Military Helicopter Crash

An investigation has been launched after two people were killed and ten injured in an RAF helicopter crash in Catterick, North Yorkshire. Visit www.telegraph.co.uk

Obviously my thoughts are with the bereaved. Any comment made so far in the media as to the cause of the crash is pure speculation. Until the Air Accident team, along with the other military & civilian authorities complete their investigation, I'll do what the media should do more often... Make no comment!

What the incident did bring home to me though was that, despite Catterick being the largest military garrison in Europe and, that area being part of the largest police force geographic area in England & Wales, where do the resources come from at a time like this? We already struggle at times to meet routine daily demand.

We police major incidents by working extended shifts, having our days off cancelled or altered and generally put ourselves out to get the job done! But here's the rub, you can't refer to policing as just a job, despite what the politicians want to do. Yes we get paid for what we do but to many, the money is not the issue, it's all about providing a service to the community and our fellow human beings.

The fact that politicians (and increasingly members of the public), no longer look on the police as 'special' in employment terms, means the regulations that protect our status and, the remuneration we receive for the restrictions on our private lives, are being seriously and systematically eroded away, in an attempt to save money by the government. Look elsewhere to do your penny pinching Mr Brown and, if you hadn't wasted so many millions over the last ten years or so, you wouldn't have to tighten your belt so much now!