Mr Brown you need us...

Police Officers are furious that CSOs are to get the full pay rise, including back pay that has been denied to fully sworn officers and rightly so!

But police officers are not the only ones who question the actual worth of the CSO. James O'Brien of Friction TV suggests we should actually Get Rid of Community Support Officers! There are many who would agree however, I believe that perhaps they do actually have a role in modern policing but let's be open and honest about what that function actually is! The government is doing nothing short of lying to the public in an attempt to disguise their hidden agenda. An agenda which promotes law and order on one hand, crows about how well they are addressing the issues, boasts about how many 'extra' officers are now available then proceeds to try and provide policing services on the cheap.

I, like many of my colleagues could bang on about this subject indefinitely, (actually many of us do) however, the whole crux of the issue is all about trust, about openness and honesty and a belief in our politicians and what they say. It would b e stupid to ever believe that we will all have the same political beliefs but it would be nice to actually trust what the politicians are saying... Unfortunately this has to be a pipe dream!

When there is some clarity about the actual role and responsibility of the CSO, a complete standardisation of uniform, training and powers right across the country and a total step back from trying to pull the wool over the public eyes, then I might change my belief in their actual worth. Until then I find it increasingly hard to actually see the 'value' they currently bring to the policing process.

What we actually have here is a disguised attempt by our government to produce a two tier policing service. One that has a visible (almost powerless) presence on the streets and another, smaller unit that are armed to the teeth with all manner of powers and equipment. A force that is called upon to quell and squash the public when they fail to comply with government instructions. Is this what we want as a nation? Is this not approaching a police state methodology? Have we not lost sight of the 'Policing by Consent' ideal? The public must decide...

With the current methodology applied by this government, their need for the police is actually increasing. It would be woefully unwise therefore to alienate them if the government wishes to continue along their current tack!

Cat Burgler Brunstrom!

The Chief Constable of North Wales police broke into his own HQ building this week (link). Richard Brunstrom said it was to 'test the security during building work'? I would have thought that due to the mirriad of gaffs, phopars and embarrasing situations attributed to him since appointment, is it not more likely he had to break in because his colleagues had locked him out!!!

He might have gained access and escaped a conviction for burglary however, it would appear the local council is non too happy about his breach of Health & Safety guidelines as he scaled the scaffolding on the building. No doubt Mr Brunstrom was looking for new ways to highten his profile and take senior police management to new levels???

WANTED

Female - White European - Lt Brown collar length hair - proportionate build - early to mid 40s - known to frequent the Redditch area - ex teacher - previously 'dabbled in marijuana'. This woman is part of a gang who have consistently stripped the nation of its assets, lied to cover up their actions and continually deceived others about their true purpose. They have robbed people of their reasonable remuneration increments whilst awarding themselves massive pay increases, they have reneged on previous agreements and are renouned for plausable but engineered answers when challenged with difficult questions.

If you have any information about this dangerous woman and her gang please contact Crimestoppers.

Guardian Report: Police forces should issue comical caricatures of the criminals they are hunting instead of standard photofits, according to a team of scientists who found that cartoon-like faces are better at jolting people's memories. A study at the University of Central Lancashire found that over-emphasising prominent features on people's faces made them twice as easy to identify than before.

The British Motto?

Whilst listening to BBC Radio 2 on the way to work the other day Sarah Kennedy was commenting on the fact that our illustrious Prime Minister has suggested we should develop a 5 word motto (see earlier video report) that accurately reflects all that is great about our Country, a difficult task? Sarah quipped that perhaps an apt suggestion would be... What's In It For Me!

However, back in September Brown denied a British Motto Plan a government spokesman said the prime minister was investigating a longer "statement of values" which could be used as part of any future "Bill ofRights". Once again our politicians believe the way to promote ourselves is to be more like Americans. Why is it they usually believe they rule the world and we, more often than not, appear to follow them blindly? The debate about a motto prompted a series of suggestions from BBC News website readers, including; "Unity in individuality", "Mustn't grumble" and "Smile! You're on CCTV". In September the BBC News Magazine gave readers the opportunity to offer suitable suggestions and published 1,000 mottos for the UK in their 'Friday Challenge feature'. Some suggestions from the list that appealed to me included;

• Quidvis: (Latin, 'whatever')
• Britain: Good old-fashioned newness
• Working Towards Doing Some Work
• Englnd - lnd of Wllm Shkspr
• Si non confectus, reficiat" (If it ain't broke, fix it anyway)
• UK: Obesité, Apathé, Hostilité.
• UK - it's outside London
• The land of political correctness
• Be British: Everyone else is! - 20,00 Asylum Seekers can't be wrong
• Fine the easy target, feed the non-taxpayer
• Now known simply as 'Britain' - we all helped it lose the 'Great'
• The United Kingdom - a subsidiary of the United States
• Do what you want, when you want!
• You can't touch me, I know my rights!
• Leave. Before that is banned too.
• We are always surpassed at that which we create
• Anyone welcome no passport necessary
• Self,self,self. Me,me,me.
• Britain - This Septic Isle
• This is Britain; what would you like?
• Why do today, what a migrant can do tomorrow?

One contributor probably summed up the contributions when he wrote; "in the first instance we are not a United Kingdom. We have a Scottish Parliament (trying to be independent) a Welsh Assembly wanting more power to be individual, a Mayor of London (enough said!) and heaven knows how many local authority kwangos etc controlling our lives. Then there is the EU!! So we can only have one motto: "United we stand divided we fall" - Watch this space!!

What's your motto?

JCDM Verdict?

BBC: London's Metropolitan police force has been found guilty of endangering the public over the fatal shooting of a man officers mistook for a suicide bomber. As expected, the media is teaming with viewpoint and comment, good and bad about today's verdict. The court found the force guilty of breaking health and safety laws when officers pursued Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes and shot him seven times. It was fined £175,000 with £385,000 costs over the 22 July 2005 shooting. Reaction to the verdict by various prominent individuals was divided over the implications for the force. Public opinion in the BBC Have Your Say forum was also divided.

The BBC (like other media sources), have produced their own 'in depth' Death of Jean Charles de Menezes assessment of what happened and why (in their opinion). One of those respondents in the BBC forum said; "It's all very well to pontificate in hindsight--rather different to have to make decisions" and that is one of the major factors in this tragic episode.

Does anyone ever stop to consider the feelings and emotions of those police officers who pulled the triggers. Imagine for one moment being in that position yourself, a split second between his (JCDM) death and yours, not to mention countless others. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, knowing that whatever you do your whole life will be ripped apart for months or years after, whilst every official (and often none official) enquiry takes place. Considered to be guilty in the public eye until proven innocent, unlike the basic rights of every other member of society.

Thankfully the court has found that non of those officers physically involved acted incorrectly, despite poor briefings and the failings of their commanders! No doubt these will be aired again in the forthcoming IPCC report however, now the dust of the media circus and public opinion is starting to settle, the most important thing is to make sure the lessons are learnt and failures are not repeated.

'Bobbies Are Not Natural Bureaucrats'

Police Oracle: Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has outlined how criminal justice processes could be changed to reduce excessive bureaucracy in policing...

Really? A large proportion of our 'bureaucratic process' actually originates from our leaders! It's my intention to comment further however for now I'll just reproduce it in full for those who haven't seen or heard it yet (see below):

'Actually, Bobbies Are Not Natural Bureaucrats'

When I wrote this speech last week, I was concerned that I might be accused of entering the political fray at the start of a General Election. However, even had there been an election, I thought I was going to be able to say this morning what I had planned because if there is one thing that all the political parties are united around about policing, it is to try to cut down on bureaucracy. I want to cut down on bureaucracy as well.

However, I think that some politicians and media commentators think there is so much bureaucracy because police like it, feel comfortable with it, or are lost without it. That is not the case at all. History shows us that because the service that I joined, over thirty years ago, it was a very unbureacratic place. I would like it to get back there.

Were we to return to the time I joined, to the time of "Life on Mars", we would, of course, be struck by the casual racism and sexism which made all the headlines about that programme: what would really strike us much more, however, would be the ability of the police to deal quickly with matters of criminal justice.

On bureaucracy in the police as a whole - to deal with that just for a moment - discussion about cutting down on the number of forms misses the point. Of course, we need lots of different forms for different purposes. The need is to get antiquated IT systems to transfer data, so it is only keyed in once. Some of those IT systems are inside the police service, some of them connect to other services. It is a long term enterprise and, certainly in the Met, much progress is being made. Until that progress is complete, however, police officers and police staff will have to key in
that information.

That is not the point of this brief address, however, because not all bureaucracy is unnecessary. Most of the information being input by police needs to be recorded, even if preferably only once. In the case of the Criminal Justice system, however, uniquely, whole swathes of information are
recorded which do not need to be. Let us assume for a moment that every criminal case is an animal. As it stands, the law treats them as if they are all the same animal and a very large and very dangerous animal at that. So, irrespective of whether the case is a mad bull elephant or a small pesky chicken, the law treats it just the same.

This is the consequence of the Criminal Justice reforms introduced by the 1977 Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure. This, in turn, was carried out after a series of scandals, most notably the conviction of three youths for the murder of Maxwell Confait in 1972, convictions that were found to be palpably unsafe because they were based on confessions made after long
periods of detention, accompanied by allegations of brutality. Many other cases followed, including, of course, the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. But in the reforms that followed, aimed at eradicating brutality, limiting periods of detention and introducing access to legal advice, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act treated all cases the same. This was followed by the Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act known as CPIA, which regulated the rules of disclosure - and treated all cases the same. This has been followed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which has regulated surveillance and other aspects of covert policing - treating all cases the same. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 then took away from the police their powers to charge, in all but the most trivial cases.

What this means is that, while I could, as a young constable, make three arrests for entirely unconnected offences in a single tour of duty and process them without overtime, it now takes two officers the whole tour of duty to process one, however minor, if that case is going to be presented to the Crown Prosecution Service and the court. It is precisely this, which leads police officers to use fixed penalty notices, thereby avoiding the entire charging and court process.

This is absolutely ridiculous. What we need is a bonfire, onto which we throw the unnecessary regulation of policing and investigation in a measured, intelligent way. We should have completely different rules of disclosure for minor offences. We should open up the provisions of RIPA to less serious cases but cut down on the complexity of the authorisation required by RIPA.

We should have very tight regulations for dealing with the cases that are "mad bull elephants", with murder and rape and conspiracy to commit terrorist offences and for those offences with grave consequences for reputations such as allegations of child sex abuse. For common assault, for shoplifting, for some minor deception, however, we need very light regulations indeed. It should not be for the prosecution to seek out all the possible evidence that could be obtained in such cases: it should be for them to provide simply sufficient evidence for a prosecution to succeed. There is no reason why, in the case of a minor assault, where there are witnesses and medical evidence, the police should spend time being required to search for CCTV evidence. We need to return to summary justice being summary: something, which is quick and straightforward. We need a wholesale revamping of the regulations to get police officers out on the streets where they belong, as the papers are calling for this very morning. Such reforms would also shorten summary trials, by stopping that branch of defence criminal justice which seeks to challenge process rather than evidence.

We are making progress. Many of these views are supported by the senior judiciary. Here in London, in partnership with the CPS, we have introduced a shortened file for cases for trial in magistrates' courts where there is an anticipation of a guilty plea. This is based on a summary of evidence and saves two hours per officer per case. With the support of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the London Chief Crown Prosecutor, it will now roll out across London, saving tens of thousands of hours of police time. It is to the credit of The London Criminal Justice Partnership that, should a defendant plead not guilty, only sufficient evidence for the case to be
effectively tried will be required. This will further reduce the paperwork. These changes will need support across the entire justice system: there will be interests both principled and vested who will be opposed. These reforms need to move quickly out of London. A further issue of contradiction is the current performance regime under which the CPS works. This punishes those cases, which have been charged but do not end in conviction. This means that prosecutors constantly seek far more evidence than is necessary to make a charging decision, which wastes a lot more time. These perverse incentives, which increase the paperwork burden, need to be removed.

What this means is that those who are framing and administering summary criminal justice need to have courage.

And there is one particular basis on which they can do that. That is that the culture of the police service has changed out of all recognition, over the last 30 years. In any large organisation, there will always be people who behave badly but there is just no evidence at all of a widespread
culture of police misbehaviour, of, as it was called, the "fitting up" of suspects, the fabrication of confessions: the police service is clean. As my predecessor, Paul Condon, said in another context - about corruption - "the Met is the cleanest big city force in the world". I think that applies to the police service in England and Wales generally, to a professional, well-trained, well-paid service, which is interested in truth and justice.

However, we also have some things to do and I do not think we should only look at the speck in someone else's eye but at a rather large chip in the police's own. The police service has some further work to do outside criminal justice. It has to overhaul its extraordinarily complicated method of recording crimes, the National Crime Recording Standard and its equally ill-visaged sister, the National Standard for Incident Recording, which is coming up on the rails. It is a well know adage that the best is often the enemy of the good. It is these standards that have led to all those stories being reported about crimes being recorded for throwing chips in the street. It is these standards that have effectively abolished the offence of aggravated burglary. It used to be one - very serious - offence for somebody to break into a house with a gun and take a pile of jewellery and possessions off everybody in there. It isn't now, it's a series of individual robberies - one for each victim - has now to be recorded which is just arrant nonsense which misleads our intelligence picture of such crimes. We need to be bold and change this whole mindset. From the recording of crime to the appearance of defendants in court, we need to reduce the cost of administration.

So, what do I want out of criminal justice? I think it needs to be as transparent as possible, it needs to embrace whatever new technologies we can find for it, including the virtual courts now being experimented here in London, although I hope Ron de Witt will contradict me later, I will not hold my breath for the integration of criminal justice information technology systems. It needs continually to increase its level of customer care, so that we can increase confidence in the administration of justice, which is a fundamental duty of government. Here in London, confidence is the highest in the whole country, but it is only 47%.

Above all, it needs to be a system which listens to the public and to the concerns of that public. It needs to be local. Bringing those things together means that the agencies involved need to work together and I want to tell you about one way in which we are doing this in London. In this city, one pre-eminent public concern is the propensity of young people to use violence on one another. The dreadful murder of Rizwan Darbar on Monday is an example. A single stab wound, a life snuffed out.

We have to stop the growing incidence of weapons being carried on our streets. We already have extensive laws in relation to guns, although more will probably have to be done. However, the carrying of knives and other offensive weapons, particularly by young people, is much more common and, potentially, just as deadly. I believe that everyone, anyone, carrying a knife or similar weapon on the streets of London should appear in court. It should be for the court to determine what punishment will follow. This does not necessarily mean prison but it does mean that everyone who carries a knife, and is caught doing so, should appear in front of an appropriate court and understand, through that process, the severity of what they have done and the possible consequences of carrying such things in public, not only to others but also themselves.

The rules on which a decision to caution rather than charge are not a matter for the police but for the CPS. In the last 12 months in this city, 565 adults and 228 youth offenders have been cautioned in London for these offences. That is about a quarter of offenders in each category, although that rises to half for possession of offensive weapons. I find that totally unacceptable.

I am pleased to say that the Metropolitan Police has now reached agreement with the Chief Crown Prosecutor for London over this issue in relation to adults. The Chief Crown Prosecutor's new guidance makes clear that, where sufficient evidence of an offence of possession of a bladed article or other offensive weapon, it will normally be in the public interest to charge. In the case of youth offending, the situation is more complex because there are more agencies involved. However, I am now writing to the Youth Justice Board and to the Crown Prosecution Service, asking that a review be made of the situation in relation to young people.

I repeat that I am not asking that everyone who carries a knife goes to prison. I also know that there must be exceptions, such as foreign travellers transiting Heathrow, but what I want to see is that everyone who carries a knife or other offensive weapon on the streets of London knows
they are at risk of going to prison because they will be appearing in front of magistrates, rather than being cautioned. I think that is the right way forward and this kind of change represents the kind of awareness of public concerns that should be the hallmark of a criminal justice system which is visible, responsive and accountable.'

Pensioner Speed Cops

First it was baby Community Support Officers in the Thames Valley area, now we have old age pensioners working as traffic cops! What is policing in the UK really coming to? Apparently a pair of pensioners have been recruited by North Wales Police to clock speeding drivers. The idea, was another 'brain child' of North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom, who is renowned for his controversial methods. He has a Chief's Blog which has also been complained about and reported on by the BBC in video.

• Brunstrom's campaign over drugs
• Brunstrom: Road to controversy
• Brunstrom: Google News
• Government’s ‘no comment’ on 3,500 strong ‘sack Brunstrom’ petition
• Beat officers issued with pedometers by their Chief
• Brunstrom demands anti-racism pledge
• Brunstrom told to 'get a grip'
• Police chief denies speed 'obsession'

Who knows, perhaps there will be no requirement for police officers in the brave new world of 'police reform'? After all, with youth unemployment and an aging population, the job could be done by illiterate juvenile delinquents and infirm partially sighted octogenarians... There's a money saving for the nation!

Red tape 'threat to Poppy Day parades'

The Telegraph: The petty bureaucracy of local authorities and the police threatens to halt Remembrance Sunday parades, Service veterans said.

Here we go again!

Organisers of parades are being threatened with street cleaning bills, told to carry out 'risk assessments' and the like? My cynical head makes me think the 'political correctness' lobby are putting obstacles in the way of remembrance simply to appease minority groups, especially in light of the recent 'conflicts' that many are uncomfortable with...

Strange that, these people used to be grouped together under the heading of 'conscientious objectors during the two World Wars and then, like now, weren't liked much by ordinary decent folk! Petty bureaucracy gone mad!

The head of the Army, Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, has called for local authorities to arrange parades for returning regiments based in their areas. The Daily Telegraph has also campaigned for troops to be given a heroes' welcome when they return from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let's hope the conchies don't win the day, after all they would never have had their 'freedom of speech' if it wasn't for those who laid down their life in our armed forces.

Postman Pat is unhappy

No postman banging on the door this morning at some god unearthly hour because the letter box isn't big enough! The BBC report: 'Royal Mail workers have started the first of two 48-hour walkouts in a protest over pay and fears of job cuts'. It appears that the posties are unhappy about their pay... At the centre of the mail dispute is the CWU's objection to the Royal Mail's 2.5% pay offer and modernisation plans, which it says will put about 40,000 jobs at risk.

Alf says: Welcome to the public sector club! We (the police) are in our second year of dispute over the exact same issues. The stark difference is that posties, unlike the police, are able to utilise the full range of industrial action against their employer.

Royal Mail say; "We regret that this industrial action will have a significant impact on Royal Mail’s Door to Door service during this period and for sometime afterwards". It's interesting to note that the DWP will be making 'special arrangements' so all the 'sick, lame & lazy', sorry I mean 'unemployed' of the nation can still get their dole etc... No connection with the fact the majority are likely to be predominantly Labour voters. Cynic, me?

The police pay dispute is still going through all the 'talking shops' despite Gordon Brown saying at this year's ACPO Conference; “There is no greater responsibility than that which you as police officers accept. And there is no greater obligation for us in government than to support you in discharging that duty”.

Alf says: Sometimes it's interesting to read what people with no connection to the issue have to say e.g. 'Speaker's Corner' - PC Advisor Magazine. However, Talk is cheep Mr. Brown... Bet he doesn't put the money where his mouth is!

I'm sick. What's the big deal?

I was sat this morning with a pot of tea and the paper, waiting for 8am when I could ring the doctor’s. You have to ring for an appointment; you can’t just turn up any more. It’s funny how they call it an ‘appointment’, gives the impression of booking an exact time slot... Not so! You’re only ringing to see if It’s possible to actually see a doctor during surgery and that’s once you get past the automated “press one for appointments, press two for prescriptions” etc. If the surgery is ‘full’ and you ask to make an appointment for the following day you get a disgruntled huff from the receptionist and a sharp intake of breath as if you’re stupid. “Oh no, you have to ring tomorrow if you want an appointment for then!” Why is it when you get off the phone from speaking to a doctor’s receptionist, you are left with the feeling you have just been dealing with by Hauptsturmführer Elga of the Waffen-SS?

Any way, I slurped my tea and returned to the newspaper, interested by the headline… ‘First Glimpse of the big ideas’ (The Times). Apparently the Conservative party ‘would establish HealthWatch, a consumer voice for patients’. Great stuff but not a new idea, the difficulties people face trying to see their doctor was reported last month by the BBC… "Outdated" GP services should be overhauled to extend opening hours and be more flexible, business leaders say. At that time the CBI reckoned businesses lose ‘38m working hours and £1bn a year’ because of employee difficulty with GP appointments. However this is just another headline in the long list reporting the latest ‘arguments’ about sickness levels and who’s fault it is any way. It all depends if your organisation represent employers or employees.

If you’re sick or injured in some way, you just want to get better again and, the last thing you should have to worry about is your job. The CBI have said; ‘Firms lose billions as staff take "unwarranted" long-weekends and "pull sickies" (CBI May 2004). This may be the case however, it’s only fairly recently that employers have started to realise that, shock horror, it may actually be the bosses fault that the worker is not in a rush to get back. Commenting on the CBI’s annual absence survey, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “The CBI wants us to think that public sector workers are too ready to throw a ‘sickie’ and take a few days off whenever they feel like it” (TUC May 2005). They bolstered their rhetoric on the subject again earlier in the year with; ‘UK bosses suspect that one in eight of all UK workplace absences are due to staff faking illness’ (BBC Apr 2007).

Three years ago in a report entitled, ‘Feeling Poorly? Prove it!’ (BBC Jul 2004), it was suggested that; bosses who suspect absent employees of skiving should employ teams of nurses to check just how ill they are. It was suggested this would ‘put an end to malingering staff throwing sickies’. However, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development highlighted growing levels of stress - suggesting that it may often be over-demanding firms and not malingering workers who are to blame for lost days. Stress? Blight on modern life! (BBC Radio 4's Stressed Out)… Time off work estimated to cost the country £13bn a year. Stress caused by work is the second biggest occupational health problem in the UK (after back problems). Many situations can lead to stress at work. These include:

• Poor relationships with colleagues
• An unsupportive boss
• Lack of consultation and communication
• Too much interference with your private, social or family life
• Too much or too little to do
• Too much pressure, with unrealistic deadlines
• Work that's too difficult or not demanding enough
• Lack of control over the way the work is done
• Poor working conditions
• Being in the wrong job
• Feeling undervalued
• Insecurity and the threat of unemployment

Most workers reckon that their bosses are excessively bureaucratic, apportion blame wrongly and are inconsistent in decision making, a Sirota Survey Intelligence report has found. "Unfortunately, they often find conditions that block high performance, such as excessive bureaucracy burying them in paperwork, and slowing decision making to a crawl. "Management has to help employees perform, which in many cases means getting out of the way." Any of this starting to sound familiar?

Apparently, the sight of the sea is the quickest and most effective way to reduce high stress levels for many people, a survey has found (BBC). Any way, must get off to the quack and see if I can’t get a prescription for a house in Whitby on the NHS!

• The International Stress Management Association
• NHS Direct - STRESS
• HSE – Work Related Stress

Try the Charles Bronson method or get a 'Trunk Monkey'?

The law on "have-a-go heroes" is to be urgently reviewed to give honest members of the public more confidence to step in, Justice Secretary Jack Straw is to announce. Not content with preventing the police from patrolling the streets due to mountains of paperwork or, replacing those officers with pretend cops in the form of the PCSO, the government is now actually going to encourage 'Jo Public' to do the job of the police themselves!

Jack straw will tell the Labour Party conference; "The justice system must not only work on the side of people who do the right thing as good citizens but also be seen to work on their side." His spokesman added that any reforms would seek to reassure people that the law allows them to use reasonable force to apprehend suspects, as set out in the 1967 Criminal Law Act.

His spokesman says "we will not be encouraging anyone to act recklessly" and added; "We want to make clear that we will support people for doing the right thing." Perhaps he's just had a Charles Bronson film out from the video shop? Personally, I like the idea of using The Trunk Monkey to redress the balance for law abiding citizens!

What do community support officers do?

Now I (like PC Bloggs), was going to do a piece about the GMP Pond incident where the small boy died and the PCSO's got a hammering in the media but I will refrain. Apart that is to say; my thoughts go out to all those who have been touched by the boy's death and my condolences go to his family.

Like PC Bloggs, I wasn't there so can't comment on the details of the incident however, what this has done though is once again bring home the confusion the public have about the role and responsibility of the PCSO.

The BBC have rightly asked what exactly is the role of a community support officer and what training and responsibilities do they have? A good question... And, it's the same question that every police officer, every member of the public and indeed, and I expect most of the PCSO service would like an answer to as well!

Today there are something like 16,000 community support officers patrolling our streets but usually only during the day. They are supposed to be easily identifiable but, in many areas, the uniform they wear is so similar to that of a fully sworn police officer, it is almost impossible to tell them apart. They are intended to deter criminals and reassure communities by their high-visibility presence? The law abiding citizens think they are police officers and the crooks think they are a joke and confusion reigns supreme!

In December this year they are supposed to be getting standardised powers and a nationally accredited training package but PCSOs will subsequently require more training at a greater cost. The Home Office originally said it did not want PCSOs, to be a "paler shade of police officer".
Paul Kelly, chairman of the Police Federation in Manchester, said that PCSOs were incapable of dealing with emergencies. “The public are being fooled,” he said. He continued by saying; "We are sending people out there who are dressed as police officers". And concluded; “We should do away with PCSOs because they are a failed experiment. In Greater Manchester we have taken on up to 400 PCSOs in the past 18 months but in the same period have reduced the number of police officers by more than 200. We should be investing in more police officers.”

Alf says: The original concept may have had some good points but the whole PCSO issue has, mainly for financial reasons, become so skewed it is now untenable. The reality is that the PCSO has just been used to con the public into thinking there are more police officers on the streets. Providing policing on the cheap! And now in many areas, fully sworn officers are not being recruited. Do we want 'proper' police officers to provide police services in our communities or, are we happy with a cheap copy? I think we all know what the answer is?

Ronnie Reports...

BBC News 12^th Sep 2007: Police officers in England and Wales are bogged down in red tape and afraid to use their own judgement, the chief inspector of constabulary has said. That’s nothing new; police officers have been saying this for ages! However, today the Home Office published Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s ‘interim report’ on police reform so what’s actually in his review? Here are some of the key recommendations and my initial comments following on from my previous post. I intend to examine the document more fully at some later point…

On initial read, it is refreshing to see that Sir Ronnie has the same viewpoint about policing as I and many others. He starts his report by saying; “Despite the much-changing context of policing in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the fundamental values of the police service, as encapsulated in the nine principles based on the General instructions issued to every member of the Metropolitan Police at the time of its foundation in 1829, remain in my view valid to this day”.

Alf says: What a refreshing change! However, it would be very worrying if someone who has devoted such a large proportion of his life to ‘the job’ did not think in that way.

He (Sir Ronnie) commenced his report with that age old chestnut of ‘Reducing Unnecessary Bureaucracy’. In Para 1.15 he talks about the matter of crime recording and what we actually record as a ‘crime’; I am conscious that even in the very recent past this area can quickly become a matter for party political debate which I feel can be unhelpful to operational policing.

Alf says; Exactly, take politics out of policing once and for all.

Recommendation 4: There should be a non-party political but truly cross party debate to inform a revision of recorded crime statistics, particularly in the areas currently designated as violent crime. In this context, a closer examination of why international police colleagues do not record anything like the level of activity as ‘violent crime’ will be critical.

Alf says: Paperwork, the blight of the service!

Recommendation 5: ACPO should work with the NPIA to produce mandatory standard forms based on the minimum appropriate reporting requirements. This work should be completed by summer 2008 and forces should adopt them unless there are compelling local reasons for variation.

Alf Says; Also to be commended however, if the government and ACPO actually comply, this will mean another set of bloody forms we have to get acquainted and proficient with, in double quick time!

Part of Recommendation 8 when looking at ‘Activity Based Costing’ etc. states; the NPIA should carry out an investigation of the suitability of Airwave to gather information on officers’ daily activities by summer 2008.

Alf says: I’m no ludite as some would expect and, I’m all for using technology to assist in the data gathering processes however, we have to be confident that technology will present ‘accurate’ data. With all the recent concerns about Airwave functionality, are we sure this will deliver what we want?

Para 2.3 of the report discusses the issues around ‘the unrelenting’ focus on mainstreaming Neighbourhood Policing. But it goes on to say ‘Neighbourhood Policing does not, cannot and must not operate in isolation from the rest of the police family’.

Alf says: I think any ‘practitioner’ who has been in policing for some time fully understands the fundamental values of Neighbourhood Policing. What we all struggle to understand is how response teams have been marginalised, under funded and undervalued at the expense of NPT? Policing in the UK was always about those principles which the NPT methodology has adopted. The problems have been failing to realise that there will always be an associated real time ‘crisis management’ urgency of function within the police service. Sir Ronnie sums it up by saying; “simply, one cannot exist without the other”. And, they must have equality in funding; you only get what you pay for!

Recommendation 18 talks about the Home Office and NPIA etc looking for a ‘Single National Indicator Set’ that can be applied to measure ‘confidence and satisfaction that are applicable to Neighbourhood Policing’.

Alf says: Right on… If we are to be scrutinised and judged so relentlessly, all aspects of the job and those performing it must be subject to Key Performance Indicators!

Recommendation 21 says that ‘Chief Constables should strive to ensure that those appointed to head BCUs, and appointed to other posts within and integral to Neighbourhood Policing, should as far as possible remain in post for at least two years’.

Alf says: For far too long the service has suffered from (and even rewarded) those who move from post to post willy nilly. Let’s finally get away from the mentality that supports the ‘job tarts’ that flit from one post to another for an extra notch on the CV. Or, seeks to castigate those who are happy (and performing well) in a particular roll. Not everyone wants promotion!

Recommendation 22: NPIA’s Neighbourhood Policing Programme should investigate the feasibility of giving greater recognition to officers and staff who remain on neighbourhood Policing teams for a lengthy period of time.

Alf says: See last comment.

Recommendation 26: The NPIA should research the feasibility of a volunteer PCSO scheme and report on its findings by Summer 2008.

Alf says: Bugger, more PCSOs! No, on a serious note that’s fine but let’s have some standardisation of their roll, their powers and the way they are dressed. Let’s stop conning the public into thinking they are actually ‘Police Officers’… They are not and never will be! This wasn’t the intention and should never be. The PCSO has a valuable part to play in today’s policing service but let’s do it honestly!

Perhaps we are going to see some beneficial change for once?

Sir Ronnie Flanagan

Sir Ronnie Flanagan who has been HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary since February 2005 has had his appointment extended to January 2009. The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, has been quoted as saying; “This extension will ensure continuity in this crucial area during the year ahead as the police service continues its challenging reform programme and Sir Ronnie takes forward his independent review of policing.”

I have to agree with her comments about ‘continuity’. Any stability in the thought processes governing police reform must be a good thing however; I like many others would challenge the validity of the word ‘independent’. Many changes imposed on the police service over recent years have, in many respects, been short term ‘knee jerk’ reactions to long term problems.

The reasoning behind the implementation of many of these changes often look suspiciously like they were ‘engineered’ just to win votes or, boost flagging public opinion in our government for the pollsters. I would like to think Sir Ronnie Flanagan has enough metal about him to paint the true picture however, my concern is; given the short timescale he has been allowed for delivery of his review, only leads me to thinking the government are once again looking for a ‘quick fix’. A short term methodology to placate the concerns of the service in some way, being that Sir Ronnie is held in fairly high esteem by many of those to which the review will apply. It’s overall success in identifying meaningful and worthwhile change will remain to be seen!

Old Chestnuts!

BBC report: Concerns have been raised for public safety as Taser stun guns are made available to more police officers in England and Wales. Predictably, the old chestnuts of 'untrained police officers' using them 'indiscriminately' has tripped off the tongues of human rights groups, notably Amnesty International. Their 'Arms Programme Director', Oliver Sprague said: "We're worried that this could be the start of a slippery slope"...

Hello, join the 'real world', we've been on that 'slippery slope' for some time now and far too many police officers have been killed or seriously injured trying to protect those 'human rights' Amnesty so valiantly defend. Where are the 'human rights' of the police officer or innocent member of the public who is murdered or maimed by some thug on the street?

Article 2 of The Human Rights Act 1998 gives us all the right to life and, a police officer has the obligation to defend that right by the use of reasonable force if necessary. Now Amnesty may question whether or not the use of Taser is 'reasonable force' and probably quiet correctly. However, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has said; Taser discharges are now only to be referred to the IPCC if the discharge has resorted in death or serious injury, caused a danger to the public or revealed failings in command. They appear to trust us (for a change), why can't others?

The UK is not some tin pot third world country where the police run amok at the whim of some military dictator. In the UK the police operate under strict codes of conduct and, the IPCC rigorously enforce those codes. Often to the extent whereby an officer suspected of a breach is treated as 'guilty until proven innocent', the exact opposite of everyone else in society!

The Telegraph even rolled out the retired 'policing expert' former Scotland Yard commander John O’Connor who expressed his concern at the news by saying; "I think the notion of giving these guns, these Taser guns, out indiscriminately to untrained officers - because it's a non-lethal option - they're going to run the risk of these things being used far too indiscriminately". He should know better as a former commander of the Metropolitan Police 'Flying Squad' however, as that unit hasn't always been know for doing things correctly and, he is now a director of a commercial security firm (and probably got paid for his comment), his view may well be tainted!

Do Amnesty and others really think cops in the UK are going to run around Tasering people indiscriminately? Let's get real here!

Rampant Rabbit in shop raid

No, not the fluffy kind... The fabled 'woman's friend'! The Guardian reported that; Robber jailed for sex toy 'armed' raid at a bookmakers shop... Apparently he went into the shop demanding money whilst brandishing the vibrator inside a carrier bag. Maybe our hapless robber had read some of the sales blurb before borrowing his girlfriends toy? "This bad boy bunny is nothing short of genius", or "angle them exactly to hit" and "It may look scary but trust us, you're about to meet your new best friend"... The best 'weapon' to get what you want!

Unsurprisingly the standard comments tripped from the tongue of the defence who said his client, a qualified chef and engineer, 'had fought a battle against drug addiction and had a "fragile" state of mind'. Obviously not very bright either!

Apparently 'The Rabbit' is so popular it has even been the subject of a feature film? 'Rabbit Fever', billed as the British Comedy that hits the spot, portrays the trials and tribulations of a group of women who desperately try to quit using the much-fabled rabbit vibrator! Note: Rampant Rabbit is a trademark of Ann Summers Limited.

Man stabbed in road rage attack

A driver has been stabbed in a road rage attack in a Cornish town. The victim, a 27-year-old man, was taken to hospital for stitches and later released. Police are searching for a man aged 65 to 75 described as having grey hair, sideburns, a bulbous nose. This must have happened prior to the recent Home Office advice or some sort of reincarnation of Paul Kersey with a Death Wish!

Man killed trying to stop damage to his car!

Garry Newlove, 47, was assaulted by teenagers in Station Road North in Warrington, Cheshire, on Friday night. He died in hospital on Sunday. Apparently neighbours said Garry was attacked when he approached a gang of youths causing damage to his car. And there's more...

South-East London; A man has died a week after being attacked by two teenagers he confronted for throwing litter into a car window. And so it goes on, hardly a week passes these days without some press coverage about a member of the public getting a good kicking, or worse, for having the 'affront' to challenge some little oik who believes he and his mates have a god given right to steal or damage other peoples property. I say 'he' & 'his' but even more worrying is that quiet often it's 'she' & 'hers'!

No doubt the youths currently being questioned about Garry's death will, if charged and put before a court, receive all the support of social services, legal aid and a smart Barrister. All manner of mitigating circumstances will be offered to the court about, broken families, a rough upbringing and poverty. Perhaps that is right in a civilised Country but what is civilised about kicking a man to death?

Sex on duty

Police inspector had sex on duty: A senior police officer met a woman for a sex session in a room at Gatwick Airport whilst on duty, a court has heard. Now can't say too much at this stage because the case is still continuing and, everyone is Innocent until proven guilty according to British Law. Although I must say it's usually 'guilty until proven Innocent' for cops! The defendant Insp. Khan (BTP) said... "It was absolutely the wrong thing to do, morally and professionally. I should never have done it" and denies the charge of 'wilful misconduct in a public office' in 2006. Perhaps the hapless Inspector should have either listened to his tutor as a probationer or at least remembered the advice... "There's 3 things that bobbies are likely to get in trouble about during their service lad, booze, women or property". Practice safe sex Inspector... Keep it in your trousers, at least when you're at work!

Addendum: (15-08-07) A jury at Southwark Crown Court has found British Transport Police Inspector Masood Khan, 41, not guilty after deliberating for less then 10 minutes.

Council says; Get orf our land!

A pensioner has been told she must stop tending a public flower bed unless she agrees to wear a fluorescent jacket, put up warning signs and use a lookout. June Turnbull, 79, of Urchfront near Devizes, has nurtured the blooms on the plot for six years. But now she is being told to obey health and safety rules after being spotted by a county council official...

Now the well being of the lady concerned is important and, Health & Safety legislation is there and guidelines are there to protect workers from unscrupulous employers but come on, how long are we going to carry on with this Nanny State mentality. I suppose it's a necessary evil of our litigious society which is yet another import from the USA, a nation that needs labels on a stove to say; Placing your hand in the flame is dangerous and may lead to severe burns and the manufacturer and supplier take no responsibility for any injures so received etc. etc. The world's gone bloody barmy!