much of the same. People tend to forget that we have home lives too and sometimes those are far from perfect. Many a time I would be deployed to "Nutter's" at work and force an entry with my team only to find that individual wasn't half as ill as what I went home to. We don't do Nutter's anymore and the term is Emotionally Mentally Distressed (EMD) people.

I very much dislike dealing with suicides and think I know why.

An Inconvenient Truth

2010-02-09T10:03:00.005Z

It's always the little jobs that cause the problems. Having been investigated under Operation Helios and escaping more serious charges because somebody bottled it, Commander Ali Dizaei falls from grace because of his poor judgement on an off duty matter. Forget all this good riddance stuff and concentrate on why this officer was allowed to progress his career.

I think if I'd been captured making threatening phone calls, and we're not talking allegations as the threats were recorded, my career would be no more. Diversity in my book also covers attitudes towards women, and for a senior police officer to be promoted with a Diversity negative tick against him beggars belief. I'm sure if I went through a vetting process for certain police jobs I'd fail - just because of writing this blog. Yet somehow Mr Dizaei has been seen to be a fit and proper person for promotion, and that's despite admissions that his off duty conduct fell below the required standard. Correct me somebody if I'm wrong, but apart from his involvement in the Black Police Association what has he ever contributed to policing?

I can't recall any blinding policing initiatives or policies being created by this man, so what did he bring to the interview table? Not wanting to reopen a can of worms about Helios as Mr Dizaei was found not guilty of criminal charges laid but questions need to be asked of those higher up the chain of command and politicians. Where's the inquiry? because I'd like to know if this officer escaped disciplinary action previously because of his skin colour and political pressure. Equality means just that, equal treatment for all and the perception created by Mr Dizaei damages the ambitions of dedicated Black officers seeking to go further.

As for the Black Police Association - it is now totally discredited and should do the decent thing and fold in it's present form. It has it's own troubles ahead regarding financial irregularities so there is an opportunity for it to be more representative of black police officers. Remember a Black detective noticed the conflict in evidence in the Commander's notes and a Black duty officer ensured that full notes were completed by the constables which stood up in court. No racist conspiracies from what I can see, just somebody who pushed his luck too far.

Special People

2010-02-07T11:44:00.008Z

Glenn Goodman - Same Risks Same Respect

I've served in the regular army and obviously as a full time police officer. Both of these institutions have a reserve in the form of the Territorial Army and the Special Constabulary. I always saw the TA as week-end warriors who came out on exercise to Germany occasionally, bolstering our own units. My brother in law has a chest full of medals from his part time role and somehow the TA has become vital in National Defence. In fact I doubt if the army would have been as effective without those individuals and some on the reserve list the past few years. They have provided a cost effective way out for the government who have looked to save money by merging long established units.

I think we might be beginning to see the same with policing. The Special Constabulary were always used mainly at week-ends to help out on local community events, but now they are an important resource thrown into the line. You can see the attractiveness to the policy makers as these volunteers get paid the grand sum of nothing.

You won't find me slagging off our unpaid volunteers as I've been mightily relieved to see our Divisional reserve arrive on a Friday night in strength just before chucking out time. An extra team of 10 constables with a massive specials sergeant patrolling along a length of road 200 yards and still fights were kicking off. I was actually rather embarrassed that when they made arrests we had none of our own PC's to help them out with the paperwork. Many don't need the help as they already work for us as civil staff and the "Job" sorts them a couple of days to balance out their uniformed commitment. Somebody has been rather clever, because if a really serious emergency and I mean National Proportions takes place our police staff can be deployed in a back up role. The others come from a range of other occupations.

There is a lot more training being put into our specials to bring them up to a higher standard. I must say they are good and I'm impressed. Moves are taking place to align them to individual response teams and it is stressed this is in addition to the minimum strengths. Funny how this announcement coincided with the strength being cut again. I do hope the goodwill of our special colleagues is not abused. If the government wants to increase reliance on the police reserve they should at least ensure a tax-free bounty payment system is brought in once sufficient volunteer hours are reached.

I'm not sure where they stand if they get injured on duty. I was very fortunate to attend a talk given by ex PC Sandy Kelly who was with Special Constable Glenn Goodman when he was shot by IRA terrorists after a routine traffic stop in Yorkshire 1992. A great talk by an officer who suffered from PTSD and had to medically retire. He did these talks to aid his recovery and it was very humbling. He blamed himself for not protecting his volunteer operator despite being nearly killed himself and badly injured, and that's what the Specials are, colleagues who wear the same uniform.

It is National Specials Weekend

24

2010-02-03T09:29:00.004Z

It doesn't matter who wins the election later this year because police numbers will be cut to save money on the budget. Does it make a jot of difference to me on response team? - the answer is not really because the past 15 years or so has already seen a decrease in response team numbers, despite a huge increase in paperwork.

I work an area consisting of 3 Divisions that in years gone by were separate entities each having their own relief patrol shift, comms room, custody suite and support teams (CID - Crime Squad - Collator - Admin units) and SMT. In 2010 we work as one and the Admin support team's and comms have been mainly centralised in a far off place.

The minimum strength on a Night Duty is 24 and we rarely have more than that but very often less. Early shift is 22 but the demand is not usually as intense. I know that some readers will salivate at having those numbers but if I tell you we have nearly 30 cell spaces and that's sometimes not sufficient it will indicate how busy it gets. You can do the Math. Three double crewed cars and a double crewed van on each Division is about as good as it gets. We definitely have less officers to respond to calls from the public than 13 years ago so the increase in police/pcso numbers hasn't trickled down to where it is needed. The centre keep boasting about how many more calls are being taken in the call centres but don't mention the poor sods who are trying to deal with them and still having to meet target times.

A relief would have had about 20 PC'S on it so in the past we would have started with 60. My team is now made up of about 40 constables but from that we lose 4 to a custody management team and 1 for a beat crimes team. We also provide 1 for a wanted squad to hunt down those who have been bailed and are still to be brought to justice. We also have to give to an Ops room to back fill the police staff who have been moved on to save money, so at times 2 people, and not forgetting a gaoler for custody and station office cover if the civvie is off. As we are nearing 50% probationers on team they also have to complete training modules which means we lose them for a week now and again.

I often look at how many people are booked on duty and if the community teams are included there are often 30 extra available mainly PCSO's but these are not deployable unless the call is in line with their local priorities. They are the visible presence and work on the reassurance side, but can be drafted in for any critical incidents before 10 pm.

I finally got back from a job last week that needed 8 constables and me to deal with, to see the screen still displaying several calls we hadn't got to. The box was well are truly empty, prisoners still being arrested at 6am. This government has spent millions extra on policing and maybe if they hadn't wanted to set targets and measure things so much, some of it might have found its way to where the public want it. Lets face it if you call us and we don't turn up - you're not going to be impressed are you? and that's the only indicator now isn't it?

The Phoney War

2010-01-29T10:41:00.005Z

I love drugs .. or to be more precise being involved in operations to combat their use and supply. My level of expertise centres around the street market drugs mainly crack and heroin, which links into acquisitive crime. I love policing the druggies and putting myself up against whoever is flavour of the month amongst the local so called drug lords. It's a challenge - a game to me - a war that I can never win overall but an opportunity to win a personal head to head. I admit to actually enjoying that feeling when I emerge victorious. There is also a positive kick-back in the knowledge that for a short time the local community will have some respite from having to put up with blatant dealing and all the fears that go with it, but only until somebody else moves in to fill the void.

I don't think we are quite so hot in dealing with the middle class drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy. I could point you to places where I know that the powder drugs and pills are readily available, but in the whole we ignore it. The past few years we've also been neglecting the street stuff too, all because it's too expensive to tackle properly. Drug offences for reporting purposes are a "victimless" crime and only show on the books for a detection with a prisoner attached.

It's only political pressure that draws a response, be it an explosion in violent crime when a drug related turf war breaks out or a publicised death surrounding a venue such as Leah Betts in Basildon. Central funding might then be forthcoming if you make a good case for it. If this doesn't happen then you'll have to put up with queues of addicts waiting for their fix on your stairwell.

Now I don't have a past involving drugs, apart from being administered an opiate years ago for a broken leg. It definitely hit the spot for me and I still crave that feeling now - I know what to ask for if in severe pain and was extremely disappointed to have been turned down for Pethidine on my last injury.

I understand the street addicts many of whom I really like, and many have a strong moral code even if they are thieves. Most will shoplift to fund their habits and don't see themselves as serious criminals. They hate to be classed the same as burglars and robbers and would class themselves as honest thieves if that makes sense. As I'm on first name terms with many of these still after many years, the extra funding for drugs rehabilitation isn't working as far as I can see.

I like to think I have a feel of what's going on locally where I work. Most of the kids who were committing robberies or burglaries or vehicle crime are moving into dealing where even as a runner they can make 80 pounds a day. Once they make a stake they start up their own operations to keep the cycle going. Their addict customers continue shoplifting almost unabated to feed their habits and also keep the cycle going. I can't remember the last time a prolific shoplifter got sent to prison round my way so the shops lose thousands, the police win as we are not called to report all shoplifting's and benefit from the kids moving into dealing and society loses as the streets become a mess.

I don't understand the other spectrum where the middle classes go out and have a snort or pop a pill or two. Is it the danger of living on the edge? of taking a walk on the wild side? of being - well naughty? I don't discriminate and will nick either if they come into my sights but policing today means it's likely to be the street stuff that gets my attention.

I have done the other side when the political pressure was demanding action against the acid house phase in the early 90's. It was piss easy to cruise round venues that had these promotion nights and stop and turn over people in their cars outside. The percentage hit rate for possession of Ecstasy was high and occasionally we'd hook a bigger fish. I recall nicking one lad and we'd gone back to search his bedroom on a Section 18. He had banknotes piled up and it must have been a 12 inch pile. Thousands of pounds which today would have been seized as proceeds of crime. The circumstances of his case meant it was restored. As they went on all night it was even worth early turn stops on a Saturday or Sunday morning as they drove home. I had a particularly good seizure of LSD from doing this.

I'd even worked plain clothes in one venue when we were going to raid it. A few of us were put in to spot the dealers. Drugs and water were order of the day for most patrons and I was approached several times by people wanting to score. Passing myself off as a prospective buyer myself all you had to do was to ask the eager punter to let you know who had stuff for sale. The naive suckers would come back and tell you who had what and the prices, bloody nice people. I was also complimented on my trendy shirt several times by young ladies who were obviously on it. The raid was a waste of time by the time we'd done it as the dealers we pointed out were sold out. A sweep around the floors showed the extent of the drugs misuse, which was all that was needed to eventually shut it down. Things would be done differently today if we did anything at all. If I am to be totally honest the hundreds of patrons although "on it" big time caused less trouble than if they'd been tanked up on booze. A really chilled raid ...

The Season Ahead

2010-01-25T13:08:00.006Z

I can feel Spring in the air and the remnants of my Winter gloom being blown gently away. This is approaching my favourite time of year when we can all look forward more positively to what's ahead. Already the first demonstration has taken place involving the English Defence League and predictably it kicked off.

I don't think anybody has quite sussed this lot out yet. The extreme left have bracketed them as fascist right wing extremists and turn out en masse to confront them. This I assume is due to factions within the EDL being made up of mainly football supporters - their traditional enemies, where the most extreme fans were directly linked to Combat 18 and BNP. The EDL also has a Jewish wing, Muslim wing and Black members who purport their aims are solely to confront extremist Islamic groups who have been too long indulged in this country. I do wonder why these anti-fascist groups don't also go and demonstrate against Islam4UK whose views are very much fascist by definition.

It will I suspect boil down to Right versus Left with a 21st Century slant to it. Alot of today's football fans are quite happy to integrate with different cultures as long as those individuals can kiss the flag and see themselves as British. So this year we could well see anti-fascist groups confronting the EDL who are made up of some non white faces. Couldn't see too many black faces in the video below from the disturbances in Stoke though, but I can assure you some football firms have black members. It could just be an excuse for these football fans to indulge their tribal passion for fighting and lets be honest they are not particularly bothered who they have a go at including police. Personally I've always found them full of shite who only go on the rampage when numbers are stacked in their favour, but at least they don't whine when order is restored.

Who knows what the year holds for the EDL, but unless they fragment and become more overtly racist they might just become stronger and attract more popular support than the BNP. I don't think they are that smart and the Nazi salutes just show them up to be the same Nationalists who used to turn up countering the "Troops Out" of Ulster marches. The left meanwhile will quite happily take to the streets when the Tories regain power, so this year could actually be problematic.

I don't know how the new police "Hands off - We've Surrendered" public order tactics will fit into this, all I know is a boot from a Anti-fascist hurts as much as one from a Right winger.

Tactical Point - Shouldn't the exit doors be on the side away from the crowd?

My Favourite Judge

2010-01-21T17:07:00.003Z

He has previously shown himself to be a man of common sense so Well Done to Judge Judge and two other's sitting who sensibly heard the appeal of Munir HUSSAIN and gave him a suspended sentence for inflicting GBH on the burglar who entered his home. As the law stands this was all they could do and it is a fair judgement, and that's all anybody could ask for.

I've already posted on similar cases and as always the law throws up exceptional cases such as this one where the burglar was chased down the road and beaten, receiving injuries . I do have sympathy for Tokeer HUSSAIN who remains in jail but he too got his sentence reduced and will be out soon. I don't know the medical evidence of the injuries received by Walid Salem, but as he has been arrested for a crime since can assume his recovery is going well.

I do wonder if Mr Salem would be due compensation from the CICA or even have the gall to sue millionaire businessman Munir HUSSAIN for civil damages. If he does I hope whoever sits in judgement gives him short shrift.

Doing It To Ourselves

2010-01-17T11:34:00.011Z

This post is in support of colleagues who have single vehicle crewing imposed in rural areas. We don't do it where I work for response cars probably because we are more sensible*. I therefore suspect this could be a self imposed policy by police management. I understand each Division has their own patrolling policy which is up to them to draft. We do have a default position for single foot patrol, which as I've stated before I don't really have a problem with as help is never that far away. We never have sufficient officers to patrol on foot so this only really affects community teams. Regular readers will be aware I was nearly crippled whilst on lone foot patrol attempting an arrest and it still hurts, but that's part of the job and down to bad luck rather than a single patrol policy.

The centre has got rather anal about the single patrol policy wanting to measure who is complying or not. They have of course created a department to cover this and it will include spot checks. The only thing I've noticed is the demise of the policy where officers from HQ used to come out for a few hours of patrol to "keep in touch" once a month or so, pairing up with a local officer. This might well reappear once the weather warms up and I await to see if a lone patrol is order of the day.

Loved the story I heard the other day of an Inspector who was out on foot patrol at 3am with a probationer to do a few stops. A car pulls up with the on call Superintendo who then enquires why they weren't on lone patrol. Despite the Inspector's best efforts to point out he was developing his young charge he still had a lecture about single patrol. The Superintendo was of course being driven by a PC. Great for morale and the Superintendo obviously destined for the very top. This was a first hand account by the way.

Get Well Soon Fran Croucher - (whatever's wrong with you) * Did I title this post correctly or what?

* Update * We are stupid and are bringing it in too - orders from the centre, not from those who are responsible locally.

What Is It About Croydon?

2010-01-16T14:13:00.003Z

** Beware Elderly Behaving Badly - I'm not allowed to be offended you might be **

Croydon - Wonderful area in South London and self proclaimed Chav capital brings us the above video, to show that all those disrespectful binge drinkers frequenting your Town Centre will possibly not mellow with age. You might just be having a glimpse of the future here.

My first thoughts were how much writing would be involved if you came across this in the street. A domestic assault and racially aggravated public order offence along with a potential death in custody to boot x 2. Perhaps the most sensible thing to do is let them get on with it, but the system doesn't allow that. I hear a rumour that somewhere has been trialling a new form similar to the domestic violence risk assessment that has to be filled out for racial incidents. If anybody has heard of this, what's it like and what questions are in there?

It would appear the saddest thing here is that poor old Margaret has passed on and this is posted as a tribute to her. I think she was actually dead well before leaving this life.

Bring Out Our Girls

2010-01-13T12:47:00.009Z

Myleene Klass appears to be a nice down to earth girl and as vulnerable to crime just like the rest of us. When she disturbed youths burgling her garage she waved a knife at them from inside her house thus scaring them away. What follows due to Myleene being a fitty is the police looking stupid again, when somebody is reported to have told her she could be arrested for having an offensive weapon.

Now this didn't exactly ring true at the time with me, because even the dimmest officer knows that you can't be arrested for possession of an offensive weapon in your house, unless you're stupid enough to admit having a "made one" which you had in public before it reached your house. I think that the CPS would call that a weak case and in most circumstances decline a charge. Now this all came out at the launch of a new TV show that Myleene was promoting so call me a cynic ............ but why aren't Hertfordshire police putting up more of a rebuttal? Maybe if we rolled out our own fitty press person we could get some coverage.

Myleene has back tracked somewhat and it's spun as a defence of property thing as Herts deny any warning was made to her. As long as Myleene doesn't chase her burglars away and stab them she could in certain circumstances use a knife to defend herself. People just need to know where they stand with this. It's pretty clear in law but again what is reasonable in the circumstances rears it's head.

Now all own up. Who keeps something handy just in case you are confronted in your own house by felons? I've got a lovely little wooden ornament that somebody brought back from holiday for me. I keep it behind my bed and if need be could use it effectively and correctly. I wouldn't hit somebody around the head with it unless the threat to me warranted it. I am in effect trained to use it and more importantly trained to justify it's use. My old man prefers a length of 2 be 2 hard wood and I have heard of people who sleep with a knife nearby just in case.

My personal opinion is that anybody in your house unlawfully who stands their ground offering aggression and gets whacked should lose their rights to protection from the law. The law should favour the householder who did nothing to bring about the confrontation. Of course shooting them in the back as they flee is hardly self defence, but the law needs to understand the flight or fight process. You would have to be pretty centred as a MOP to avoid a little bit of retribution.

So for any MOP out there here is the law:

Section 3 Criminal Law Act 1967

A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders or of persons unlawfully at large.

Common Law

A person who is attacked or who believes that he is about to be attacked may use such force as is reasonably necessary to defend himself or another. In this situation a person is acting in lawful self defence. What does acting in lawful self defence mean? The law is that a person only acts in lawful self defence if in the circumstances he believes that it is necessary for him to defend himself or another and the amount of force which he uses in doing so is reasonable. Two questions arise. Firstly, did the person believe, or may he honestly have believed that it was necessary to defend himself. If the person did not believe that it was necessary to defend himself, then self defence simply does not arise. The second question is, taking the circumstances, as the person believed them to be, was the amount of force which he used reasonable? The law is that force used in self defence is unreasonable and unlawful if it is out of proportion to the nature of the attack or if it is in excess of what is really required of the person to defend himself.

I don't know how to word out the thieving slag deserved it in the above but I'm sure some legal eagle could try.

Every Snowy Cloud ...

2010-01-08T14:04:00.005Z

The boiler breakdown I can put down to cold weather but I'm not too sure about the loss of Broadband and even my mobile phone. Everything is now working just fine. Most of my people made it into early turn the other day, but we did escape most of the snow that has gripped the rest of the UK. A few who live miles away had already taken the day off anticipating not being able to get in. We only tend to suffer when the public transport falls down.

It was rather nice not to be inundated with the usual day in day out stuff, especially after Xmas. Social services have however decided that we have become the easy option for them, with numerous requests to conduct welfare checks on their clients.

I would say the closure of schools has impacted on absence more than staff not being able to get in due to the snow. Mrs Stressed had to take a day off to look after Little Stressed which was somewhat annoying as the main roads were OK to drive on. I don't think this weather is any worse than what we had when I was at school and I don't ever recall missing a day through closure. We would have adapted and doubled up classes. I saw one headteacher on TV going on about how they would be criticised and possibly sued if there was an accident involving a pupil en route to school. Nice to see they suffer from weak leadership and management too.

This is exactly the weather I lived with every year in Northern Germany. As the temperature dropped below a certain level we would get called out to start all of our vehicles so they wouldn't freeze up. It was COLDER than this and unbearable especially if you copped a 6 hour guard duty stag over the week-end. Everything went on as normal out there with the residents ensuring their pavements were cleared, all it takes is a bit of preparation. I think we could be trusted as householders to help out if the council dumped a bit of salt at the end of each road.

More snow to come on Monday by the looks of the forecast and the bosses are loving the low crime rates. If this continues big reductions due before the year end in March. All down to their policing methods of course !! or that's what the promotion application will say.

I'm Breathing ... Very Deeply This Week

2010-01-05T13:54:00.018Z

This is a stress post so some of you might want to skip this or read on if you want to see how open you can be. I hopefully haven't banged on about my stress issues too much but since last year I have been indulging in meditation. This has been in the news again today where there are plans to pay for stress monkey's to go on meditation courses. I feel able to comment on this as I paid some of my hard earned cash to go on a mindfulness meditation course last year.

I could go on all day trying to explain it but I think if you watch the video below where Jon Kabat Zinn takes a session at Goggle you will understand better. Those of you who think it's bull - fine I respect that as I scoffed at all this deep breathing stuff that gets pumped out myself. It is I believe about looking deeper at your thoughts and just being aware that what's happened in the past is history and the future hasn't happened so why worry about that too. I really try to live in the present and my battle is against acting in an automotive reactive way at work. I've at times really been in the zone since taking this up and the meditation practices have really helped. There have been occasional lapses where I've had a chomp at people but these moments have only made me more determined to carry on meditating. I would like to just add that there are no substances involved in this either - just in case any of you are thinking that.

My patience has been really tested this week by these idiots Islam4Britain or their real name Al Muhajiroun who pulled everybody's chains with plans to demonstrate through Wootton Bassett, and I'm sure they got the reaction they wanted. I could spread negative vibes about this and really need to suppress my disgust and anger.

So I'll go positive as I believe what we are really seeing is the silent majority rising again, this time in the form of Jo Cleary who is just a normal non political person who loves her country. The politicians can only offer words but no actions as their hands are tied by the Human Rights Act they all love.

What would I like to see happen to some of these people? For a start those on benefits who seem very able to attend these gatherings should have them stopped straight away. Those who are not British citizens should be deported, and those who have been granted citizenship should have it stripped as their presence is not conducive to the public good. All it takes is the politicians to make a new law as nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. That includes a referendum on Europe that the silent majority were promised.

I think I need to be doing some more of this .... It's long but stay with it

Goodbye 2009 Welcome Much Of The Same

2009-12-31T20:13:00.006Z

One thing I can say I've learnt from this year, is to be more open. I therefore read the comments of Jack Straw and think why? You've read my last post where we didn't get the chance to sit around drinking tea in the warm. If it was really quiet we would have done so, but as a one off on what should have been a special day where basic humanity dictates, that even the criminals take a day off. I can't even remember the last time I heard a 99 being called.

I think the truth is that NuLabor have never liked the police service and always seen us as a necessary evil. Perhaps Jack Straw is just having another Pinochet moment !! All the political tinkering has never been about providing a better service to victim's but more creating some sort of centrally controlled arm of the state. If the Tories had attempted to pass half the laws this lot created, the masses would have been rioting in the streets. Instead everybody just let it happen because life was comfortable and nobody cared that it was all on borrowed money. They don't need the police any more as they head to oblivion so resort to type.

It's been a bad year of PR for the police service and maybe that suits certain people. I've heard several rumours about the year's hence. One is that our pension contributions will rise to 14% instead of the current 11%, with no increase on the actual pension pay out. Another is that after 2012 officer's will be pensioned off early. One thing for definite is that there will be cuts in officer numbers. Will it matter to the front line? I think not as we are already working on "less". The community team's are currently red circled but as I've said before those models will be re-visited.

A couple of high profile police trials coming up in the New Year will drag us down more, whatever the outcome. I hear Michael Mansfield might be out of retirement to represent Ali Dizaei, and I've stood up already and hopefully called it right for PS Smellie from the G20.

I usually at Year's End raise a glass to those I've put away. For the past 10 year's or so this has averaged 20 to 25 people a year inside because of me helping out on certain operations. It made all the stresses and long hours worthwhile. This year I've decided to cut back because it wasn't actually doing me much good health wise. I'm not even beating myself up for not doing so much but can still have a slurp to the 5 inside for this year. So sorry Jack you've had your pound of flesh from me and the difference between you and me next year. I'll still be here.

We Do Art Too !!

2009-12-29T09:41:00.005Z

Ours was more Arty than this - Really Said something ...

The Christmas buffet at work looked nice laid out on the canteen table, and there it stayed looking like a Tracy Emin masterpiece for most of the shift. I wish I'd taken a picture. The hope of some fire brigade policing never happened, but some did manage to snaffle a sausage roll whilst scribbling out some arrest notes. We tried again the next day but this time the bags stayed on the table with most of it getting thrown away, the chicken drumsticks were by this time looking somewhat dodgy. At least the tea club will be fully stocked with biscuits and chocolates for a couple of weeks.

It might have just been one of those freakish set of shifts, but the Christmas spirit didn't really happen for us this year. We had a full on four days consisting of the expected domestics, but with a few stabbings, drunken fights and usual crime to contend with. Everything got dealt with and the cells were full, the team pulling together taking statements here and there so the job handovers were as complete as could be. We probably cut a few corners but there was always another call to be dealt with. The pressure was on and it wasn't fun. I checked some nearby Division's custody situation and they appeared to be having a quieter time of it.

I think it comes with working a diverse area. Some communities don't do Christmas so it's business as usual for them. I find myself having to build a few bridges after dealing with one of the more serious incidents. Trying to get to grip and handle a scene with hardly any officers is difficult. When a minority group is involved it is a nightmare. We were so short by this stage that even I had to get hands on, literally applying pressure to a wound. Around the periphery were people purporting to be community leaders telling me what I could and shouldn't be doing. I don't like that and my chain was pulled and they got a reaction instead of a response. This didn't help matters but they could do with getting a proper tablet, despite trying to explain our situation they always know best. It would have been helpful if some of the community had actually called police in the first instance, but then they like to pick and choose which laws they adhere to. It could have turned out worse but will still tie up the CID despite no injured parties wanting to assist us.

The team worked their socks off and everybody contributed to the cause. They don't need to be measured by targets, they know they grafted without breaks and did the business. So do I and It's my job to watch team fatigue and give something back. A couple might be sent home in turns next year before the end of the shift if we can spare them.

By then the centre will be back from their Christmas break telling us how well we did over the festive period but still wanting more. I could have done with some more troops the last few days but somehow we made it work, we always do.

Because It's Christmas

2009-12-24T22:07:00.001Z

Belated Christmas greetings to one and all out there in Blogging Land. My Internet connection was down after a particularly busy Christmas Eve shift where I managed a cup of tea and a Jammy Dodger for breakfast and a Snickers bar for lunch. Must have been the wrong kind of frost on the line but I'm back on now. Funny how, when based in Germany I experienced much worse weather then we have having now and always managed to reach Mr Drinks Bar in Hanover. The roads were OK and the trains always ran, damned efficient those German's. We have totally lost it in this country haven't we?

12 hours of hell today but a quite full custody suite and a substantial quantity of drugs seized with several prisoners attached. So much that even the CID couldn't wiggle out of taking the job on. I think usually the prisoners would remain with us but suspect that financial considerations will take over and bail will be an option as everything has been scaled back for Christmas Day. All departments are closed apart from response who will take on the extra work despite being short ourselves.

I work every Christmas through choice and this year is no different. I only missed one a couple of years ago through toe rag connected injury and this is actually my anniversary of having a massive line of metal staples removed from my war wound. I'm mentally over it and am in a good place at present.

This year I've been fortunate and missed the run up to the festivities through being away on a course and on rest days. I have however got all of Christmas, New Years Eve and New Years day to work. I will only be cheered by those who find themselves in custody through their own stupidity and criminality.

I have been compared to Scrooge but fortunately I don't go in for all this goodwill to all men at Christmas time. I'm actually more consistent then Scrooge who gave in at the end. This may be because on past Christmas Day's I've dealt with murder scenes and too many domestics to mention. All of them result in the same whinge in custody "But it's Christmas".

I particularly loved the representations put forward by a solicitor one year after I'd decided to keep a prolific druggie shoplifter in to prevent him emptying the shops of more goods. I'd explained my position regarding the prevention of further offences due to his offending history and paused for her speech. If she'd offered up some reasonable conditions to prevent his offending I would have considered them, but all she could offer was "It's Christmas and I appeal to your nature to bail him without conditions, the magistrates will only let him out anyway".

She would have been right on the second count but she should have played the game at least. Christmas is not on the list for making people eligible for bail, so one extra customer for us for the night. He should have gone to court the next day which was Christmas Eve but "Couldn't Be Bothered Security Contractors" failed to get him him to court in time so he was still there when I came in for late turn facing a Boxing Day court date. So it fell to me to review his continued detention as custody officer.

I let him out on short bail to court after the shops had shut and would like to point out this was only because my grounds for keeping him in had ceased, nothing to do with the time of year.

Happy Christmas to you all and thank you for those who have contributed to this blog. You have amused me no end and kept me grounded and reasonably sane. I am grateful to you all.

Le Bash

2009-12-20T18:22:00.004Z

I'm very pleased to report I've survived the Team Christmas Do unscathed and will be a year closer to collecting my full pension. I was in two minds if I should go or not but in the interests of team bonding I made a fleeting appearance before making an early exit. It was rather like an excursion on holiday where you know the food is going to be shite and you'll be ripped off but you must enjoy yourself cos' it's Christmas. I wasn't disappointed, for nearly fifty quid the fare was rather a let down and at 4 quid for a small bottle of beer Stressed wasn't going to be embarrassing himself by rolling about in the gutter afterwards.

I was relieved that nobody managed to show themselves up, but have since heard that things didn't go too well on some of the other team's functions. The thing is with a police party, if anything happens the first people complaints come looking for are the supervisors. I'm not excusing poor conduct but why should I be held responsible for supervising grown adults on a private do when off duty? Wait a couple of weeks and there will be stories of police Christmas Do's going bent. I think we come second to professional footballers in the press attentions and maybe Harry Redknapp was smart in banning the Player's party at Tottenham.

I know people who have lost their jobs through antics over the festive period, and with a bit of careful planning trouble could be avoided. When I worked on a particularly infamous unit our Do's were planned to minimise antics. The party was always above a quiet pub in a private room not shared with other punters and contact with the public was limited . Anything happening out of order would only involve our own people and could be nipped in the bud early on.

The CID party also now appears to be a thing of the past on Division. The yearly free for all was frowned upon for the ensuing naughtiness and gossip. That's a shame because some of them were great. When I used to do some work for the squads I'd pick up a few invites and could really relax into it as a guest. One year I actually took a week off to attend Christmas Do's, and "The Squad" party had the best raffle ever.

Next year I think I'll be giving it a miss. I don't even like Christmas.

Looking Out For A Local Hero

2009-12-12T13:03:00.004Z

This is the first year in many that I'm not personally dealing with community complaints. As the dark nights draw in, the local kids my way would invariably start hanging out in the communal well lit blocks resulting in calls from distraught residents.

I suppose these residents were no different from Mrs Sick and Tired who has started a blog about her frustrations with police inability to deal with youths blighting a local park. As we are all now citizen focused I'd be surprised if these community problems were not the number one priority in all police areas across this country.

I'm not aware of her specific situation other than groups of youths are gathering late at night, drinking and affecting her quality of life. Her anger is directed towards the police, and one assumes that's a negative point for the local force if she's filled out a customer satisfaction survey.

I know that a call to my force would probably result in no police attendance from response. The call centre would put it out on the radio if the local community team was on, but just print the complaint for a later follow up if they were off duty. Unfortunately as no crimes are being committed it's not seen as a high priority. We are indeed too busy attending the houses of probably the said same youths to deal with their parents for minor domestic squabbles, which are also not crimes but require us to compile comprehensive records. Sorry about that but a non-crime domestic between people scoring points trumps a non-crime gathering of youths making your life hell. I can assure you Mrs Sick and Tired that we'd rather come and help you out.

We would of course be pretty powerless to do much other then move them on or try to. Unfortunately even then it's more down to persuasion and a will of minds. This achieves very little because they're be back the next night. Mrs Sick and Tired wonders why we can't take the kid's home in our cars. I think somebody palmed her off with the old not covered by insurance line. Human Rights legislation dictates that we can only take young people into police protection which is a detention, if they are likely to come to "significant" harm. I doubt that covers a street wise juvenile drinking in public.

I think the best course of action in her situation is for the community team to get off their backsides and show some presence. I would have posted my team there in the park stood right in the middle of the kids. This would have been to identify them and get my message across. They are probably there because the location gives them somewhere to sit and is well lit. I would look to have the lighting turned off so they would be in darkness. The seating could be relocated or changed.

One thing I know is that having improved things for that community the youths would move on to another lit place with seating. My ideal solution would be to find a location away from residents in the park with shelter where they could hang out to their hearts content and not annoy anybody. It would of course need policing re alcohol drinking to keep a lid on things. I'm not suggesting appeasing the youths but sometimes it's better to accept we can't solve everything and should try something different to give everybody a quieter life. I'm sure Mrs Sick and Tired just wants them gone.

It's Different For Girls

2009-12-07T11:44:00.000Z

OK, I admit to hating dealing with drunk women and give them extra leeway. Am I alone in this? I think not. I first noticed this flaw in policing when as a young probationer I was sat in one of those old station vans with the bench seats. The senior PC had arrested a drunken howling aggressive female who was going nuts. She took a dislike to him and ended up kicking him in the face with her high heels. Despite his facial injury she was only sheeted for D and D. He was ribbed by his peers (not me) for this unfortunate incident and it was only because she was a woman and his embarrassment that she got different treatment.

I don't know why but the female of the species when drunk is particularly scathing and abusive to all and sundry. They won't listen to reason or warnings and when the inevitable happens and they have to come, they will kick off screaming that they can't be arrested and you're a bully picking on a woman. The custody officer is never best pleased either, having to put up this conduct until they sober up. Once a bloke hits the cell he tends to get his head down in a drunken slumber. Women will keep up the spiteful comments and door banging for a considerable amount of time.

Only the other week I came across a drunken melee in the street, usual Friday night stuff. I could just about make out who was swinging the punches between the crowd of men and women. I've got a couple of probs with me and get out the car to break it up before trying to see who's started it. Initial fracas over, it starts again with the men squaring up. I arrest one idiot for threatening behaviour and cuff him up. He knows me, I can't remember him but he's nicked and this calms the males, but not the women in the group. I'm this, I'm that, I'm grabbed and I could easily begin to fill up the cell space. As it is we end up arresting two males from one group, which just happens to be the one with the gobby women. At the time I believed we ended up dealing with the trouble making group so we left it at that.

Back in custody the one I've arrested is calm and peaceful and not even drunk. He tells me how one woman in his group started the whole disturbance and that it all got out of hand. He knows he was out of order but was now calm and compliant as was his mate. I think he called it right when he stated that the women in his group deserved to be there. There was some bloke bonding all round and we all instinctively knew we'd prefer it this way. They'd backed up the women and would have been for it if they hadn't. I booked him in and booted him out NFA IM 2:16 applies, on condition he'd have a word with the girlfriends. The mate got a PND as he'd been throwing punches.

Maybe I wanted to readdress the gender inequality on what is classed a crap job and as we're not chasing detections was able to do so, or was it an admission to not wanting to deal with the real catalysts? See we can be sensible and fair sometimes, even when there are offences committed.

Cash Is King

2009-12-01T12:46:00.003Z

I knew that cuts would be coming but not necessarily this financial year - things must be really bad. A extra 10% hit to an already non existent overtime budget means there is less than 2 hours per officer available each month.

The main savings will be made by scrapping civilian staff posts, those individuals will be deployed elsewhere within the force. Who will be back filling their jobs?, who but my team officers from the front line shift, which means less time off all round to maintain minimum staffing levels on normal working days. It's all to do with different budgets and police officer numbers having to be maintained.

I fully expect rostered days off to be cancelled with more than 15 days notice to save cash too. Not a good week you understand to be hearing advertisements about the Policing Pledge on the radio and watching them on TV. How much money is this all costing? Alright it might be Home Office money but I think they may have been better off channelling this towards improving visibility on the streets and not just promising it. That 80% patrol promise is only for community teams anyway. I worked on community and believe me that's an empty promise. If they were not red circled you just get the feeling up above would like to sacrifice a few PCSO's at 25k a pop.

The bosses are now pushing cash savings and not arrests alongside other targets. The dreaded hand over of prisoners between shift officers to save a few pennies can't be too far away. I've even heard one budget holder talking of bringing his cars in early on the last night shift to avoid the risk of overtime payments into rest days.

I'm not saying the police per se should be immune to cuts. We have grown fat under NuLabor like most in the public sector, but maybe we should be looking at some of the non jobs in existence. We don't tend to have them at the lowest levels.

Meanwhile the CID will carry on as normal, " You can't put a price on justice Bruv !! "

Checking The Road Ahead For Hazards

2009-11-27T12:30:00.001Z

Everybody blogged including me about the footage above which was pretty unbelievable at the time. It was not widely known, but was reported that Sabina Eriksson went on to kill shortly afterwards. She has now been sentenced for stabbing a man to death, on the same day she was at court for assaulting a police officer in the film. She was released because she'd spent 12 days in custody on remand.

I think that any reasonable person can see that the individuals concerned were what we call a danger to themselves or others. One might assume there was some kind of mental assessment but still this lady was released onto the streets to kill. Now if we had released her from the police station there would have been an immediate enquiry and calls of neglect or worse, but the court appears to escaped criticism. I can't help but feel that somebody somewhere has made a poor decision in her case leading to the death of another.

Is It only the police who are expected to see into the future? There are now risk assessments to be carried out before we release prisoners in case they come to harm after leaving custody. This includes their well being in getting home up to the risk of suicide. An investigation will take place if anything happens to them within 48 hours.

There are times when hazards are obvious. I dealt with a domestic and went to arrest the perpetrator. The door was ajar as I walked up the garden path, but was slammed shut so the suspect was obviously at home. Gentle persuasion through the letterbox (taking care not to have implement plunged in my face) was fruitless so he was told the door was coming in. This often has the desired effect and I stepped back some way as the door opened, to be be confronted by a lunatic wielding a hefty table leg above his head. He then charged towards me and attempted to bring the table leg down on my head. I managed to side step and just got my baton out to deflect his down strike. My oppo then sprayed him with CS disabling him. Be in no doubt if he had sweded me I would have been somewhat injured to say the least so he's a dangerous bloke right?

The wife had been subject to long standing violence and showed me scars where she had been beaten previously and stabbed. We had not always been involved and alarm bells begin to ring in my head. This bloke needs putting away big time. The charges were ABH on her and Affray with an offensive weapon chucked in too. Stressed was actually at court himself the next day to seek a remand but was greeted by the sight of a smiling defence solicitor leaving the court room. The CPS had downgraded to common assault on the wife and threatening behaviour for the table leg attack. He was also to be bailed to the address of another family member who took delight in giving me the evils in the court room. Remonstrations with the CPS rep were pointless but he promised to review before it came back to court. It was a fob off and of course he didn't.

Didn't have blogs in those days so there was a ranting report sent off to the CPS about keeping stuff out of the Crown Court, which included a prophetic paragraph about me hoping this individual didn't go on to commit a serious offence or God forbid kill someone. It gave me no joy to hear this had an unhappy ending but I wasn't surprised. No, he didn't go on to kill the wife but actually ended up killing the family member who'd given me the evils in the court room. So he got his time in the end but would have been unable to commit that crime if he'd been in the right place already - prison. Oh how I searched in vain for a copy of that report to resend to the CPS.

It seems pretty obvious to me that Sabina Eriksson is one dangerous lady who should treated in a mental institution for a long time. I would be happier if she was never released, but I think we'll be hearing about her in years to come.

No Fishing Allowed

2009-11-24T13:19:00.013Z

Do you really believe that we the police arrest people just to get their DNA? Why is it that The Daily Mail once again targets us when criticising the formation of the DNA database? What a load of shite they write. I'm sure they would be on full attack mode if we didn't arrest somebody who was later found through DNA to have been committing offences and we could have prevented them. Let's make it very clear there has to be at least suspicion of an offence before an Individual is arrested and this triggers the DNA sample being taken if it is a recordable offence.

If a person is innocent or NFA'd that DNA profile is currently retained. That is a government decision so direct your articles that way please Mr Editor of The Mail . I've always questioned if the taking prints and DNA from people arrested for minor offences is proportionate but there can be no doubt it helps in the fight against crime. There have been numerous examples where a DNA sample taken on arrest, has after a speculative search implicated that individual in a cold case. I am therefore in favour of the database.

The Human Genetic Commission report includes a quote from a retired senior police officer, a superintendent, who told the commission: "It is now the norm to arrest offenders for everything if there is a power to do so". His assumption links to the need to take DNA but in reality it comes back to officers covering their backs. Presently there is a big purge on to arrest all named suspects on outstanding crime reports. The reason, because of press outrage when we didn't arrest suspects who went on to commit offences. So what do the press want - you can't have it both ways. Alot of those suspects will be found innocent or shouldn't have been named suspects in the first place.

I must admit that DNA samples were in the back of my mind when arresting a local lad for a smidgen of cannabis once. He was however a Jamaican drug dealer not long in the country who I'd been after for ages. We didn't have his prints photograph or DNA on PNC. My reasoning was that by having his DNA on record there was always a chance that he would implicate himself in later operations when he sold crack from his mouth. All perfectly legal and above board and one reason why I'm not into cannabis warnings per se. He will be one of the 3/4 of black males within a certain age group on the database. The report wants an equality strand inserted to counter this percentage.

I haven't read the report in great detail but apart from the sensational headlines in the press some makes a bit of sense. DNA retention does need looking at and I would suggest a criminal database for the guilty on PNC and a separate database for innocent and juvenile profiles to be looked after by an independent body, but still searchable.

Oh and by the way my fingerprints are on file and so is my DNA somewhere. It doesn't bother me as I don't commit crime. I'm more worried about being on databases elsewhere which leads to my phone ringing all the time to sell me crap*.

* This has eased since I registered here http://www.callpreventionregistry.co.uk/

Right Place - Wrong Time

2009-11-21T14:21:00.005Z

PC Bill Barker - RIP

PC Bill BARKER was where he should have been, helping to steer others away from danger. This life can be very cruel, he was snatched from his family and friends. Nobody could envisage what was going to happen. Forget your health and safety investigations, sometimes these things happen.

He was doing something that can't be measured as part of this job we do. He was at the right place but unluckily the wrong time.

Thoughts today lie with family and colleagues up North.

Getting A Little Bit Back ..

2009-11-18T12:28:00.004Z

The Crown Prosecution Service and us working together to bring offenders to justice. That has a lovely ring to it but I've never found us to be singing from the same hymn sheet. I think that most police officers see the CPS as one of the main causes of increased paperwork, leading to the inevitable result of dodgy NFA or dumbed down charges after charging advice.

Not totally their fault of course, they have to apply the Prosecutors Code and take into account the public interest so would need to see as much possible evidence at the outset to reach a decision. This means in reality massive case files being completed so they can write loads to justify their decisions. I might be a tad cynical however there appears to be an agenda to keep things simple charge wise and out of the Crown Court where possible.

The first time I encountered the CPS charging was over a knife possession where everything had to be faxed off to a lawyer sat in the back of beyond. It was something I as custody officer would have charged as offensive weapon straight off, it being a proper hunting knife. Two hours later the advice came back to charge as points and blades (lesser charge). Waste of two hours there then over something that would have usually taken two minutes. They would have always changed the charge at court to points and blades to get a plead in any event.

We haven't helped ourselves in the past by charging people only to bring incomplete investigations to court where the CPS have had little option but to pull the prosecution due to the lack of a vital statement. I'm pretty certain that there has been a massive percentage decline in discontinued cases since they took over the charging authorisations. Hooray for that target being met but has justice been done in the long run?

The CPS lawyer in the station system soon fell into disrepute, when they were there but unavailable except on an appointment basis bar remand cases. These slipped back later and later until it was a pointless exercise. If you got a weary one most people would wait until they went off home anyway to use the out of hours system where you stood a chance of something more than NFA. They just got snowed under by the paperwork in the end.

It's good to see that some charging responsibility is coming back to the police. It's for summary only cases but will there now be a temptation for us the police to down grade charges ourselves to keep away from CPS and speed things up a bit? It makes sense for the CPS to stick to the serious or complicated cases, but why can't we have the simple theft either-way cases back too? All cases will still get reviewed by the CPS who will have the final say on if they get pulled or not before reaching court.

We rarely got it wrong when we charged in the past and hopefully now with dedicated prisoner processing units the paperwork standards on individual cases will be better too. This is a step in the right direction and will help somewhat. I stated last year that I had noted a sea change from above and now slowly things are actually changing.

Everything's Going To Be OK

2009-11-15T09:47:00.008Z

The winter period has never exactly had me sparking into action, what with the depressing doom and dankness. I often wonder if I've got that SAD syndrome, but then I've always preferred Springtime to the Summer. This year I'm just going with it and not wishing the months away.

This week I was taken aback by the general response to the suicide of German goalkeeper Robert Enke. The general perception being that he must have led a great life and there was no room in it for depression. Since when did a state of mind restrict itself to certain occupations? The things that I picked up on were his fear of failure and drive to succeed thus setting himself the highest goals. It just struck a chord that he was somebody who had a perfectionist personality and it just took a stressor to put him over the edge and into a bad place. The numero uno stressor is bereavement and the loss of a child multiplies that one several times over. He did a good job of keeping his troubles from his team mates which is a shame. It was a very tragic story that played on my mind for days.

I even had a pang of sympathy for our unelected leader Gordon Brown. It's been reported that he too has been down in the dumps, and maybe that's why he has taken to pounding the streets. That's very therapeutic but he should learn to enjoy it more and control his own destiny as that too looked like a staged photo opportunity. If your minds not right I can understand the difficulty in stringing together a coherent sentence on paper, I do it all the time at work but still they spin about his disability. If he's a stress monkey then better out then in says I, and he should pop in here for a few tips.

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that I was going to have a week of death and mortality thrust upon me with all these thoughts in my head. A close friend received an unfavourable diagnosis and as much as you try and remain positive the realities of life hit home and have you reflecting on how much time they may have left. What do you say to them?

A dead body found in the street is always going to involve us and if there are no witnesses to what happened we treat is as suspicious. Never assume anything, but after a couple of hours investigation stringing everything together it looks like a suicide. Possibly a victim of this recession but definitely a victim of their own thoughts. I speak to the next of kin on the phone after a death message had been carried out personally by officers. It was an unexpected shock, but the deceased kept everything in and wouldn't speak about things troubling them. There was a BIG stressor involved in that death too. I explain our procedures and try to be as helpful as possible but what can you say to somebody who's just had the worst news?

Maybe sometimes people just need to hear the words "Everything's going to be OK".

Remembering All

2009-11-11T00:01:00.001Z

This Remembrance Day is different for the Stressed family. My brother in law is currently in Afghanistan doing something. My sister is therefore one who waits, wondering why her satellite phone call isn't happening.

She knows why really but tries not to think of it, because there's been a death and the next of kin are waiting for the knock at the door. Remember everyone today, including those left behind.

I envy him but not her.

Looking Out For Your Own

2009-11-07T13:36:00.007Z

I know it's common for us in the police to judge those with unruly offspring and put the blame on them for bad parenting, but it's not unknown for the children of police officers to have a scrape with the law. I can't think of anything more embarrassing then ending up inside a custody suite acting as appropriate adult for one of your own. I know numerous police parents who have gone through this, good people and it does alter your perception of dealing with young people and their parents. I look at my own boy who's a bit of a live wire and wonder how I'm going to keep him on the straight and narrow. I think I'll go down the line of keeping him off the streets totally.

I arrested a youngster years ago who was drunk and horrible wanting to fight all and sundry. He was cuffed up for threatening behaviour and kept it up all the way to the station. Once on the custody bench he calmed down and says "Do you know PC Fuller?" I said "Yeah why?". He said "Because he's my Dad". Sharp intakes of breath from everyone ensued, because PC Fuller was what is known in the trade as an old style copper. The gobby kid had been bounced through the swinging custody door by me but PC Fuller was well known for taking shit from nobody, and here sat his boy at 16 years of age.

PC Fuller duly attends the custody suite, where he usually worked to act as appropriate adult. He hears the story and asks the custody officer for a couple of minutes alone down the cells. I think it was more than a talking to from the yelps I heard. He was obviously a strict parent and it struck me then, if this is the reason some police brats rebel. I'm sure peer pressure plays a part too if they hang with the wrong crowd. It must be hard being a copper's kid.

I've been lucky with my children so far. The girls have coped pretty well with a difficult childhood, the first Mrs Stressed kept them off the streets when they were younger, which was handy as she lived in a rough pit village up North. Anyone policing North East would raise an eyebrow or two if I named it. So just the boy to get through unscathed which I suspect will be a tad harder. I've now got umpteen years of standing on the touchline at football ahead of me, but that's a small price to pay to empower another of mine to reach their potential.

PC Fuller's boy ended up dead after taking Ecstacy, we suffer the same worries as all other parents don't we?

Shock Horror - More Police Less Crime

2009-11-01T10:20:00.001Z

Thank God that Halloween's out of the way for another year. I think it was worth cancelling my day off with notice just to throw loads of police officers at the problem. I know that elsewhere some areas weren't so lucky. On Monday the big boss will breath a sigh of relief as his robbery figures haven't spiked as in previous years.

The extra boots dealt with over 30 calls, mainly to large groups of known faces who for some reason chose this of all nights to "try" and rampage through the streets. At least they kept their fun to themselves having firework fights aimed at their brethren rather than the general public. I don't know where they were hiding these fireworks as they'd been turned over more than once. There's a cost in man hours but this is a regular operation we can't do without every year. Unfortunately tonight things will be back to normal.

In the past it has actually been total and utter carnage. Robbery after robbery by youths in Scream masks as we let the zombies take over the streets to prey on what could be you or your family. By using section 60 powers authorised by a senior officer we can use stop and search powers to deter carrying of weapons and demand the removal of face masks. There can be no doubt these tactics alter the perception of offenders.

I'm sure some would say we are demonising these youths but the results speak for themselves. Extra police numbers on the streets does have an impact.

I've seen the touchy side work too but on a smaller local level. One year I waved off two coaches consisting of the local youth and their families who were exported to a Fright Night at a far off theme park. They had discounted tickets paid for through some community fund, or to put it another way tax payers money. There was tumbleweed blowing along my streets that night that were well patrolled to deal with those who didn't make the trip. The radio was however spewing out offence after offence in other areas.

I'm glad we're on top, be it for just for a day, and no one really moaned at losing their day off either. I think everybody wanted it to be like this every day. There will be a time when somebody will make a decision to empty the offices for good and return officers back to the streets. No doubt they will be hailed a genius.

Second Chances

2009-10-25T21:37:00.004Z

Well that last post totally missed the point and prompted some conflicting reactions. I can now understand why the senior police ranks haven't stood up. The public perceptions have been skewed and are rallying against us. I wonder what a general public perception survey about the police would show since April, people are not happy. There's been plenty of mud flying about and boy it must be sticking.

My thoughts are still on the management of those in the shite. It seems only fair that somebody should take an interest in their welfare, and I don't just mean to cover the duty of care side for the job. At the moment most of it is left to the Police Federation representatives at individual stations. I think you have to be pretty non-judgemental, and considering us police people look objectively at cases and make decisions we're not bad at it. Lets face it who else could deal with child molesters and have no feelings at all against them, so supporting our own should be no different.

There was a lad where I used to work who got arrested for drink driving. Good policeman but there were known issues that were not dealt with before his arrest and conviction. It's a rather open and shut case and always leads to a discipline board. I went along to support him and provided a character reference knowing that he was likely to be dismissed. It was horrible waiting for that decision but due to the circumstances he kept his job. Before anybody goes off on one the discipline regulations have been changed since then and I've not heard of anybody being kept on for a similar conviction. I think quite a few kept out of his way beforehand unable to handle the embarrassment of knowing what to say to him.

We're unlikely to get second chances now and every police officer knows the score. It doesn't stop loads of people still blowing their careers. Most only have themselves to blame but until they leave us a bit of human decency and understanding towards them isn't too much to ask.

Standing Up

2009-10-22T09:57:00.007+01:00

Did anybody catch Dispatches on Channel 4 the other night Ready For A Riot where yet again G20 and public order tactics were discussed. One thing that caught my attention was how senior officers offered little support to those on the front line. It really was a case of you're by yourselves folks. They are really more worried about the public relations disaster of their own making. Was it not the planners who stated there would be a robust approach to "unlawful" protest?

Now I'm not saying they should condone behaviour that is indefensible - we all know where the line is, but I do like to look at other management styles. Arsene Wenger the Arsenal manager will defend his people to the hilt having the ability to see nothing, and the old Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens came out and supported the troops after the Countryside Alliance disorder. His comment "no one got cracked over the head for no reason" showed real leadership and despite criticism from others was the correct response. I don't think any police officers were convicted because their actions were in fact shown to be justified. They also looked worse than any G20 footage.

I do therefore feel for Sgt Tony Smellie who has been summonsed to appear in court. My view was that this officer would not be prosecuted for his officer safety master class outside the Bank of England. It's not just my opinion, senior officers where I work tend to agree that he'd acted lawfully in covering the backs of his officers. This incident because of the media storm is in the public interest and we have to endure a court hearing before this officer is cleared. It sets a dangerous precedent.

This blog supports Tony Smellie who is an outstanding officer and hopes the full facts are reported if his case goes to trial. This post is about being seen supporting the front line and not about his case in particular. We can discuss the legal bits n bobs about lawful force once he's found Not Guilty.

Ticking The Box, For The Box

2009-10-19T19:25:00.010+01:00

When I read about customer surveys being completed by prisoners who visit custody suites I thought it was just more bumf associated with being customer focused. I can't get excited about these satisfaction statistics, especially when one month we were shown as having 100% customer satisfaction at the front counter. This resulted from just two questionnaires being completed. That fact was not published in the nice coloured chart displayed to the waiting public.

I am however rather shocked to hear from a well connected source that we are actually considering putting televisions into our cells. This would be for the benefit of our guests who should have all comforts, as it must be bad to deprive them of their Jeremy Kyle fix. I imagine there is a police department somewhere agonising how to supply this human right to everybody, after all if you don't speak English shouldn't you have a channel in the language of your choice?

Perhaps we should go the whole hog and have a huge waiting room instead of cells, turning the custody suite into a copy of Kwikfit with self serve drink machines. Now I don't for one minute believe the police hierarchy are responsible for this, it must be coming from some government ministry, mustn't it?

Let's just hope that now the country is nearly bankrupt this extra expenditure is shelved, but don't bank on it.

The Lender Of First Resort

2009-10-16T08:50:00.004+01:00

There is one good thing about having policed the same area over the past umpteen years. I am in a unique position to compare things now to what went before. I do recall one Superintendo stating that response team would have a strength of 21 and if it fell below that, he would post people from non-operational posts to maintain that level. I think at the time there was a concerted attempt to raise the status of uniformed reliefs. It never happened and that same team now has a strength of 14.

That's not to say there are less boots on the street, with the community teams and dedicated squads we do in fact have an abundance of resources. Unfortunately they all work towards their individual remits. The reported levels of volume crime have decreased considerably even when you take into account some minimal fiddling. I know this because I was in the morning hot seat nearly 10 years ago having to read out the overnight figures. I can put this down in part to the pro-active activities of the Burglary squad, Drugs squad, Robbery squad and Motor Vehicle squad.

These are not made up wholly of CID officers but have to take constables from the response teams. Due to the type of work they undertake the most productive officers will be spirited away from uniformed response. After some short term pain they will be replaced, but most likely by a non skilled probationer or I think I must call them student officer's. Some of the teams where I work have over 60% of probationers (less than 2 years service) making up the core strength. When I was in my probation over 20 years ago I was the only newbie on my relief for a 2 year period and that's a lot of tea making I can tell you.

I'm continually having to give up people when a new temporary squad is formed to meet some centrally imposed target. We have newer squads other than those mentioned, which I won't name so not to identify my area. It's always with no notice that I have to provide another constable and it will invariably leave us struggling to cope with calls. I feel like the coach of a football academy being stripped of my best players having invested time in bringing them up to a high standard.

It's the way it is and you can't really stand in the way of a constable seeking better working conditions on a squad, with the added benefit of overtime thrown in too. If I was them I would be sorely tempted too and being totally honest the results speak for themselves. Response team is harder work than it's ever been and I must say I'm very proud of what these youngsters produce and their commitment. All I ask for now that those volume figures have gone down is for some of the constables back.

Lost In Translation

2009-10-12T15:00:00.001+01:00

Now as I'm part of the policing organisation I should have some idea of where we are trying to go strategically but I'm actually getting rather confused. I know bringing in changes takes time but at the moment there just seems to be a clash of seismic plates.

On the one hand we have the modernisation and best value plans where the top police brains have looked at our functions and stated what our core responsibilities are. This has been going on for years since the Taylor report, where it was made clear that the police are not actually responsible for public safety at football matches and other commercially organised events. Since then we've also withdrawn from house alarms not connected (paid for) centrally to police and noise nuisance, both of which are referred to the local authority who have the powers to deal that we don't. The Highways Agency now patrol the motorway system to keep it flowing and deal with traffic issues freeing reduced numbers of police to deal with enforcement and accidents. The local authority have street wardens in spanking brand new 4 wheel drive vehicles equipped with CCTV to patrol social housing estates and respond to complaints from residents. Some forces like in the Pilkington case obviously already see low level stuff as non police matters.

We then have the policing pledge where we are to concentrate on the customer and their needs. In reality large numbers of police officers are becoming involved in non police activities attempting to engage with the general public and raise satisfaction levels. Most of this work is done by local neighbourhood teams, one of which I used to lead. There was always a balance to be found between fighting crime and keeping the punters generally happy and reassured. I know it wasn't really the role of my PCSO's to accompany some old people to the dentist or do some chores for them but it did embed them in the community and raise satisfaction levels. It also allowed me to gauge what was going on and the perceptions locally. I also used to totally plan and police local events including processions and community fun days. It still happens and is encouraged but the responsibility actually lies with the organiser for the event.

So who would you call if the neighbours across the road were having a noisy party at 3am on a Thursday night? A call to the police should receive the policy line, contact the duty officer at the local authority, who should in turn contact the environmental health officer. As most of them go off duty at 2am the duty officer would tell you the bad news and invariably say try the police. It's a fact that the police are seen as the service provider of last resort and if we didn't turn out because we've run out of units no doubt you would be pretty dissatisfied with police.

You can see the conflict of policy here as police are withdrawing from having a visible local presence, closing police stations and going towards central bases on industrial estates where all the patrol resources are in one place, with no public contact or access. It makes financial sense but is it focused on the needs of the community who lose their local police station?

The central message coming out has been lost on me so how are the general public supposed to work it out. This needs somebody in Government to sit down and decide what route we should go down. Meanwhile those on the response teams are still running about like blue arsed flies.

The Decent Thing

2009-10-05T21:30:00.004+01:00

I was mightily peeved the other year with the government failing to ratify our pay settlement to save them 20 millions or so. It was the principle - not the money. Since then they agreed with federated ranks a three year pay deal, which I think awards us 2.6 % this year and 2.55 % in 2010. Think how much more they could have saved by sticking to the old agreements.

Now that they propose to freeze pay awards for high earners in the public sector, I would just like to say I'd willingly give up any pay rise this year. Of course I'd expect a total pay freeze on all public sector pay and a promise for immediate cuts in public sector spending to be committed to by all political parties. I think even we in the police could lose a few departments. I could name several we could do without without affecting front line delivery. I'm sure most forces could do the same.

I would then expect this government to do the decent thing and call an immediate election. It's not going to happen is it?

Civil Route - Stronger Justice

2009-09-30T10:08:00.011+01:00

I've been beaten down by the criminal justice system and like many others just accept it as a waste of time. There is no fear of it from young offenders and in the Fiona PILKINGTON case a criminal prosecution would have had little effect.

Here is the sentence handed down to a youth convicted of attempted robbery that I was involved in.

Supervision Order 9 months to follow directions in the order:

Supervised by a member of YOT (Youth Offending Team)
Participate in young black men's group work programme
one to one sessions with victim liason worker to address the impact of offending on the victim
reparation sessions as assessed by specialist worker
one to one sessions to consider thinking and behaviour and appropriate responses to situations
one to one sessions to identify and engage in appropriate training or employment.

Now for non recidivist offenders the above might well be worthwhile. I'm sure that for many it might divert them from a life of crime. More minor offences would also be subject to intervention by the youth offending team. Non compliance can result in curfew by Tag and being taken back to youth court. You need to be convicted though for any of this to take place, very difficult in itself. In the case I allude to above the best result was having the lad and his mates on conditional bail for several months on a night time curfew before trial. I'm sure it was a coincidence that the little series of robberies I'd suffered locally ceased during that time. Robbery is of course seen as a more serious offence.

For the minor public order offences I've seen the civil law used to good effect. One particular tool I like is the ASBI (Anti Social Behaviour Injunction) which despite the fancy handle is just a civil injunction. This can however come with a power of arrest if the civil judge decrees.

It would appear from what I've read that the Leicestershire council had taken over the lead on the Pilkington case and gone down the proportionate route by first getting an ABC (Anti-Social Behaviour Contract) signed by some young people. This is basically just the first step to getting an ASBO where conduct is challenged and a contract signed where they promise to behave and not contravene certain conditions like throwing stones etc. The local authority was in the process of getting things done as an ASBI was also granted but this was after the suicides. They were actually getting there and I think the orders in place may have helped. Perhaps the local police should have put their remarks about the criminal justice system more bluntly.

I would assume an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) was not sought as this would have meant researching and compiling a massive pack of incidents and statements to put before the magistrates court. These are somewhat time consuming to say the least.

Let me give you an example of when my local authority sought an ASBI. A young man came onto one of my estates and abused one of the caretakers threatening to hit him. The caretaker only knew his first name, so things were discussed at the joint ASB meeting. Yours truly puts forward the likely suspect and supplies an address and police image. I'm set for an investigation knowing full well that the lads friends would back him and it's the caretakers word against them, CPS would say unrealistic chance of conviction = No Further Action.

The ASB manager who I've worked with for years is a good bloke knows this too well. He wants to protect his staff and is committed to getting an ASBI. I supply a few bits and pieces he requires, he gets a statement and their legal department get an injunction. The result being said individual is banned from the estate for 12 months WITH A POWER OF ARREST for me should I catch him. I was convinced he would breach it but he didn't or not to my knowledge. I was still on his case but when I spoke to him he saw this as a stronger punishment than if we'd gone down the criminal route, even if we'd got a conviction. The caretaker was happy too as he'd been supported by his employer.

I should just add that I worked with a very much "can do" authority that did actually allocate many resources to ASB. They had better vehicles, better kit and better administration back up than I could ever muster.

I suppose it depends on the judge who sits in the county court. I'm not so sure that they would be keen to grant injunctions in similar circumstances against juveniles. Civil route is definitely the way forwards. Lets just get an injunction to ban travelling criminals from being in certain areas where they've been caught doing crime. They can then be arrested and placed in front of a civil judge to explain why they breached their order.

But we shouldn't even be contemplating the civil law should we? Shows how badly things have gone. Tough On Crime Mmmm ..

Taking Responsibility .. Just Do It

2009-09-27T12:01:00.000+01:00

I very much disagree with Superintendent Steve Harrod that anti-social behaviour and low level hooliganism is not the responsibility of the police. I don't know who rules the streets in Leicestershire but I would hang my head in shame if a similar case happened on my patch. He is not picking up on what's important here. The silent majority are suffering from swaggering youths and want them to be tackled, but feel ignored. Those comments do not do much to instill confidence in the police do they?

I take his point about the inept criminal justice system and punishments handed out to young people in the form of reprimands, but does that mean we should do nothing? There are things that can be done and working together with the local authority can actually be more effective than the criminal route. I don't know what they did up there, but one of the best meetings I used to attend was our anti social behaviour one with the housing officers. We would discuss local problems and you could gauge where the demand was coming from. A few extra patrols and a few words in the right ears was often enough to nip things in the bud.

When that didn't work it was a case of getting out there and taking the ground. Youth gathering points would be visited to identify the likely culprits. This caused conflict with the kids whose usual riposte was "we ain't got nowhere to go" "we ain't doing nothing" "why are you always harassing us?" You could pass the names to the local authority who could send out warning letters but this is only a first step to deter them.

I've always found the best way was to covertly record their antics. This would mean getting a RIPA authority to conduct surveillance. I would only use this after pro-active patrolling had failed to stop the unruly behaviour. These kids will hang out every night and police teams due to shift working just can't put out the same presence on a regular basis. Sledgehammer to crack a nut? Well it is certainly an awful lot of paperwork, but if everything else has failed what else can be tried?

I received a lot of complaints about kids throwing eggs, smoking dope and being noisy on one of my estates. Nobody rang me direct and they rarely called 999 because by the time units turned up the kids had gone, if anybody actually came. They would however stop and tell me on foot patrol.The evidence was all over the back windows of the houses that backed onto the estate. A bit of door knocking, and some of the residents told me how bad things were. They were kept awake by shouting and swearing but when they shouted at the group they got abuse back, followed a few days later by eggs thrown at their property. One lady even had her window smashed splintering glass over where her baby usually slept. Bloody disgraceful, now tell me again that this isn't conduct that police should tackle.

A few days of filming showed a group gathering sat on railings outside of a sheltered housing block. The railings were about three feet from an elderly lady's back window. I filmed continued spitting on the floor so it actually formed a small puddle, smoking of cannabis and general noisy screaming and shouting. OK nothing too outrageous from a criminal view point and definitely seen as low level anti-social behaviour but to the other residents it was living in hell. I got a statement from the old lady who was at the end of her tether and had previously contacted the housing office to complain. She however chose to just live with it too scared to go to bed if the group were outside her window. Tell me again how this is not the responsibility of the police to deal with it. I would hope that Mr Harrod would not try and pass this off if he dealt with these people and would actually do something to help them.

The video was not pleasant viewing and some of the parents of those identified were invited in to the housing office to see it. They were really ashamed and thankfully in that case it was enough to solve the problem. I've seen the same tactic used where the behaviour was more criminal. All the culprits were summoned to a youth clinic to be reprimanded. Some police officers out there do care because they can see what's wrong and will work hard to do something for the silent majority .. it's called taking responsibility.

RIPA - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 .. Authority to be granted by superintendent for covert surveillance activities. Lots of writing about proportionate use and necessity so not to infringe the human rights of those who don't give a shite about anybody else.

Choir Practice

2009-09-24T15:16:00.005+01:00

When you think how much time is spent working with drunks and people with a host of issues, you would think we would be quite good at spotting those officers with the same problems. I've obviously worked with people who like a good drink, but have never been able to see when the alcohol and work thing has gone too far.

I should know better having come from the army with a massive peer group drinking culture. In that environment the pressure to consume and hold your drink was immense. Every night would involve massive drinking sessions and I rarely took to my bed without the ceiling spinning. Of course returning to the UK on leave meant I could show off my new found drinking capacity. It was stupid considering the drinking culture continued on exercise and we were in charge of some dangerous kit. I used to rebel against this by going on fitness drives, and keeping out of the bar for 6 week periods especially when I started getting the shakes. I still keep in touch with my old comrades on specialised army reunion sites. Many who stayed in for the full term make no secret of their alcohol problems.

I can't speak for the CID but my general feel is that we in the uniformed police have moved away from a drinking culture. The days of the team drink after early turn are gone but I have heard of a few brave souls who manage to get out straight after their last night shift for an early morning session. As a supervisor I tend to keep clear just in case some inappropriate conduct from others gets me in the shite. I'm a firm believer in police, drink and the public not mixing unless it's a tried and tested establishment.

I do miss going to the police local where we had one side of the bar and the general public had the other. It worked well and the landlord (old fashioned pub) did very well out of the arrangement. Shift pattern changes and people travelling from further a field really saw the impromptu drink consigned to history.

I don't know what people get up to in their own time. A few of the single officers who lived in police accommodation were of course at risk of getting caught up in a drinking culture similar to me in the army. I don't know where a good drink becomes a drink problem and then alcoholism.

I bumped into a friend the other day who has had his problems with drink. He was an ex squaddie and never really got out of that lifestyle. His problems were known to the job who didn't really know what to do so they did nothing. He was working in the CID environment at the time and I wonder if that was the reason. It wasn't until he nearly lost his job that he started to sort himself out. He is now dry, attends AA meetings and is doing well in his job, a specialised role. He is helping out as a mentor to those with alcohol issues within the job and told me of the stigma attached to alcoholism.

Under the new misconduct regulations he would have been dismissed from the job, without any doubt. They would have lost a good police officer. I do wonder if every case should be treated on it's merits with regards to those with obvious alcohol problems that exist within this job, where people have missed or ignored it. Of course ultimately the person concerned has a responsibility to seek help too.

Loved The Choirboys film and this scene a good example of a team drink going wrong !!! It was made in the 70's so excuse the obvious stereotyping of both police officer and gay member of the public!

Getting Off On The Wrong Foot

2009-09-17T10:36:00.007+01:00

I came across this video and it threw up a few interesting thoughts about interaction and getting off on the wrong foot. This post is not a criticism of the Police Community Support Officer who I think remains rather polite and puts his point of view across in a sensible way. It does not compare to the well viewed video of a PCSO being rude to a photographer in London. This lad saw it right to challenge somebody using the word shit repeatably in the presence of a young child and parent.

The situation escalates slightly into a discussion about the word shit after being told a ticket could be issued for disorderly conduct under the public order act. Obviously the members of the public involved see him as an authority figure who is being overbearing. Of course talk of issuing fines in this instance was not the way to resolution, but was a reaction to being told by the film maker to stop rebuking him from swearing. The end result being a credible score draw in my opinion, I know a few who would have let that get out of hand.

I was just wondering what the parent of the child would have thought. Maybe he was shocked by the use of the word shit in front of his kid. Would he have been aggrieved if the PCSO had not done anything and ignored the situation?

The comments on the YouTube video by cveitch are mixed either way, but I did like the one pointing out that the PCSO would probably say shit if he fell off his bike.

Protecting The Truly Good

2009-09-14T12:54:00.013+01:00

Another set of nights is out of the way. It was relatively quiet .. I can say that now I've got a few days off. Quiet means we didn't get wiped out by any major jobs and actually met our Immediate graded call time targets. We only dealt with 30+ but they didn't end up with too many arrests. There were the same drunken fights from outside the usual drinking hell holes. The participants not being too bothered to take things further and going their separate ways relatively unscathed. We still ran out of units though, meaning I got the chance to attend a few calls by myself.

I was met by ambulance crews on most of these who rarely have a quiet night. I feel sorry for the ambos who have to deal with alot of crap from our shared customer base. It makes me feel rather angry when they get abused and their time is wasted. My old man was an ambulance driver when he first left the army but that was the day's of scoop them up, patch them up and get them to the nearest casualty which was never far away. Today these people are dedicated health professionals and highly qualified. Their pay should be on a parity with ours and I along with all other police workers respect them for the job they do.

One of the calls was to assist the ambos with a collapsed drunk male refusing to leave a bus. There were two ambulance vehicles present, a lone responder and a double crewed unit. I trudged upto the top deck to find a prone individual on the floor. He was conscious speaking and basically playing the dead weight game. They had already completed their checks and deduced there was nothing wrong with him medically. He was intoxicated but more I suspect from chewing khat than alcohol. After much persuasion which failed, he was just lifted unceremoniously by a joint services move and carried off the bus down the stairs and placed on the pavement still pleading illness and claiming to have lost the use of his legs.

Now we had a predicament, who was taking him. I was all for just leaving him there convinced that as soon as we'd left he'd get up and go home. The ambos quite rightly said that they'd receive further calls to a male collapsed in the street and have to come back. If I'd arrested him it would be the same result with him getting booked in and claiming an immediate medical condition that would have needed him going to hospital. Our police surgeons under a new scheme are not as accessible, so we are having to use A + E on a more frequent basis.

I was solely tempted to resort to methods of days gone by. This might have involved a police van and a drive to more scenic surroundings where he could be dropped off. I am of course more professional than that .. we all knew he would be wasting the time of the NHS tonight to cover everybody's backsides. So he was strapped up to see the doctor in casualty as he wanted to, just in case .. duty of care and all that.

I saw later that the same waste of space was in one our custody suites. The doctor had refused to treat him due to his conduct and he'd spat at one of the ambos, so backs having been covered he ended up in the right place after all.

The courts are supposed to take these type of assaults on NHS staff more seriously. I don't know if they do - or like us in the police it's seen as part of the job. It shouldn't be that way, I can live with it as a policeman but the ambos and nurses should be protected more by the law, because they are truly good people.

Falling Back To Earth

2009-09-09T17:25:00.000+01:00

I've been reading some interesting stuff about Job Stress and how your occupation actually changes the way you think. This is not related to police work in particular but all different roles. The pressures exerted by management the role itself and by colleagues actually changes your perceptions and behaviours and makes you act in certain ways. It is fascinating stuff and got me thinking about how I might have changed in my views over the years.

I don't know how you would measure it, as we don't do Psychometric testing as a rule. If we did my old friend Dandelion would say we recruit complete psychopaths. We no doubt will have a few lurking in our midst but have they been created by this job? They are outnumbered presently in my opinion by weak willed individuals employed through a catch all recruiting process.

My class at training school completed one of those Psychometric tests just as a laugh. I took it seriously and answered it truthfully. You might know the type, numerous questions where you have to agree or disagree in the strongest terms or not to a particular statement. I can't remember many but your views on religion were sought. I strongly disagreed on that one. There was also one on liking fires - and as I'd set fire to the next door neighbours dustbin as a child I strongly agreed.

It was so long ago that the results were plotted on a graph and shown on an overhead projector, which was cutting edge technology at the time. The instructor showed that most of the class were within the expected range of normality. The only graduate in the class was over on the left with liberal views which was also normal for somebody with that education and thinking. He then moved the sheet to reveal a little cross off the scale on the edge of the universe which was mine. Apparently Genghis Khan should have been where Jupiter was and there was me out alone on Pluto. I like to think I'm different and didn't have any desire to join the rest of the class on planet Earth or the graduate on Mercury. As I'd just left HM forces I don't think that result was actually so shocking. I'd just had three years of ingrained discipline and training put through me and would have followed any order without question, including killing. I had been moulded into what the Army wanted. In reality I painted a lot of things green but that button was there to be pressed.

Several year's later, on my Sergeant's course we did another one. This was a bit different with similar statements but based around Team Task and Individual. To become the ideal manager you had to have a fair balance of three circles overlapping when they were plotted. I'd cheated a bit as I didn't go so strong on the strongly agree or disagrees. The result however showed me as the perfect leader. Looking back I was pretty hot at the time work wise and the personal life was only just going bent.

Ten years further on and I must be due another one. If I'd taken it a couple of years back god only knows what would have shown up. I would like to think I'm actually more centred and open today. As a result I trust nobody and that includes management at work and our government.

I think the only role the police use these for are undercover operatives. I believe there is a 3 hour Psychometric and a psychiatric assessment to be passed before being selected for training. I've often wondered why they don't do this for firearm's roles. I've seen a few "red misters" go onto specialised jobs with guns.

As I near the end of my career I do so a bit battered and bruised both physically and mentally. I am however aware of how I came to be here. My old man always said the job will flog a willing horse till it drops and I think he is right. Hopefully I'll be able to steer a few away from making my mistakes. To do so they will have to change and understand that your job is not your life. You are unlikely to change the world but you can change yourself.

Career Suicide

2009-09-06T14:55:00.004+01:00

I must admit I have a tendency to watch those Cop shows on TV when nothing else is on, and might have had a walk on part in years gone by. One thing I don't do is allow my face to be shown - ever. Not great for the producers but if you don't like it don't film me. I've got a face best suited for radio anyway.

What you do see on screen are of course heavily edited segments of incidents put together to show a realistic and entertaining snap shot of policing today. I'm not saying that all the participants are put under pressure but as I understand it a small financial fee may come the way of the police, so it is expected the front line will co-operate.

What would worry me and I think alot of young officers don't give it much thought is the future impact on their policing careers. If you've appeared on these shows they have a tendency to be repeated on a loop, sometimes years afterwards. It may be on some obscure cable channel but rest assured that is exactly the viewing fare our client base enjoy. I think it's because they have a good laugh at the end of the programme, when the voice over gives out the sentences imposed for the misdemeanours earlier in the show. I'm often in tears myself - but mine are of despair.

So how can you be selected for specialised surveillance work or even proper undercover roles if you've been plastered all over the latest cop show? The reality is you can't. These day's having a Facebook account is enough to end your application at an early stage.

It would be nice however to see a warts and all police programme showing the reality of policing in 2009, not just the exciting bits. I think depending where they based it - there might be some uncomfortable viewing for the public and politicians alike. It could however bring about positive changes. Of course it would be career suicide for any senior officer who allowed it.

Having said all that the ex DC who does Crimewatch seems to have done OK from his media exposure. As I'm getting on in years I might just be tempted if a six figure contract was waved my way to defect to a TV career, and YES I'm available for Bod of the week in Heat magazine too. Just speak to my agent darlings.

Click on the YouTube link .. this cracks me up every time .. don't know why

Getting Nowhere ... Slowly

2009-09-01T14:09:00.007+01:00

It would appear we the police have another tool to tackle drunken anti-social behaviour in the Drinking Banning Order. Yet another law and power to read up on when the main cause of the problem is The Licencing Act 2003, brought in by you know who. I haven't read up on it yet and won't get any training at work, but if it's like most of the other stuff around licencing I can't see it being much use to me.

I think I posted on this last year when most of my evenings on night shift were taken up patrolling the "night time economy" or to put it another way a few irresponsible premises who allowed all and sundry to get hammered before decanting them onto the streets with predictable results.

The licencing act is I've found rather poor in tackling problem bars, and creates a bureaucratic nightmare for us the police with a system that is stacked in favour of the wrongdoer. The act allows conditions to be placed on a licence that can only relate to:

The prevention of Crime and Disorder
Public Safety
Prevention of nuisance
Prevention of harm to children

So this would cover opening times for the sale and consumption of alcohol, fire exits, use and storage of CCTV, the number of security staff to be on duty, the need for searches, a refusals policy and a host of other things the local licencing committee may see fit before they grant a premises licence. It's rather taken as read that the premises won't allow its patrons to drink to excess and contravene one of the above objectives. This is where the problem begins for us the police.

In the good old days any licensee would be invited into the station for a chat if their premises was causing a problem. If the subsequent warning wasn't heeded then a prosecution would soon follow and objections made when the licence was up for renewal. Now we have to take a "proportionate" approach and highlight deficiencies if there is evidence of poor management and instruct and advise said wrongdoer how to rectify the problem. This must all be evidenced with written documentation which must be able to be presented in court. After this "working together" which often results in an agreed action plan, a review can be called of the premises licence if there are still problems.

Now I've been through this process a couple of times. It involved countless statements from officers who attended fights and dealt with disorderly conduct, incident records, crime reports, and the tracking of individuals found drunk in the street to record which premises had been serving them. It is quite alot of paperwork and takes time to gather it over months when the venue is continuing to be a problem. This is where I differ with the Drinking Banning Order. In collating all the evidence on one particular premises we did not have recidivist troublemakers coming to notice at all, so it would have been a waste of time. The problem is the sale of alcohol to people who are drunk, the bars know it and take the money regardless, washing their hands of the problems on the streets later. You have to link the person causing trouble in the street to the bar to use any evidence against them.

If the local authority agree to a review then it's game on and the matter is brought before the local licencing committee. This consists of councillors who are local residents. Because our evidence is usually overwhelming they will then impose new conditions to prevent crime and disorder and nuisance, usually a reduction in hours which hurts the bar financially. Up to this point a lot of hard work but worth it. This is where the legislation tends to go wrong.

The premises can appeal to the magistrates court if they apply within 28 days and any changes to their conditions are put on hold. So they can carry on just as before until the matter comes to court. Most of the managed bars will go down this route because the loss of revenue is too great for them. With the usual delaying tactics this is often 6 months after the review hearing. Any smart bar will move the previous manager and start to play ball applying with their conditions.

As the case is now in the magistrates court every officer who provided a statement will be required to give evidence. No matter how good your original evidence to bring the review the other side will show how they are now a responsible premise and claim it would be disproportionate to change their conditions now they have "shown" over the subsequent period to be trouble free.

The court case effectively becomes a new review covering the time from the committee decision. It grates with me but that's the way it is. I would often during the 6 month period stand on the door of the one we had up for review and time and time again the door staff would refuse entry to drunks sending them down the road to other bars. We still had trouble in the streets be it from other venues who decanted said same drunks back out at 2am, but to be honest what was the point of going through a pointless charade again.

Maybe if the licencing committee review decision stood pending appeal then they might start complying with their conditions during the action plan stage. I won't be rushing to do another one that's for sure.

Funny Old Game

2009-08-26T12:09:00.004+01:00

It's all rather tribal this football violence and a surprise to see Millwall and West Ham involved in some serious "old school" violence. I don't really get the mentality behind it, they have an organised scrap but will be "together" to do battle for En-ger-land at the next big tournament. I suppose their reputations are now enhanced and one or other would move up the unofficial "we are the hardest" supporters list.

I must say that I've policed football for many years and find the majority of "risk" supporters to be a load of dickheads and full of shite. What does concern me is that they've moved on from scrapping to actually stabbing each other. As with events in April poor old plod is again in the line faced with a mob, who this time were not too bothered who they fought with.

Millwall would be in my experience the fans I least like to police. They visited my area a few years back and it was an experience to say the least. They were horrible, aggressive and revelled in their reputation. I looked at the stand and saw three generations of the same family replicated time and time again, Dad Son and Grandson all looking menacing with their cropped haircuts. I was in the line stopping a pitch invasion and they were well up for it flicking spit at us and working themselves up to come over the top.

We were led by a great sergeant who made it very clear that if they dared to come over the hoardings they would get the necessary treatment it deserved. It sort of clicked that he meant it, so they boldly stated they'd do it outside instead. We then stood there as they decanted up the stand to start some serious disorder outside. Once they're running loose it's rather hard to contain them, so they have to be penned in at all costs. At least they tend not to moan about it afterwards.

As I understand it on these Carling Cup games the away fans get a larger allocation of tickets then a normal league match which boosts the attendance. This will make operational control a damn sight harder from the outset, so the solution is obvious even if it affects gate receipts. All this talk of lifetime bans won't stop it, a few maximum sentences perhaps will.

Summer Of Love

2009-08-20T11:33:00.005+01:00

Can we discuss public order again after G20 in April? Another Climate Camp is planned to coincide with the Notting Hill carnival in London. It would appear there is unlikely to be a repeat of April after a review of police tactics, instead it looks like we're going to have a "love in".

After the Summer of Rage failed to materialise we're having community policing at this one, as suggested by Stressed after the April gig. They must be warning the dancing policemen for duty as I write.

Of course police resources are required to police that massive street event elsewhere, so why tie them up unnecessarily on some eco camp. One hopes that the participants enter into the spirit of co-operation and minimise their disruption to local people.

Nobody knows where the camp is to be located, but no doubt it will be close to Notting Hill so some happy campers don't have too far to wander back to their tents to carry on partying. Will the police prevent entry to a site when everybody converges on it? I doubt it very much. I suppose half of the campers will be reporters from the press anyway.

Can't wait for the spinning on this one with both sides trying to out do each other. Personally I wouldn't even police it, bar for the photo opportunity. It's a climate camp but there must be protest action planned for elsewhere. I'd cover that with mobiles as and when it pops up. Most troublemakers will be at the Hill anyway.

Some Days

2009-08-17T18:20:00.000+01:00

How quickly can you run out of police officers? It is always touch and go but somehow we just about manage, except for some days. I don't know why it is, but occasionally you will just have a hellish shift when the box is empty and things are about to implode.

I should have known when the day team picked up an armed robbery at the arse end of their shift. Straight away there would be a scene to be secured and night shift officers deploying to relieve the others. The two early cars who parade an hour before the main shift to take up the slack had already been deployed to calls. The team were under minimum strength as often happens, but tonight we would be caught out. I brief my community team and hear the next call come out. Somebody had fallen several floors from a tower block with the inevitable result. It was going to be a long night. I find a vehicle and take my small team down to help out.

There are plenty of entrances and exits that need to be cordoned off. The duty officer is present and knows he needs more boots on the ground. Everything he has available is here, but the calls are stacking up too. He is able to pull in an additional community team to help, but they will take a while to get here. This is not a straightforward job, the circumstances are suspicious and will require a specialist squad to investigate. We are 45 minutes into the 12 hour shift and have no more units to deal.

The forensic tent is quickly deployed to cover the deceased, and offer some dignity. The other flat dwellers have a front row view of proceedings from their balconies. Everything is secured and officers briefed. Entry into the block is going to be managed by us. The deceased is known to us and to most of the other residents, who have put up with years of anti-social behaviour from the flat.

The caretakers cupboard is located, which has a toilet off of it and a power point. I drive the officers who were first on scene and a material witness back to the station, finding the tea club open and unused, so I liberate the kettle and some instant drinks from the custody suite. I also grab some soft toilet paper for use of the female officers on the cordons. That cupboard will be our sanctuary for the duration of this job.

Family members are beginning to turn up. They ask questions and I don't have any answers. A family liaison officer is being called in from home but will take a couple of hours. This group grows considerably and includes the teenage children of the deceased. The daughter is understandably distressed but consoles herself by swigging from a bottle of alcopop. The blue line is sombre and exercises discretion in not enforcing the no public drinking legislation. The other residents are not blessed with as much empathy. Somebody has made a comment to the group, not very complimentary about the deceased and a scuffle ensues. We break it up and escort the resident to her flat. She tells us they might get some peace and quiet now the deceased won't be around. What can you say?

The duty officer has sorted this out well. He's also trying to manage other scenes by phone and borrow some troops from the next door Division. This will free up a unit to answer some calls on the ever growing list. There will be a lot of peeved people tonight waiting for us. The specialised squad turn up in dribs and drabs, with red A4 notebooks. There's plenty of nodding as the area is in lockdown. We will hold the scene but the decisions are now for them to make. They speak to the family and the group dwindles. After a few more hours the body is removed and we move in some cordons and release team officers. Just my team and a couple from a neighbouring Division are left.

We are waiting for the local authority to clean away the body fluids. It's now the early hours and nobody is looking out anymore, they're safely tucked up in their beds. The quiet is shattered by a road sweeping lorry, one of those little one's with the little brushes that sweep up shite from the gutters before it's sucked up into the gunnel's. I speak to the driver expecting him to have a bag of specialised granules to soak up the blood. No this is it - I think we call this a communication break down.

More phone calls and talk of health and safety. We have to wait for a specialised clean up. We're in luck, a couple of hours later one turns up. He has a look and scrapes up some congealed blood and hairs into a contaminated waste bag. A quick spray with something and he hoovers up the rest. We have a look and there's still a redness in the concrete. Unbelievably he's got a power hose and sprays down the rest whilst telling me about the jumper he dealt with who came down 15 floors. Apparently there was only a blood pool of about a fists size on that job - fascinating stuff. He departs and we're nearly done.

The son of the deceased is nearby and asks if he can leave a flower. I just want to check everything's done and then see some more blood and hairs the other side of a low wall. Luckily the caretakers office has a hard broom. I scrub the blood away and also clear the area of beer cans and other litter. It's now ready and he can come forward. He lays a single flower probably pulled from somebodies garden, but it means something, it is his tribute. No doubt it will the first of many.

It's an hour to shifts end and our relief turn up. Some early turn have been called in on overtime to take over. There's only two needed for the front door of the flat. Another Sunday night is over.

The outstanding incident list was a mess and I shuddered when seeing the type of calls we never got to. Dozens of people thinking we are crap as we never turned up, but some days are just like this, us being very busy dealing with a serious incident.

Infamy

2009-08-13T14:44:00.007+01:00

I do like a bit of reality so when the press go on about the mother of baby P getting fitness classes and a host of other life enhancing benefits when she is released, I'm not actually shocked.

It's not unusual for those with "issues" to have their every need tended to. Don't fancy getting up to take your kids to school - no problem, social services will send a taxi round each day to collect them and do it for you. House a tip - well can't expect you to get off your arse from trawling Internet chat rooms, social services will ensure somebody comes in to clean your house for you. Making it up am I? I don't think so.

The lady in question Tracey Connelly had more breaks than many, but chose to live the way she did indulged by society. Still it didn't save her son from a horrendous death. No doubt all the agencies will look at themselves and their policies in the hope that it will never happen again. Well unfortunately it will as long as we excuse feckless individuals the need for some personal responsibility.

When she gets out she should get nothing. How do we have a "duty of care" towards her? She and her ilk should have no anonymity or protection unless the threat towards them is real and assessed as such from hard intelligence not wishful thinking. I rather like the thought that she should suffer a bit of fear and should constantly be looking over her shoulder. I doubt it will compare to the fear that young baby suffered.

When is a political party going to come out and pledge to repeal parts of The Human Rights Act?

Caught In The Web

2009-08-11T12:33:00.005+01:00

I do find myself somewhat envious of those who take the plunge and leave this occupation of ours and do something completely different. Michael Pinkstone is one I particularly admire escaping the madness and I wish him well with the new book. Unfortunately for me I'm beginning to smell that final pension and that is the overriding reason why I wouldn't even consider leaving. The finances were never a reason for joining and I never gave it any thought in training, when I was pulled in and asked if I'd accept the police offer on part of my army service. I think it amounts to 18 months but means I can claim a full pension when I reach 50 years of age.

So for financial reasons I feel somewhat stuck where I am. I'm reasonably financially secure and am able to meet my mortgage and maintenance commitments, and work towards ensuring The Clever One leaves university debt free. I've noticed that those who have made a career change haven't had others dependent on them. One of my ex colleagues left to be a florist and will never be back. She does OK working for herself, but had a bit longer to wait for her pension. I think if she'd stayed maybe she would have fallen into the just working for the pension trap.

Another friend left to work for himself running a small retail business and as long as it goes OK won't be back either. He was a late joiner age wise so never had the lure of a full pension awaiting him. I still meet with both occasionally for drinks and they are happy with their lot. When they left I advised them both to take a career break and see how their new ventures went, just to keep their options open, but both had become disillusioned with The Job. It's a shame as both had specialised skills and had a lot to offer. They could always rejoin if things went wrong, but would come under the new pension regulations having to put in a 35 year stint.

They are in the small minority that do seem to be leaving at present. A few years back alot of the youngster's left in droves as the salary wasn't exactly competitive. Me, looks like I'm in for the long haul like I always knew I would be. I'm hoping that some sanity is going to return to policing over the next couple of year's or is that just me having an optimistic moment.

I don't know what I'd do anyway. I would prefer to work for myself when I retire so am thinking about specialised driving jobs, maybe a licenced cabbie. There is also the option of short term contract work that appeals. 6 months away on a training contract overseas for the ODA would suit me, with the other 6 laying on a beach somewhere. Then again there's always the public sector, why waste all those contacts in the local authority, surely there's an opportunity for me in the local parks police or licencing department.

One thing I will not be doing (hopefully) is returning to the fray in any guise whatsoever on the civilian side as 200 Weeks did. Unless it's as a consultant on 500 pounds a day.

Own Goals and Golden Goals

2009-08-07T14:32:00.009+01:00

I'm back from 2 weeks of absolutely doing nothing and I feel good. I am rather out of the loop having been deprived of the main stream media and am catching up. I resisted the temptation to take my usual holiday read of the codes of practice but did pop in to read some other blogs. I didn't give the job much thought at all and I'm very happy about that.

Sgt Twining name checked me on one of his posts, which was a response to a posting made by 200 weeks about a racial discrimination payout made to an Asian WPC. I don't know much about the case so will give a general viewpoint. I don't like to post on Diversity matters but as someone who's worked in small teams all of his career hope to bring some common sense to this.

I see diversity and teamwork in the workplace as allowing everybody to contribute and bring something to the table. Horses for courses springs to mind and there are very few people who can excel at everything. One thing I've noticed on teams is that if somebody is not pulling their weight or not upto the job other team members can be rather unforgiving. This is when strong management is needed to keep a team in check. Unfortunately people tend to regress to almost playground antics and paint the weaker team member in an unfavourable light. They might be fat, ginger, ethnic minority, male, female, or bespectacled and the likelihood is anything will be used to put that individual down. This will be true in any occupation not just the police as it's human nature. Just recall the case of Sarah Locker who didn't get "promotion" into the CID, until somebody typed a report in Stavros speak (she was I believe Turkish or Greek descent) and left it in her tray. Conduct like that somewhat makes the case out for her.

The weaker team member is no longer fully part of the team, and is made to feel excluded. Some team members will not want to work with that individual and there is a problem that needs sorting. Now I'm a great believer in saying things as they are and that's what worries me about this case in particular. If everybody perceives that individual as not competent, abrupt, rude or whatever, chances are that the person might be just that. If they are not made aware of it then how can they change and improve.

I personally will confront head on and tell somebody how they are perceived. It's not a nice thing to do but isn't it better then avoiding the issue and everybody is muttering about that individual behind their back. Most people are not able to take any criticism because we all think we are great and this is where things start to go wrong in the workplace. In the case highlighted the tribunal criticised the trainer for telling it the way it was. It would appear that the subsequent lack of a development plan has then gone against the job. Is this the end of informal management action?

I believe in the case mentioned there was a facilitated session with the rest of the class reported as a diversity lesson. This then makes it a racial / religious matter and was probably why the WPC in question won that part of her case. Why oh why was race or religion brought into it? If the issues were over her performance or attitude that is the issue that should have been addressed to bring matters to a conclusion satisfactory to all.

I see the point of 200 weeks and what he means however it would appear to be another own goal by ourselves when dealing with an issue. Does it deserve a five figure payout for hurt feelings? Of course not, as the individual is still employed and suffered no financial loss. As somebody who lost thousands through my injury on duty and with no compensation forthcoming it somewhat grates but that's they way it's set down. There is a tariff set down for most things and the same should be true in some of these cases. To win only 2 parts out of 17 and be seen as the victor again paints the organisation in a bad light. The tribunal system makes no exclusions for public sector employers and they have to pay out exactly the same as private sector, taxpayers money or not.

I also see the point made by Sgt Twining but feel he was speaking about his own experiences with management. I've had my clashes with management myself and again adopt the attitude of saying what I think. If you don't say your piece things do eat you up, but say it and let it go. It doesn't mean you're right but sod the consequences. That's not to say that perceived unfair treatment doesn't cause severe stress. I've seen a female manager treat a male sergeant unfairly for reasons only she knows. It affects all staff the same but not all have equal redress to the law. I also think our present grievance procedures leave a lot to be desired.

I had to watch CNN on holiday about the Gates affair. I don't know if it got coverage over here. Basically a black professor got arrested for disorderly conduct after police were called to his house by a neighbour thinking somebody was breaking in. President Obama called the police actions "stupid" and it caused no end of problems. It was settled around a table with all three having a beer and a sensible discussion. I think if unnecessary golden payouts were not available we could return to common sense resolutions. Therefore the system is wrong and that's what needs changing.

Showing Off

2009-08-02T12:00:00.000+01:00

I was at training school with a fella who was mightily pissed off with the job policy at the time about tattoos. He had to have one removed from his left bicep before they would let him join and it left a horrible scar, like a burn. Obviously I never saw the original design, but he assured me it wasn't anything outrageous. You can imagine how he felt on turning up for training to find various ex forces recruits with their tatts on show. There was at the time an exemption for ex military, as it was generally accepted to be the norm coming from that background.

I'm relieved that I never got the swallow put onto my neck that I intended or the the W on each buttock. Since knowing I was accepted I curtailed my urge to add more, and complied with the cover up policy of the time. In fact I'm the least tattooed in my immediate family and I've got two sisters. My dear old mum is of course excluded from art work as she's perfect already, and the old man served in Malaya so say no more.

All the youngsters at work are covered in tattoos, including the girls. I can just imagine the sight on the geriatric wards in 50 years time as the old girls shuffle around in those hospital gowns with a natty bit of artwork hanging over their backsides in rolls of fat.

Does it really matter if you have an armful of ink on display? It depends if people want to judge you I suppose. As long as there is nothing political or offensive I think not.

I do quite like that programme Miami Ink and the personal stories behind the tattoos. I would love to see some of the one's that have got people rejected from joining the police. I found this link to some of the most stupid tattoos compiled. What were they thinking of?

Home From Home

2009-07-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

Rear View of Flint House Goring

I’ve been unfortunate or some may say fortunate enough to partake of the facilities at the Police Rehabilitation Centre at Goring for my injury. The NHS could have provided about 1 hour a month of physiotherapy and it wasn’t an option to be honest. I could have had 1 hour a week through local police occupational health but there’s no beating intensive treatment.

My initial visit took me from crutches to leaving with a stick. I stupidly thought I was nearly cured and would be back to normal in no time but often that’s not the case. I returned 18 months later and by chance another officer I met on my first visit was still attending. He’d been badly smashed up in a motorcycle accident about 3 years previously, and had only just discarded his stick. He had however made remarkable progress thanks in part to the excellent treatment he received at the centre.

This facility is funded totally by officer contributions from several forces and gifts and legacies from people who like us. The cost is only about 5 pounds per month, which means throughout your career you would contribute to one person’s visit. On retirement you are still eligible for a 7 day visit once a year if referred by your doctor, and it’s nice to catch up with the old timers and hear their stories. It’s fantastic for them to receive such high quality treatment from the caring staff at the centre, especially those recovering from a stroke. It must also take some burden off the NHS. The food is fantastic and the staff working there make it a very healing environment.

I haven’t had a test run of the stress services they provide but it is very much a personal service dependent on your needs, so my spies tell me. There is counselling available and the relaxation class is OK for beginners. I was rather anti social on my last visit I’m afraid, practicing my own anti-stress techniques in seclusion. I think the others had me down as one needing to dry out, but I’m still a closet stress monkey. I needed to make full use of the time to get fully physically fit for crime fighting duty. The staff have worked their magic again and I will be eternally grateful to them as I near full health again.

Those of you who are serving officers please persuade any new officers to contribute to these centre’s. They are only open to those who subscribe through their pay, and some force areas don’t have a great percentage rate for paying in. Large metropolitan force in the middle of UK take note. I never thought I would need it and would have had to rely totally on the NHS when badly injured on duty.

Incidentally the Home Office has allocated 2.5 million pounds this year to Goring and the Northern police rehabilitation site in Harrogate. This is the first time any government money has been granted to these facilities, and it will provide extra spaces. It would appear that we have the ex home secretary Jacquie Smith to thank for this contribution. She has taken much flack the past few months but it is only right and fair to add some balance and say Thank You to her for sorting this out. She didn’t have to and officers in future will benefit from her generous decision.

Of course she did have 20 million of our pounds to dip into from the reneged pay deal the other year. Perhaps if the other 18 million makes it's way back we can draw a line under that episode.

I’ve added some pictures of the centre and surroundings. Nice Isn’t it?

Early morning dawn

Fun And Sunshine

2009-07-21T17:09:00.004+01:00

I used to hate going on holiday. I think I read somewhere that it takes 3 or 4 days for you to unwind and actually get into your break. In my personal case I always preferred to be back at work in case I was missing something and never liked being away. The fact is if you are a miserable git at home, being transported to the other side of the world isn't going to change things and the chances are you'll still be a miserable git, just with a sun tan.

Not even coming off nights before I fly out this year is stressing me. Yep I'm getting grief at work for having loads of days owing me but try and get the time off and it's turned down. I think I've finally cracked the holiday secret though. No driving alongside Mrs Stressed in the navigator role filling me with confidence with her "I think it's the next on the right". Thank God for Sat Nav on our Florida adventure a few year's back, without it I'm convinced my marriage would have been over.

Instead I will spend two weeks doing nothing, zilch, zero activity, nistch. My usual holiday read of the codes of practice is staying on the kitchen table and I will be relaxing with all my children in my own little paradise. I'm actually looking forward to it, probably our last family holiday together. Hopefully there will be a limited number of Brits on Tour in my hotel and we can enjoy the continental approach of sensible alcohol consumption. I will also be defending my title as "Mister Hotel" competing against the French, Germans and Russians in making a twat of myself. We do it so much better than they do !!

The MP3 is loaded with mellow sounds and my meditation relaxation tapes, just in case I need them. Club Tropicana here I come !!!!!!!!! Mrs Stressed can be my Shirley for 2 weeks.

Perceptions and Media Games

2009-07-18T14:00:00.001+01:00

It was hardly a copper shocker story but I was watching sky news about the conviction of Ingrid Tarrant, the presenters commenting about her arrest for illegal parking. It would appear the facts were rather more complex, her driving off whilst getting a ticket for leaving her car in a bus stop when shopping. There then followed a 2 mile chase before she was arrested and "thrown" into a police cage.

The gist of the presenters was this was over the top for a parking matter. Of course the presenters are entitled to their opinion but this woman was out of order, and committed a quite serious offence of failing to stop for police. Nothing contentious at all as far as I can see, but she got a sympathetic airing for some reason. This is exactly the sort of story that sticks in the mind of the public and might alter their perceptions of police if they are asked to fill out a public satisfaction survey.

See The Sun article here and a natty picture showing the officer described as an "out of control psycho" by her. Well it looks to me that he was just writing out a ticket.

All this on the same day as the police bravery awards, also sponsored by The Sun. The winners of the award were Sgt Stephen Hayter, PC Barry Leban, PC Richard Cousins, and PC Michael Carroll from the Metropolitan Police. They were fired at by a villain with a gun, chasing him down and making the arrest.

OK it was on the news and got coverage, but was a small detail missing? Correct me if I'm wrong but are these officers not all from the Territorial Support Group? The same unit that has been slaughtered in the press recently over G20 events and a high complaints record. Now is it the media who choose not to mention their unit or is the Met doing some spinning?

Top work by The Rhinos

Too Much .. Too Young

2009-07-14T12:18:00.004+01:00

I'll be watching later the repatriation of 8 brave souls as they return from Afghanistan. Special thoughts to the tankies from the Royal Tank Regiment, as in a previous life I worked very closely with 2 RTR.

I can't help but think how young some of these casualties are at just 18. It looks like one hell of a dirty war out there, and one wonders if some older heads are called for. I've met recently some ex paras who are still rock hard and itching to get out there but are deemed too old. I think the cut off for the Territorials is 43 despite your previous experiences and background, although they take ex regulars up to 52 if you have the support skills they want. I believe the Americans have increased their age limits recently and no doubt we won't be too far behind.

A friend's son went out at 18 and his unit took casualties but not on this scale. The worry for family at home is immense and I hope they find some peace in the knowledge that their son's really lived a life and will be forever young. They made a choice to fight for queen and country and we should be proud of them, despite your views on the conflict. I think the on lookers in Wootton Bassett speak for the rest of us today.

My daughter is toying with a military career and I think is sounding me out to gauge my views. Her choice ultimately, but it will be a more favourable response than when she sounded me out about joining the police.

A Lonely Place

2009-07-11T12:29:00.001+01:00

Part of my job is to make decisions. I'm not perfect and am happy to admit I often get it wrong. Hopefully years of experience learning from my mistakes and seeing where others have gone astray limit the occasions when I might put myself in the firing line. There will be a time, a job some incident when it goes horribly wrong and I know that I will have to justify every decision I made and have to account for why I didn't do X Y or Z. It will probably be a little every day incident that gets me. The missing person enquiry is an area of police work that I pay particular attention to.

We are literally inundated with missing person requests, where the initial call is risk assessed by the control room so the call is graded accordingly. If it involves a young person it must be graded as an immediate response. Either the sector Sergeant or Duty officer is contacted and informed of the call. This is where a decision is made to either keep as an I or downgrade to an S response (within the hour). You may be informed that the young person has been reported missing three times in the last week having not returned to their care home so make a common sense decision to downgrade. You are immediately in the frame if anything happens to that young person who has been allowed to roam from being in care, but the care worker has covered their arse by passing the buck to police.

Unfortunately if the S call limit is missed as units are diverted to other "more urgent" calls there can be severe slippage. The old controller would have ensured that it would have got dealt with in a suitable time frame, but I've noticed a tendency under our new systems to err on the side of hoping the person returns before we get to report them missing. This is fraught with danger and I don't like it if my arse is the one hanging out.

It's much the same with mental health patients. In the day's of sector policing I had a mental health ward on my patch and would often attend up to 3 times a day to report patients under section missing, who had either walked out of a secure ward or not returned from unescorted leave. It is a huge drain on police resources and not helped by a time consuming reporting system to get the person circulated on the police national computer.

The art is to sense early on where it could go horribly wrong. If somebody has been terribly depressed and suicidal then time is of the essence and some enquiries need to be made as a matter of urgency. I took over as controller (system worked - why did we change it?) one early turn and saw on handover a message about a suicidal male being reported missing by a relative out of town. Nothing had been done and she'd been advised to report him missing at her local station so they could transfer it over to us. I had to ring her and get the full facts and the alarm bell started to ring. I contacted neighbouring forces and eventually due to leads contacted the Chaplin services at Beachy Head as possibly he was heading there. As the hours passed he was properly reported and his mobile phone was triangulated, that showed he was on the move. Eventually he was stopped by officers who saw him in a state and he was name checked and found. I think we were not too hot on that one in the first instance, but luckily he'd changed his mind after a spell by the sea contemplating life.

Of course very young children lost or separated from parents receive top billing and every thing else that can be dropped is delayed to get uniforms to the scene to search. As the minutes tick by I always get a horrible feeling of dread that is released as soon as the kiddie is found and reunited with the distraught parent.

I think it is easy to be dragged into a sense of just another Misper to report, but in many cases something dreadful has happened to that person. You just have to look at the Ricky Reel case where a young lad never returned from a night out with friends, and was found dead in a river. The police were heavily critiscised for the initial approach in dealing with this, because it was assumed he'd been out with the lads and might have struck lucky with a young lady. In hindsight the people involved would no doubt deal with things differently - but hindsight is a wonderful thing. In reality in most cases there is little the police can do other than make initial enquiries and circulate the individual as missing.

I have myself had to report family members missing to the police. The circumstances were rather extreme as my first wife suffered severe mental illness and disappeared with my daughter who was a toddler. I felt bad in having officers round but they needed to be circulated in case of worst case scenarios. I didn't expect them to be able to do anything I hadn't done myself. I contacted a Northern Force to conduct an enquiry and they were most helpful in doing this promptly, and thankfully the situation resolved the next day.

I think there is still scope for improvements in this area. Many forces now have missing person units to take over longer running enquiries, but as most missing person calls are taken over the phone in the first instance then surely sufficient details could be taken to put on a skeleton report within an hour to allow circulation. If officers are required to attend later and search bedrooms for leads it could be done depending on the circumstances and they then update the report with the results of any enquiries. Of course there will be somebody held responsible if it all goes wrong but that's the world we live in, sometimes it's a lonely place.

Pride Or Prejudice

2009-07-05T15:23:00.005+01:00

I missed the coverage of Gay Pride in London yesterday, but I understand the police were represented again along with HM forces. When I joined this job you didn't have "gay" people in the organisation, which is of course complete bollocks, as hundreds are now confident to live an openly gay existence as police officers. This includes people I've known for years before they outed themselves. Some have gone onto specialise in roles where they can wear tight leather and look cool. Personally I find some of my gay colleagues to be some of the most politically incorrect individuals I've met. It amuses me no end as managers can't work out the correct response to some outrageous gay story.

Society has had to move on and correct some injustices to the Gay community. The dismissal of homosexual staff from HM forces was plain wrong. Anybody who served always knew the WRAC were made up of a large number of lesbians but this couldn't be acknowledged officially. It would have taken a brave man to admit to a gay lifestyle in my day, but being against Queen's Regulations it never happened.

We now have a situation of diversity trumps, with a conflict of interest between Faith group supporters and Gay officers. This stems from strong religious beliefs against homosexuality. StressedOutCop has dealt with one such staff problem and is glad to report he shuddered, almost had a diversity overload and bottled it. I don't do Religion but if I did I would drift towards a Buddhist sort of gig.

It's a tricky one to deal with this diversity balancing act so I told both parties to Effing sort it out themselves and get back to me. I think this is a good old fashioned management technique that has been lost in the policy archives. Peace and goodwill then followed as both decided that they were good people, and despite having completely different lifestyles and beliefs and could work together.

One thing I am against though is the cottaging thing. Public toilets are for ablutions and it annoys the hell out of me that these are used as a pick up point for casual gay sex. I was on a surveillance job and bursting for a wee, so got ahead of the foot follow and headed for the nearest public convenience. Ten urinals nine taken one gap, so I take my position and get the valve problem, when you've been holding yourself in for hours. Nobody else moves and finally relief comes and I'm listening to the follow still going on. As I'm finishing still nobody has moved and I conclude my business, but can't help but notice the bloke next to me playing with himself. This isn't gay culture to be celebrated and if the Gay community want some toilet action they should stick to the WC's in the Furry Codpiece club.

I was going to post a KD Lang song for my best female gay friend just back in the country, who I love in a way that even Mrs Stressed approves, but I hate it so it's the Pet Shop Boy's for the Baby Bears and muscle Mary's. That's the way life is sums up my view perfectly.

I could have been an extra in this years ago and have still got the lycra swimming trunks, which are not for use in cold water.

Crime And Punishment V Compassion

2009-07-02T09:12:00.006+01:00

I posted earlier in the year about Ronnie Biggs and stated then I believed he should be freed on humanitarian grounds. Of course rules being rules he had to serve a third of his sentence before being eligible for parole. I'm rather surprised that this has now been turned down as he does not show sufficient remorse for his crimes.

There are hundred's of prisoners released early each year who I see showing no remorse for their crimes. They are sorry, but only for getting caught in the first place. Their view of punishment is - You don't get punished for what you do but for getting caught doing it. They then return to a life of crime. We can all name individuals who we know get out on parole and go on Burglary sprees until recalled or captured.

I don't think Biggs falls into this category. I wonder if this decision was made before Biggs broke his hip in jail. From what I know this type of injury is very serious for a frail elderly person and it is something he is unlikely to recover from. If the government are worried about a media circus being played out then surely they could put parole conditions in place.

My view remains the same, each case on it's merits and my instinct is that he should be out to die with his family.

The Bitch Is Back

2009-06-28T18:30:00.002+01:00

It's been nearly two years, but I completed the old run I used to do before the accident. The metalwork appears to be holding up and despite the very slow time I'm rather chuffed to have shuffled round a few miles of green countryside. Hopefully a bit of muscle memory will return and I can press on a little step at a time. This is against my consultant's advice, but what the hell, life is for living. The new me has also started going to the theatre but Mrs Stressed has started to take advantage, dragging me along to a Shakespeare play. It took me half an hour to work out they were actually speaking English but once I got the gist of it - it was OK.

Despite the injury I've always been reasonably fit. Even now I would fancy myself to hold my own against some of the youngsters. I don't know how I would have fared the past couple of years if I'd had to complete a fitness test. At times I could hardly walk straight and if I'm honest shouldn't have been on the streets when I returned. I lasted about 3 days in the office on restricted duty before I sneaked back patrolling. My force doesn't have a yearly fitness test apart from specialised roles, but I understand some elsewhere have to reach a set standard of fitness to continue operational policing. If you are reading this and yours does, let me know what happens if you fail the test.

It used to be the case that a level of fitness was needed to be a police officer. At training school the whole intake was up and running before breakfast two days a week to complete a few miles. This changed years ago for some reason and we appear to rely on a bleep test where you don't have to reach a high level. I've seen plenty of officers who are physically unfit but I suppose as long as they can drive the car and do the job answering calls there's little the employer can do about it. Of course in an ideal world there might be some physical training incorporated into the working day, but ultimately it's down to the individuals own professional standards to fit it in somewhere in your spare time.

This is probably the start of my long good bye. I only started blogging because I was unable to pound the streets, and I'm finally beginning to see the light at the end of what's been a bloody long tunnel. I'm now off out to partake of extra cold Guinness and put the world to rights.

Stress - Illness or Excuse To Skive?

2009-06-26T13:33:00.012+01:00

Apologies boring stress posting alert but I think quite relevant for my blog. Please read this article by A.N. Wilson from The Mail where he comments about the huge number of day's lost to Stress in this country. Of those 13.5 million days no doubt the police contribute a fair number. I would hazard a guess that the true figure will be actually higher as some of those suffering are off with an embarrassment sparing diagnosis. A few of my fellow blogger's have commented recently that their reason for posting is to off load pressures caused by work or life. Unfortunately Mr Wilson has bracketed everybody as whingers, living a life of luxury and thinks we should all pull ourselves together. He has correctly identified that some stress is good for you and is obviously aware that he has worked in the zone performing at a high level. I think he is well off the mark on most of his views apart from when he stated we should try and analyse our anxiety. I did send him a polite comment suggesting he might be in the stressed closet himself, but it must have been deleted on moderation. *

I believe stress, prefer that label rather than depression for me, is an illness of the mind that also affects your physical condition. I've suffered outbreaks of Hives (large raised itchy welts on the body) and also Reflux (burning in the chest). At the time I didn't think I was particularly stressed but was dealing with intense pressures in my personal life, which came out physically. It's strange this link between the mind and the body. Also I have not had any time off work with stress at all. I've dragged myself into work and until my injury had gone 13 years at work without a day sick. I like to call it straight acting. Prior to that I'd had one day to undergo a barium meal to diagnose the reflux. There are many stress triggers and I have seen a list prepared by experts where number one is dealing with bereavement. The life changing things are well up there like divorce or relationship break up, serious injury or health issues and further down comes work related stress. If you get combinations of these life does become difficult, some cope better than others.

We all listen to our mind and our thoughts will often dictate and drive our actions. In certain jobs it is easy to become automated and actually go into overdrive. As Mr Wilson states in his article this type of healthy stress provides energy to complete tasks. It's very primal and comes from the fight or flight syndrome. Of course some are permanently in this state pumped up to deal with personal issues, pumped to deal with stressful work (for this read police work - constant pressure to perform complete tasks) and are unable to turn it off so sleep deprivation kicks in. You then immediately are into the cycle pumping yourself up again to get through the day fighting against fatigue. Eventually you drop from peak performance and feel bad about that until it all gets out of control. See the burnout link in the sidebar it explains it better than I can.

These lost days must be costing millions of pounds so it's not just a case of pulling yourself together. Long shifts and the time constraints in police work build pressure, and there needs to be a better understanding of work related stress to achieve solutions not just in the police but everywhere. We are too focused on doing doing and striving so your thought programmes will keep driving you on relentlessly. Even when you get time off your mind will still be in doing mode so you don't get proper rest. Once you recognise this you need to take some time out. Try doing that as a police officer and the stressed radio dispatcher will become even more stressed as his outstanding calls to be dealt with mount up.

The article also mentions deep breathing, see the link for the mindfulness video and take it a step further examining your thought processes. You might see you tend to have certain thoughts like judging or planning forwards, all striving activities. If you can learn to let go of these and not automatically react into doing then things might just improve. Stressedoutcop is trying out meditation and is actually more chilled. I don't know if my posts have been less ranting the past few months but I'm feeling more in control of myself. I will always be judgemental because in this job decision making is important but in time I'm hoping I won't need this blog as an outlet because I'll just let things go. But first the powers that be need to get away from all this need for more performance themselves, they might just find find that happy workers actually become more productive in the long run. I don't know if some people use stress as an excuse to skive. No doubt some do but I don't think that would add up to 13.5 million days.

Stress is a killer .. already there are concerns that the death of Michael Jackson is down to the impending workload he was about to take on. No inappropriate comments please about his demise.

* My moderated comment is now in their thread .. minus my enquiry asking if A.N. Wilson is in the stressed closet. Is he qualified to comment? was only asking

Pretty Patterns

2009-06-24T22:10:00.002+01:00

I remember going to meetings a few years back and if you dared mention the word gang it would be followed by sharp intakes of breath and challenges about racism. Apparently they did not exist in this country and I was racial stereotyping. Of course the reality was and is somewhat different and although we haven't quite reached USA levels, at least it (gangs) is allowed to be mentioned. This is because of the increase in drug related activity and the violence that comes with it. We should perhaps be more concerned about the younger elements involved in these gang structures as the levels of violence increase.

The increasing trend is the displaying of gang colours in the younger’s. Market forces are taking over and we're not talking about just Red and Blue. Black and even Brown are popular around my way and certain stalls are doing a roaring trade. I police a busy shopping centre where the youth like to strut their stuff. I've imposed a rule of no colours on display otherwise there would be trouble. Some of them are like little peacocks with their paisley patterned bandanna's hanging from their back pockets. In my day a handkerchief from your back pocket meant something totally different. I've run that line past them and they don't get it, but don't be fooled these are the big players of tomorrow.

I've had a few face to face run ins with some of them and the rules of engagement have been set. I think they appreciate the discipline deep down and haven't crossed the line in the sand, but for how long. It's a balancing act to maintain a nice vibe and ensure that everybody gets their due respect. Their criminal activity is youth robbery and juvenile violence amongst their age group. The usual pattern is for this to escalate up against adult victims before they become involved in drug dealing and more serious crime.

As they are children and coming to my notice this involves some writing for me. They are a risk to others and may themselves fall victim to another gang if a look is taken the wrong way. I was filling a report out the other day about one lad. There were a number of historic ones and I read them back to see his story. He was getting progressively worse in his offending despite having a supportive mother and being on diversion programmes from the youth offending team. What makes them turn this way?

I looked at the first ever report and it showed the lad himself was a victim of robbery committed by older youths. A couple of years later and he's doing exactly the same. I predict the future for him is not good. The help is there and being offered but with some you can tell it's just a waste of time. I don't do psychology but this would be an interesting case study don't you think?

I Walk The Line

2009-06-19T20:00:00.003+01:00

So do I have a decision to make now that award winning blogging legend NightJack has been outed by The Times? I feel more than sorry for him as he has shown himself to be a good man and I still can’t see that he’s done anything wrong, except perhaps putting some trust in others. Luckily I trust nobody not even my mum.

I’m more concerned about the matter of discipline and the written warning he has received. All he’s done is tell the truth as he sees it, and in a brilliant way. If there is a conflict with his job then it could have been dealt with through informal management and a verbal bollocking. I know that he will receive the full support from his colleagues, and even senior officers would agree with much written in his blog.

What did The Times get out of it? It’s hardly a copper shocker story and just puts Jack into the limelight where he doesn’t choose to be. That blog probably had more positive interactions with the silent majority in this country, because he was tuned into what is happening and what they feel. Customer Focused but not on message. I fear the hand of others, strange game politics.

Jack I will miss your blog and some part of me would love to see you on Question Time sticking it to them, but that’s not what you’re about. You are just a normal bloke trying to protect the victims from the bad guy's. Good Luck to you and also MetCountyMounty who’s decided to call it a day.

My blog is a personal thing on my stress journey. Some can relate to that and most police bloggers if they’re honest know what I’m talking about. They are just a reaction to the frustrations of policing and life in general. It’s actually rather simple crime and order, lock up the bad people for doing the bad stuff and crime falls, life is better, everybody is happy.

I walk the line every day at work like thousands of others, making snap decisions that get pored over and criticised afterwards by those who would probably dither if they were in the same situation. I’m a good person trying my best and I can’t win the war against crime, but I’m fighting my own personal battles. Once I’ve won those this blog will cease and I’ll fight everything else from within the organisation as a leader.

If you have an inkling who I am from any posts keep schtum. If I’m going to be outed in a copper shocker expose I want it to be for being over the side with Cheryl Cole. Of course if Ashley wins his privacy case I’ll be in the clear. I will therefore continue as I believe I comply with my force policy on blogging, cases having been in public domain already. If anybody from complaints disagrees give me a steer.

I like to think I look good in black just like Johnny …

No Fear .. No Change

2009-06-17T13:41:00.001+01:00

Can’t say I disagree with the proposed increased in sentencing for those committing Murder with a knife. 30 years tariff up from 15 is more like it, but is it likely to bring about a reduction in knife murders? I doubt it. What makes some people pick up a knife and walk out the door? I can understand the fear element in some youngsters, who feel the streets are not safe, I’ve posted about it previously but it’s not just about educating them through knife campaigns.

There needs to be more fear about being caught with a knife. I know of one individual who ran from police and dumped a nasty knife under a car but was still captured and convicted. He was an adult with some previous for violence but he didn’t get jail time. This was just before the so called knife crackdown. Within 6 months he’d gone out with a knife again, got into an argument with a stranger over something ridiculous and stabbed him dead.

I knew the killer reasonably well and I think I might have signed his passport photo a few years back, if I didn’t he at least asked me to. Not a really horrible bloke and we got on fine, he’d been stabbed himself in his mid teens. I’d heard rumours on the street that he’d had a run in with a baby gangster and that’s why he might have been carrying. If he hadn’t got banged up he might have been killed himself. The end result is one innocent dead and he himself now paying the price.

I may be wrong but I’m not seeing much evidence of strong sentencing for possessing knives. Say the killer mentioned got 12 months for possessing the knife in the first instance, he would have still been out in plenty of time to commit the murder. Would the knowledge that being stopped again carrying resulting in a longer sentence, have prevented him picking up the knife? Only he knows the answer to that, but getting a walk out originally didn’t help him much in the long run. Incidentally the baby gangster he was possibly in fear of is also now dead. It’s getting rather rough out there.

That Time Of Year

2009-06-13T20:22:00.004+01:00

Oh it comes around so quickly .. the promotion application. If you've scraped a 50% pass in the multiple guess OSPRE Part 1 then the hard work really begins. Depending where you serve, you will have to complete either OSPRE Part 2 (series of role play exercises) or a TOWBAR application (like a PDR with knobs on setting out how good you are in certain skill areas). This allows you onto a scheme where you have to amass evidence over a year to become substantive in rank.

I personally completed the OSPRE role plays to become qualified. I think even those have become more complex over the years. I actually paid out over 450 pounds to undergo a course and learnt no end of management stuff. I do get it but putting it into practice is a damn sight harder. If you don't find a friend to run through some 5 minute scenarios before you do it believe me it's a struggle. A few years back I had to drive a good few miles to attend an assessment centre in a hotel. If you miss your slot you're out for a year so I had to make sure I was there well early. I knew I'd struggle as soon as I visited trap one and didn't check the toilet paper situation, oh yes planning and organisation was a skill area, and I knew I'd failed before I'd even started or finished as was the case. This was right in the middle of my stress crisis, well that's my excuse anyway.

I didn't mind OSPRE 2 because it's down to you on the day and how much proper preparation you put in. Now this TOWBAR lark I'm not too keen on, I'm talking about the initial application. It's a well known fact that to get your application accepted you have to be rather creative in getting your evidenced example to fit the competence indicators. You are allowed to run it past a friend or two who is permitted to make suggested improvements. I think this is more of an exercise in writing yourself up or being well connected to somebody who can knock your paperwork into shape. I've seen some of the better candidates I personally rate get knocked back year after year, and some weaker one's get through. You have to show you are working at the higher rank workwise in all 7 skill areas to get accepted. This is not easy to show for anybody. What about being a good grafter with the "potential" to work at that higher level?

I've seen quite a few this year and offered advice, some are obviously weak and doomed to fail. I have actually rejigged someone else's this year so am actually excited about being involved in the promotion process. I took it rather personally last year when the application I rejigged failed. It has become rather a lottery I'm afraid, but as they say you've got to be in it to win it.

Again too much time is being spent on these processes. I might be a tad controversial in saying that the role play option is actually fairer and less open to integrity abuse.

Do I Love Or Hate?

2009-06-10T09:56:00.002+01:00

Because I’m currently off full shift work I’ve found myself having to take either public transport or cycle. The trains have been rather a let down and my journey time to work has increased somewhat. I have therefore been into the garage and pulled out the bike Mrs Stressed bought me for Christmas a few years back.

It’s a mountain bike with umpteen gears for climbing severe gradients. The fastest gear is slow and it has the knobbliest tyres you’ve ever seen. I didn’t want to appear ungrateful but there’s a distinct lack of mountains where I live and the only time I used it, I was overtaken by a granny with a basket on her bike. I think it was Mrs Stressed’s way of punishing me for all the grief I’ve given her over the years.

I must be back in favour because she got the tyres changed for my birthday. I didn’t exactly get slicks but I was going into work the other day and actually overtook somebody so there’s improvement. I have found the cycling saves 20 minutes on the train journey, and I could shave more off if I didn’t comply with the law of the land.

I do make a point of stopping at red lights but must say the majority of my fellow cyclists just carry on straight through. They often gain 200 yards (nearly typed metres then but we don’t have them over here) which is rather frustrating on my slow machine to try and make up. I’m rather caught in between with this cyclist thing as my new car is a 4 x 4 and I don’t know if I should hate them or not. In the morning my fellow cyclists have been polite, nodding as they come the other way and even rather chatty when stationary. I think perhaps they should be allowed to treat it as a give way after all, but if they get wiped out it’s down to them.

I must confess I do cycle on the footway for a distance of 4 yards to access a cycle path, but would never do it if a pedestrian was there and definitely not if that pedestrian was a police officer. So why am I always stopping people cycling on the footway towards me in full uniform. They all get stopped because basically they’re taking the piss. Do they expect me to do nothing and say nothing? So far nobody has failed the test .. but a couple have just sped off ignoring me. As I’m not going to chase after a bike and win they get away but there might be a purge coming on. I’ve got a load of PCSO’s who need training up on tickets.

I see police in Bournemouth have been targeting cyclists with speed guns in an attempt to slow them down. At least there’s no chance of me getting done then.

Nulli Secundus

2009-06-05T10:00:00.002+01:00

Sixty Five years ago my grandfather was preparing for D day. I don't know what he was thinking, but as he was also one of the last out of Dunkirk a sense of pride in getting back across the channel to Europe must have been foremost in his mind. He was subsequently wounded in the breakout from Normandy and that was his war over. In the post war years he led a quiet life, until an untimely early death from cancer. He was the stick man in a senior regiment and must have been a hard so and so, but his gentle nature is all I remember of him. I wonder what he would have felt about the country he fought for now. Would he even recognise it?

I don't thing he would approve if I'm honest with our world standing at present. In fact neither am I. The European elections took place yesterday and for the first time in my life I didn't vote for any of the main parties. I don't see any of the usual suspects as representing my views on Europe.The straw that broke the camel's back was the Queen not being invited to the anniversary events in France. Forget protocol she should have got the ferry over and attended invite or not.

Europe has started to control our country and Nulabor have embedded it's blueprint in law through the Human Rights Act. Any party that has the abolition of this legislation as point one in it's manifesto will get my vote. Did anybody vote for all this European power over our British Sovereign Law? The drip drip effect has to stop soon and some parties have to wake up to that fact.

Call me a little Englander and I don't care, is that a bad thing to be? I have lived in Germany for 2 years and National Pride is still evident, although muted from losing the war. Incidentally in all that time I'd never met a German who'd admitted fighting against us.

We need some British pride back, but that doesn't mean protest votes going to extremist parties like the racist BNP. The government is about to fall and we're not politically ready for the radical changes that the people want.

We are second to none .. and need to start showing that. We owe it to those who gave their lives 65 years ago fighting against what would have been a "united" Europe.

Same Dance .. Different Tune

2009-06-02T14:14:00.002+01:00

I was at a meeting recently about performance. Luckily for me I was an interested party visiting, but organisational changes could soon have me on the wrong side of the table.

The command was not Divisional based and therefore their old targets were not sanctioned detections. Nothing in it for their managers to feed their SD's to a number of differing areas. I used to be rather amused as custody officer to see them loitering at the door, especially when the prisoner was wearing motorbike leathers and of Mediterranean appearance. They loved to prey on motorbike couriers who had an uncanny habit of being Brazilians with fake Portuguese driving licences from the Internet. They had a high personal arrest target to meet each month and this type of arrest was one of their better quality ones . I would beware if you are a genuine Portuguese courier rider in the metropolis.

Each team leader was put on the spot to see what had been delivered since the last meeting. I was surprised that very little time was taken up about arrests. No - instead the policing pledge and customer focus was order of the day. All very admirable but the main thrust was about organising meetings and getting the punters into these. The Chief Inspector kept asking about the outcomes, and by this he meant how many members of the public attended these meetings. Each team had also been set a target of completing 500 questionnaires prior to this meeting. I could detect a fair amount of bullshitting from the other side of the table.

I'm at a bit of a loss to see how this particular command was going to measure public satisfaction, when they covered several areas. Perhaps they were forming a baseline from their questionnaires, which are filled out by police staff and police officers chugging punters in the street. I know from experience that these are a waste of time as they're hardly independent.

Don't think I'm against bottom up policing because I'm not. Several years ago I worked on a pilot project based around community panels. I attended local meetings and agreed local priorities with the panels. They actually had little interest in some offences like Robbery and Burglary instead concentrating their wrath on low level anti-social behaviour from youths.This of course was at odds with what our local managers wanted. I don't think things have changed much today and most communities want the quality of life stuff sorted out. The beauty in this set up was that the partnership dealt with organising the meetings we attended, and my team was left to get on policing the streets. There was a balance to be found tackling the volume crime and quality of life issues, but as we were community based we saw the trends before any analysts who worked on 12 week patterns.

I was also lucky in that I was given my own budget from the partnership, which I spent on tackling the crimes I and they wanted. No going to the weekly intelligence meeting to plead my case for funds, I just decided what to do and got on with it. If I needed extra resources I bought them in and paid from my budget. So the punters got the extra patrols to combat kids making their lives a misery. It also helped that I recruited the best constables onto my team and we ticked over arresting the right people.

The partnership conducted their own customer satisfaction surveys using independent firms like MORI. When compared to other similar projects in the UK we scored quite highly. The point I'm trying to make is we just need to get back to doing policing without constraints to increase public satisfaction. It's really not rocket science and just concentrating on meetings and more public meetings is somewhat missing the point. I'm beginning to see too much duplication.

Beautiful Day

2009-05-30T10:31:00.003+01:00

The sun is shining and the rich green from the garden is a sight to behold, with the gentle swaying of the trees from a touching breeze. I'm off to a wedding and the happy couple are indeed blessed with good weather.

But why oh why is is it this day of all days? FA Cup final !!

Come on the real blues and make it a special day for me too.

Thank God for my Sky Plus Box.

Did Jose really invent it?

Time Is Up

2009-05-26T11:07:00.003+01:00

I don't ask much from the staff who work for me. Turning up on time is one thing that I would expect to be in any person's must do's in any job, but in the policing environment it is vital and tells you alot about an individual.

Everybody is late from time to time when circumstances are out of their control, be it car accident or train cancelled. I freak about it and on early turn will be awake prior to the alarm clock going off because I fear being late and crashing it. I'm usually into work an hour before my shift starts leaving time for a shower, a quick e-mail scan and getting the postings ready. I can't remember the last time I was late. Of course this is ingrained in me from the army when you would only ever be late once. I never was, but still had to take part in dress parades when somebody let the side down.

I also witnessed people being sent to the glass house when standards dropped. I say witnessed, but as a regimental policeman I was one of those either side of some unfortunate being double quick marched by the duty corporal. I was knackered yet it was his beasting. I only rested when he was undergoing some strangely thought up sadistic punishment, and boy there were some.

I'm not advocating that we should do this to errant constables or PCSO's but we are supposed to be a disciplined service. Some people just take the piss all the time. I've rung people after parade who haven't had the good grace to ring in saying they're going to be late and they've been in bed still. No apologies, no concern just a yawn and " Yeah OK I've overslept I'll get in as soon as I can ". They then hang up before I've even had the chance to say anything else. They then wonder why two hours later they are in my office and I detect actually think I'm out of order for even speaking to them.

I've done the chats, performance interviews and bollockings with one individual and still he can't sort his life out and turn up for my parades. I think there's only one option left .. standby for accusations of overbearing conduct OR worse. For what challenging a piss taker? Bring it on says I.

Above The Clouds

2009-05-23T00:30:00.002+01:00

I have been blogging for a year now and have dribbled out well over a 100 posts. This started out as a cathartic outlet for me after a crippling injury on duty prevented me from pounding the streets and raising my endorphin levels. I really can't believe I'm still going. I don't plan any posts and just bang out my knee jerk thoughts. Of course these have to be somewhat restrained as even blogging brings out responsibilities towards the job I do. I could have broken stories before they hit National but that would have been unprofessional and against the policies set down by my force. It also would have been unfair to individuals. It will stay this way.

I have to thank NightJack who was the first to link to me for most of my visitors. He even commented once .. the man himself here .. Great blog mate, we are all proud of you for what you achieved this year .

I've not been the most social of bloggers because of my dark moods. This has really been done for me and for my own benefit. Rather selfish perhaps but there you go .. along the way others out there have popped in and contributed. You are all welcome and I hope some of you stress monkey's have taken solace that you're not the only one feeling the way you do.

I started out in my profile questioning if the diktats imposed on us are responsible for high stress levels, they don't help, but I think the answer lies within me. Quite simply this job has ruled my life for over 20 years and I haven't been living. I've let these things stress me out without just recognising it and letting it go. I think I now get it and have found a way to live. I'm above the clouds and back in the zone where I want to be. I've still got perfectionist tendencies but the chilled me is actually even better .. and a nicer person to be around too. I might let you in on the secret but it did cost me money, it was however worth it.

So onwards we go. Things are changing in the country and the policing will change again too. How will it affect you? Me I'm going to do what I want and ignore any diktats I think are crap. I'm actually going to put policies in place on my team and run it the way I want. I know it will produce better results, so who's going to pull me up about it? I'm quite happy to fight my corner and fight for the officer's on team to provide a good standard of policing for the paying punters.

I'm up for a bit of world domination. We'll see how my legs hold up !!

Winners And Losers

2009-05-19T09:57:00.003+01:00

I don't know much about politics in Sri Lanka other than there's been a civil war taking place for over 25 years involving the Tamil Tigers and Government forces. There have been reportably huge casualties over these years on both sides and of course atrocities - it's the nature of the beast - War and conflict equals pain and suffering.

For several weeks now Tamil supporters have been protesting in Parliament Square contrary to the law. When it has suited them they have blocked the roads causing mass inconvenience to everybody else, including the only person legally allowed to be there and protest, Brian HAW.

Of course these Tamil supporters are mightily upset as their side lose out in Sri Lanka but what has it to do with us. The cost of policing these "illegal" gatherings since the start of April must be immense. The officers have to come from somewhere, and they are actually abstracted from the streets where they should be dealing with local issues.

I'm actually getting rather pissed with minority groups pushing their overseas causes onto the streets of this country. By all means put your point peacefully and lawfully, but enough is enough. Once again poor old plod is criticised for clearing the streets for others to use, and sustained injury in the process.

Meanwhile in Sri Lanka thousands protest against US as they perceive we are Pro Tamil. They may well have a point in that there are thousands of Tamil asylum seekers here, many of whom were funding the Tigers through organised crime and other means. How did we feel when the IRA received funds from NORAID fund raisers in the USA?

It's simply a case of Winners and Losers - The police and the tax payer were never going to be seen as winning. Can't help but compare the softly softly approach on this to G20 - I wonder if that will come up today when Sir Paul is grilled by parliamentary committee.

Christmas Come Early

2009-05-16T08:00:00.003+01:00

I've been busy and am trying to add up the hours worked. I've clocked up a 22 hour day followed by a 19 hour day followed by 2 hours off before a recall off nights and another 12 hour shift later in the day. There's still more work to be done. Sleep has been a stranger to me and my body and mind are weak, hanging on in there.

I suppose I would be entitled to claim a host of expenses for extra meals and subsistence, but the coke and chocolate machine's don't give out receipts. They are also dearer than anywhere else I've seen. 65p for a can of drink, ridiculous! I've been living on shite when I've been able to grab some food. Thank God for the Golden Arches and The Colonel, you've sorted me out this week and kept me going. There was a green thing in my Big Mac meal, no five a day this week. Don't judge and tut when you see me trudging back from the fast food outlet, that's the only hot food I'm getting today. I won't fill out any expense claim forms, just like everybody else those are a thing of the past. I will swallow the expense myself - There is no charge to you and no paperwork for me - a fair trade.

Of course I've incurred overtime payments, but even then I've done a deal and have worked outside of police regulations, saving the job some cash. Half of the extra hours I've done go in tax anyway, but what's left will go towards a new bed for the little man, who is getting bigger. I furnish my own house at my expense through hard graft.

I don't have a second home or even the luxury of an office where I could get my head down, but I have benefited from the taxpayer funded cell as I never made it home one day. Should I declare this anywhere? Will others see the inside of a cell when they did better than me over the expenses thing? I doubt it.

It's not about the money, any extra I get usually goes on university fees anyway. Every year in December I raise a glass to those I've put away in jail. That's why I do it.

Christmas might be coming early this year.

Ever Been Had ?

2009-05-12T06:39:00.000+01:00

The latest expenses scandal really must be the death throes of this government. Remember the broken promises "Whiter than White" "Things can only get Better". If you believed it, don't you now feel a tad mugged off?

Colours to the mast, as one of Maggie's babies I was never going to be a lover of NuLabor but you've got to hand it to them, they have set their agenda and definitely changed this country. For better or worse? you can make your own mind up on that one.

I remember attending the Police Federation open meeting at Wembley Arena when the Tory Sheehy proposals were discussed in 1993. It was my first sighting of the Rt Hon Anthony Blair who was shadow home affairs minister at the time. I was in the overflow hall and watched him on a big screen. He basically spouted alot of oratory which was well received in the main hall. The general consensus in the overflow was that he was a smarmy git and just playing to the audience of the day. Funny how things turned out and he ended up as Prime Minister. Sheehy sort of half came in and we were shafted, and the inevitable happened, that with the loss of allowances some new constables found themselves on income support. Maybe we needed shafting, millions of pounds were saved by freezing the housing allowances and abolishing it for new recruits. It would have been worth about 800+ pounds today per month based on 2009 rental values.

Are we supposed to be grateful for all the extra money that has indeed gone into policing? Well first off Nulabor did introduce some new allowances, but this was through necessity as people were pitching up on their first day at training school and resigning the same day. The Macpherson report also followed and bought with it bureaucracy gone mad and morale battering recommendations. The reality is, that as resources were taken away from response policing to cover the squads there is actually less uniform on the streets to meet demand. It's a fact, at my station there are less bodies paraded than in 1997.

There has been a brave attempt to reintroduce Neighbourhood Policing. People forums showed increased public satisfaction where community police team's were deployed. The cost has been astronomical and must be weighed against the outcomes. Has crime decreased that much? It's a difficult one as it can make a difference locally, however one size doesn't fit all. Quieter areas get the same size team as a busy one. With a PCSO costing about 30k a time most managers would sacrifice one to use that money operationally elsewhere.

Things tend to go in cycles. A change in government is inevitable and police reform will be coming too. Just as NuLabor can't help but spend, with little to show for it, then the Tories can't help but cut, but not until after 2012.

Remember what Blair said in 1993, 'The case for reform is whether it helps to cut crime, whether it makes our communities safer, not whether it allows the Treasury to cut corners or satisfies some mistaken political dogma.'

Shame he never stuck to that !

Tragic News

2009-05-08T21:19:00.003+01:00

I was most saddened to hear the news that young Jack Brown passed away on 3rd May after a long battle against cancer. He is well known to most in the policing family and many colleagues have organised events to assist with his treatment in America. I've always followed his story and supported friends who have put themselves through physical pain to raise funds.

Thoughts with his police officer parents and the rest of the family. The little lad fought well.

We all share your grief and pain at this time. Rest In Peace Jack

Click the link and go to updates. If you are not moved by the last entries you've got a heart of stone.

The Girl With Sad Eyes

2009-05-06T22:10:00.000+01:00

Dealing with death is part of the job. I'm usually not too bad with keeping the feelings in check with the run of the mill sudden death. It's the waste of life stuff that tends to get to me. The only real training is to dehumanise us, usually in the first few weeks of reaching your first station. I still recall my visit to the morgue and seeing the technician ladling out blood from the chest cavity of some recently departed and revelling at the horror on the faces of us new probationers. The jobs I hate most however are suicides.

The first one I dealt with was a bloke who killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning as he sat in his car and let the exhaust fumes send him to the other side. He left a Dictaphone on the dash, which were a relatively new technology at the time. That's my excuse anyway for wiping out some of his last words, and an early lesson learnt not to touch things you don't understand. It was relatively straightforwards but I didn't have any relatives to deal with, and that does make a big difference.

A suspected suicide is a suspicious death and warrants a full investigation until the coroner's court reaches a decision. This means a steady stream of supervisors to attend and ensure everything is done correctly.

You don't know what to expect when asked to attend the scene of suicide. It could be any method, any age and a variety of residences. This one was different, in that the road was rather exclusive. You try not to assume because the very rich often live right next door to houses split into local housing association flats, but on turning up my first thought was nice house. A unit was inside already and I went to the front door. Everybody was speaking in those hushed respectful tones, trying to keep it together. Introductions and explanations and I was up the carpeted stairs in this house that went on forever.

I eventually came to a landing and on the walls were several large studio photographs about 2 feet by 2 feet square. Mother and daughter with mother smiling proudly. The daughter was about 10 years old and beautiful with a dark complexion and Mona Lisa smile. In each of the photographs the child's dark eyes looked out and had a look of sadness. It's said the eyes are a window to the soul and it was like I was intruding by looking into them. There was a door ajar and I looked in. I could see a clothes rail in a cupboard opposite with a green ribbon tied to it and a length hanging down. A female officer came out and briefed me. The girl with the sad eyes had locked herself inside and when her stepfather knocked on the door there was no answer. He thought she might be out and later became concerned, eventually forcing his way in to find her hanging. He cut her down but it was too late.

I enter and see the girl laid on the bed, eyes half open, the rest of the ribbon is tight around her neck The ambos had obviously been as there were discarded bits of medical kit strewn nearby but they couldn't save this soul. Everything was in hand I don't need to see any more. No notes? No medicines? usual suck egg questions to the officer who knew what she was doing. I leave and speak to the stepfather on the landing. He tells me his daughter was eighteen and back from university. I immediately think of my daughter who was the same age and also at university. This was totally unexpected and he tells me what she was looking forward to doing later in the week. I suspect there might have been previous issues, I've seen sad eyes like that many times before. He was keeping it together better than I would. He tells me that the mother works and is getting a cab home from work. I can hardly speak to him but utter out the procedures that now have to take place.

The mother in the photographs arrives back and rushes up the stairs. 'Where is she? Where is she?" She already knows the worst and wants into the bedroom. I have to bar the way and explain, we have things to do. I don't want her to see her daughter the way she is. We have to photograph and secure the ligature for the coroner. I feel bad, it's her house, her daughter but fortunately the husband calms her and says we have to do our work. She will get her time with her daughter in a short time. I get a moment to ask the officer if she's OK, none of us are but it's what we do.

The duty officer turns up and I tell him what I know. He offers condolences, again in hushed tones. I leave and gulp the air outside, and I'm holding back the tears. A few minutes longer in that house and I would have lost it. They'll be plenty of crying in that house for years to come, because suicide isn't painless, not for those left behind anyway. I often wonder if they kept the photos up with those sad eyes looking out, maybe they just saw the beauty instead. I do hope so.

Books And Covers

2009-05-03T10:34:00.004+01:00

I was more surprised that Scotland did not have any transgender officers, when reading that Jan Hamilton formally Army Captain Ian Hamilton is reputably joining a Scottish police force. Is this meant to be a copper shocker story?

This blog as regular readers are aware has always supported the recruitment of ex military personnel into our profession. Jan Hamilton would appear to bring with her considerable experience and skills. I've worked with trans-gender officers and quite frankly they are treated exactly the same as everybody else, and are judged on their ability to do the job. As long as Jan Hamilton has a sense of humour and is a good team member then good luck to her. I just hope she is not subject to some kind of political correct tokenism.

You've got to have grudging respect for somebody who puts themselves through gender realignment surgery and then elects to subject themselves to the great British public on a Friday night after closing time. Of course Jan used to be a paratrooper so I'm sure can handle herself.

My first contact with the paras was on my first foray into town having just started basic army training. A small figure wearing desert boots and green bomber jacket approached down the street with a case of beer carried on each shoulder. He stopped and looked at me saying "Oi crap hat want a fight?" Oh happy days - they are indeed different people those paras.

True To Form

2009-04-29T20:41:00.003+01:00

I had completed all of my annual staff appraisals prior to submission date. I'd done the lot form and interview and then just had to wait for the centre to decide how they wanted them submitted. Once said new submission policy was decided off they went .. Goodbye and Goodnight!

Oh if it was so easy. They all came bouncing back with a missive stating they were on the wrong form. I looked up the new form, which probably wasn't in existence when the Personal Development Review (PDR) was opened last year. It was 99% identical to the old one with two irrelevant questions that somebody in an office has decided are important.

I could have just added these questions to each form. Somebody else who was in the same boat told me that he'd already made enquiries and offered to add the questions, but NO , submissions would only be accepted on the new form.

I have therefore spent the best part of 4 hours copying and pasting each part of each box onto the new form and resubmitting the whole lot again. This will no doubt replicated across the whole force area. Some people have twice as many as me to do.

Not a good use of time. If somebody just made a decision to allow the questions to be added to the existing form hundreds if not thousands of hours would be saved.

Changes

2009-04-25T22:30:00.000+01:00

Change is one of the things that sets me off on that journey I don't want to take. I like my routine and recently things in my life have been changing. I have mentioned a change at work and after much uncertainty over the past few months I have started in a new role. This means I have left my community post in an area I have policed on and off for well over a decade. This was a funding thing, but there are other reasons for me going too. This may explain the severe sleep disturbance with me waking each day at about 3.30am, not including night shift of course. So I've been rather washed out of late, going into work with that heavy eyed fatigue I usually get coming the other way after nights.

It was rather a long goodbye, but it didn't make things any easier, I really miss it dreadfully. The gratitude shown and best wishes from my residents, not just the law abiding has humbled me. I've seen young kids turn into men and women with kids of their own, and have tried to be consistent in my approach taking more than a passing interest over the years. People have even stopped their cars to come and chat to me as I've walked down the street. I have left previously and went back because I liked it too much, it's what I do.

My new role is very unsexy, but only temporary setting up a new team on a new project. I did ask to go back to response team but there are no vacancies at present. The management have hinted that there might be some positive payback for me helping them out, but already there are organizational changes coming with the loss of posts to save money. I won't hold my breath for any favours, I know how things work. Even being off nights has thrown my routine at home and caused child care nightmares over the school run. I've decided to get all changes out of the way at once so have revamped the blog, to freshen things up.

I think that there might be some other changes coming soon with policing as well. The G20 public order review should have some interesting recommendations. We the police are not exactly flavour of the month at the moment, and I've not seen much leadership from the top over this. There should have been more support for the officers concerned, pending the outcome of the IPCC investigation. Haven't these people been in the line? I expected better and they should be allaying public concerns with pledges of firm but fair policing, instead of throwing teddies about shoulder numbers.

Police officers don't like change, I think there's a management model called the resistance curve that shows the impact it has on performance and morale. Change is coming soon anyway, and hopefully we can tear up some of the damaging policies imposed by this government. That's not to say they've make a complete cock up. I think the Crime and Disorder partnerships with local authorities have had a positive impact on local issues and joined up working. I recall years back considering the local council as the anti-christ and very much against us, but now after several years it makes sense to work together. The next stage is to link in the public to play their part in taking policing forwards. We all want policing by consent but some of the legislation being passed is even making me uneasy. Maybe the G20 review will provide an opportunity. I understand that we need to change in many respects too.

Not had any music for ages so it has to be some Bowie.

Deserving Causes

2009-04-24T20:19:00.002+01:00

I do like to indulge in some plain clothes work. It provides the opportunity to really see what's going on. I'm not a jeans and trainers sort of guy and am somewhat blessed with "street" features. Oh yes, you know you've got it when you go shopping off duty in Marks and Spencers and at every turn there's a security guard within 10 yards looking your way.

I got chatting to a newspaper seller, I say newspaper but really it's one of those publications where he gets a gets a cut of the money. Great idea for the homeless, I think that was the intention and to keep beggars off the streets. Only I didn't get offered the paper, being asked for spare change instead. The drug ravaged features sort of gave away his life choice problems and his girlfriend was definitely the low end of the market if you get my drift. He wasn't homeless either, telling me he lived in a hostel down the road. He has to do it, he grudgingly slurs due to his ASBO preventing him from begging and street drinking. This was between slugs of his 9% Skol super strength. I assume he would have been on benefits and can guess where the cash he "earned" goes.

About an hour later I was sat on a bench and a bloke in his forties mumbled something to me. He wouldn't look me in the eye, and I asked him to say again. He then looks at me and very embarrassed asks me if I've got change for a cup of tea. I invite him to sit and we talk. He's clean and reasonably tidy with a rucksack on his back. Now he doesn't know who I am, and he wasn't spinning me a line either. This was a street chat.

He'd lost his job about 6 weeks ago, as a brickie and has since found himself on the streets living rough. He'd looked for work, and obviously worked on the cheaper sort of contract before getting laid off. I asked about benefits and accommodation. It appears he'd lived off his savings for a bit hoping to get work quickly and didn't sign on, and actually lived in a private place and had to go when he couldn't pay the rent. No address makes it harder to claim benefits, so I asked why he didn't get a hostel place off the local authority. There's two in the area because he's asked, but to get a place you have to have drink or drug problems. This bloke had neither, because he was a grafter.

I think you know who got Stressedcops cash. The final word must go to the brickie whose comment about the hostel situation was "It's Political Correctness gone mad". All I know is it's very wrong and hard working proud people should be getting the help if they need it.

My England

2009-04-21T15:53:00.002+01:00

I love my country and don't care what colour you are, if you can kiss the flag and feel "it" then you're alright with me. Being English and proud today is somewhat frowned upon by Nulabor, and their attempts at changing our society are thank (your choice of) God coming to an end.

I was away the other week in Yorkshire and visited the town of Malton. It has a beautiful old market place with little independent shops. Mrs Stressed and the kids were off looking at something in an old fashioned Pet Shop, so I sat on a bench and indulged in some people watching.

The old people looked different, more relaxed, and well happy. This is very different from where I work, and see them shuffling along to get their business done quickly. I still had my police radar on and noticed a car parked up with the Sat Nav clearly on view still stuck to the windscreen. This would have lasted about 5 minutes where I'm from, but they probably keep their doors unlocked in Malton. Not one druggie did I see all day.

Old fashioned proper pubs decades old, not some crappy themed named changed over priced shit hole. They even had the old red telephone boxes. I didn't see any Ruralshire Constabulary either. Just one glimpse of an officer on foot patrol in tunic walking tall would have put me into a contented ecstatic mood.

This was not a diverse scene my eyes feasted on, it was a vision of England, a thing of beauty. I don't believe in multiculturalism, preferring the French way of Nationality, but still swearing allegiance to the Crown. I want everywhere to feel like Malton.

We are in a mess - Please Nulabor call an election NOW and let's start again. We can have this if any party had the balls to put it in their manifesto and brought back common sense in public life.

I'm posting this early for St. George's Day as I've got some big work on this week. Have a Proud one.