Season's Greatings - póg mo thóin

Well that's it more or less... The first part of the annual seasonal mayhem is done and dusted and now we only have the bringing in of the new year left before it's back to normal. To those who have worked all over Christmas commiserations and to those who managed time with family and friends, I hope you had a peaceful and enjoyable time. No doubt the January credit card bills will evidence the type of celebration you enjoyed?

I am one of those bah humbug types who can't wait for January to be well and truly in place and the thoughts of the Christmas celebrations a distant memory! Some would say this miserably mentality is due to me being a grumpy old git however, after years of working at this time of year, before and during my police career, I suppose I have seen what people can be really like, warts and all! So many years of clearing up other peoples mess is bound to take it's toll.

The whole concept of Christmas has been lost and, it doesn't matter whether you are a religious type person or not. Certainly the celebration of the birth of Christ couldn't be further from the minds of many, even those who purport to be followers of a religion that believes in the story. No, Christmas appears to have sunk to the depths of depravity. Peace on earth and goodwill to all men appears (at least in the UK) to have been lost in a cloud of commercialism and alcohol fueled indulgence and violence.

Despite months of scare mongering about inflation and financial hardship the retail industry were predicting their bigest ever Boxing Day Sales. It appears from recent news reports that their expectations may have been well founded?

We now have "drunks-only" ambulances dubbed Booze Buses in many city areas to deal with widespread drunkenness and, a Newsnight alcohol special recently covered many of the issues associated with the Booze Britain culture. But why is it that by far the largest group of problem boozers on the lash in our town centres is often young women? Well, according to medical research, testosterone - the hormone connected to male characteristics such as aggression and sex drive - rises in women by up to 50% when they get drunk. In men, it falls!

So we've been told we couldn't afford Christmas but we still got pissed. We were told our money will buy less but we went mental at the sales and, our houses are dropping in value for the 2nd month running so what's next? Apparently 2008 will bring bleak prospects for the UK job market? Perhaps it's time to give up work and join the welfare state spongers where we can all be better off? Apparently going out to work does not pay!

So did I enjoy Christmas? Am I looking forward to the next one?

In the great words of Shane MacGowan... Happy Christmas your arse. I pray God it's our last!

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!

Working in Partnership???

Have you noticed how every bit of paper you pick up in the office these days has some fancy buzz word logo about 'Partnerships'. Police Bosses continually bang on about 'Working in Partnership', especially when a media opportunity arises and, how every local newspaper or the evening regional TV news includes a headline on the same topic.

Ashfordly Bugle: Local Residents Up In Arms... "we have made great strides in dealing with the issues" said Col. Blympton-Smythe TD JP, leader of the local council... "our partnership approach is making a great difference to the quality of life within our communities" blah blah blah! So why, when it really comes down to it, are the cops often the only 'partners' pulling their weight?

Local News: Council wardens in York will patrol on an evening to catch out revellers dropping litter on the streets. It is part of a campaign which focuses on stamping out fast food rubbish on the city's streets. York Council in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy will spearhead the message in the run-up to Christmas.

Alf Says: What's the betting the Council Wardens end up calling the police when they identify a litter dropping drunken oik. The youth will have just dumped his kebab wrapper on the street, clearly observed by the wardens but they can't approach him "due to Health & Safety guidelines" ! But the police are expected to make a 20 mile round trip, leaving the job they were already attending to protect the warden and deal with the offence.

New Drugs Policy: North Yorkshire Police will no longer be called to reports of a drug overdose - in an attempt to save more lives. The new approach has been introduced to make sure people who need help call medical services without fearing a criminal investigation.

Alf Says: Previously the ambulance service would call the police to most drug related incidents. Despite the new policy, it would appear they still are as Ambulance crews 'stand off' outside the address awaiting police attendance.

Uncommitted 'Partners':

• Social Services - Consistently expect the police to 'hold the fort' out of office hours and at weekends due to 'limited staffing'. Expect the police to provide a 'duty of care' to people they have 'misplaced' when they were in their care.
• Environmental Health - Provide absolutely no out of hours services in relation to noise complaints.
• Highways Depts - Have answer machines that instruct the public to contact the police.
• Health Service - Fail to provide sufficient resources for patients with mental health issues, expecting the police to provide 'places of safety'.
• HM Coroners - No out of hours service do deal with those 'administrative' sudden deaths that are due to natural causes.

These are but a few examples of those agencies that, despite a 24hr responsibility, often only provide a service during office hours. The longer they are able to get away with it, especially during the current climate of budgetary constraint, the longer it will continue. The police service is no longer able to provide a 24/7 fix everything service, even if we would like to. We have neither the resources, the money or the time. At the end of the day, building better communities is all about 'WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP' isn't it?

We're never likely to manage it whilst the police are carrying shirkers!

Toad Prohibition!

World News: A man was 'lifted' for toad licking? Apparently the Missouri man had intentions on getting a 'high' from licking the toad's venom glands. He was arrested for the 'possession of an hallucinogenic toad'. How much street cred would that generate for our maladjusted street urchins?

"Ya got some shit bro"?

"Na but yo gets a lick o'me toad for fifty squid... It's well cool init"!

Government CSO claim is false...

Half of Britons do not feel safer with police community support officers (PCSOs) patrolling the streets, according to a new poll. This topic also got an airing recently in the Tonight with Trevor McDonald programs about 'The Thin Blue Line'. Unsurprisingly, commenting on the poll, a Home Office spokeswoman trotted out the usual clap trap about CSOs being "an invaluable addition to policing".

I have no desire to rubbish the good men and women who are trying to put something back into our society and their communities however, for invaluable read 'poorly trained cheaper substitute'. Even the CSO's are often being conned by their employer and, in many cases put in physical danger.

The HO spokeswoman continued; "They are a complement to, not a replacement for, sworn police officers." With that point most educated people would agree however, they are actually being used to deceive the public, to con us into believing the uniforms we see on the streets are in fact police officers.

Wake up madam Home Secretary, our society in general has more intelligence than you give it credit for. Those that don't see the true picture don't care and, their behaviour is certainly not influenced by pretend cops in pretend uniforms. Politicians have to understand this shallow charade won't sucker the public for much longer! Despite the beliefs of the ill informed self important Police Minister.

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?

Booze Babies!

BBC NEWS: Alcohol disease 'hits young hard' Branwen Jeffreys (BBC Health correspondent) reports that "More women and young people are developing health problems due to alcohol". Doctors say the social acceptability of heavy drinking was the most important influence on young people and, a new alliance of 'experts' calls for a rise in alcohol taxes, and a bar on TV advertising before 9pm. Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, has said: "If you look at the burden of damage to society, it's hugely greater for alcohol than for drugs, but the majority of money has always gone on drugs, partly because of the strong link to crime." What about the crime and Anti Social SB link to booze?

Tax on alcohol in the UK is already the second highest in Europe so how will extra tax help? It is considered that only 1% of pubs had actually extended their opening hours since the relaxation of the licensing laws, so how will a return to limited opening hours help? 'Experts' reckon 'A bigger problem is the discounting of prices by supermarkets and off licences' but supermarkets and off licences have always sold alcohol. What is it that actually causes the problems then?

The drinks industry has quiet rightly questioned the thought process of Alcohol Health Groups (link), some of which are no more than a knee jerk reaction. A reaction to a social problem which is now endemic in our society, particularly amongst the youth of Britain!

A new anti-alcohol lobby group may have been set up with the aim of increasing tax on alcohol by 10% (link) but where will this lead us? Higher drink tax & no smoking at home... The new nanny state is marching forward by restricting the majority to control the minority, unfortunately unless we address the issues fueling this minority, it is likely they will actually become the majority!

Increased availability of booze due to extended licensing hours and discounted prices are not the problem. The route cause of today's 'couldn't care less society' is a throw back from our societies liberalism! We have let people believe they can actually do whatever they want and not worry about the consequences. We can live our lives as we please and sod the effects on our neighbours, our communities and our families!

There was a time when getting a bit tipsy was a side affect of having a good time. Now it seams every ones intention is to go out, imbibe in drink that is as strong as possible, drink as much as possible, as quick as possible and get totally out of their heads? A phenomenon I have never been able to understand, Why would anyone want to be ill intentionally... Unless they really are totally thick that is!

No, the simple answer to the Booze Britain culture is our societies inherent desire to adopt increased liberal attitudes, to rubbish any thoughts about preserving social standards and, the 'sod the consequences' mentality of today's younger generation! Add to this a reduction of a physical police presence on our streets, in real terms and we have a recipe for anarchy!

Think I need to emigrate... Only problem being that it's getting so much harder to find an area of the world where you can actually escape from the Great British Piss Head tourist!

• Alcohol: Tips for safer drinking
• Alcohol Concern
• Alcoholics Anonymous
• British Beer & Pub Association
• Department of Health

Local News

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.

Trick or Treat?

BBC Magazine: Trick or treating is against every rule in the parent handbook, and in a new monthly column on family life, one writer says the biggest fright is what kids expect of Halloween today. The writer goes on to ask; should we be encouraging them? Is it harmless fun or an irritating excuse to annoy the neighbours?

The subject is one that has always annoyed me no end in fact, a lot of things 'imported' into our society from the USA tend to get my back up. The comments posted to the article are mostly balanced however, the online poll comes out strongly against this pseudo tradition with over 75% of respondents against it.

Now I'm no 'party pooper' and, I don't have any great objection to little kids having fun, many of whom go to a great effort with their parents to make costumes and then call at houses with their parents and, are genuinely grateful for the fruit or sweets they receive. What I do object to is the enterprising teenage urchins who see it as a prime opportunity to demand money with menaces... Money they subsequently use for the purchase of fags and booze! Trick or Treat has gone the same way as the Mischief Night tradition in that, it is often little more than an excuse to disguise anti social behaviour and/or criminal activity.

The question is how do you differentiate between the two types and, how do you actually deal with the none desirable elements? Firstly, as the saying goes, prevention is often better than cure and, with this in mind our force has produced the NYP 'No Callers' Poster to stick on your front door. Will this dissuade the older pretenders? Probably not, I expect it is more likely to dissuade the ones who are not actually the problem i.e. the little ones with parents in tow.

The first filter process at our house is based upon age and parental guidance i.e small child accompanied by their parents are OK and children under teenage years are also fine, as long as it's before 7pm. Outside these criteria most callers will receive short shrift however, that leaves you with another problem? What repercussions will there be if you send the teenage kids away with a flea in their ear? Will your property be damaged, will your car be vandalised?

Obviously close neighbours know what I do for a living so the local older kids tend to keep clear and those from further afield are offered 'advice'. This is by no means a guarantee of your property remaining in tact. A predicament that nobody should have to endure, even a fit able bodied copper, not to mention the infirm sweet little old lady who is scared out of her whits every time someone knocks at the door!

Alf says: Due to degradation of standards in our society and a total lack of consideration for other humans, perhaps it's time to stop this stupid practice once and for all. It is not and never has been a 'British Tradition'. However, I would stop short of the normal British methodology of today i.e. introduction of even more legislation. Cessation of the practice can be achieved by education and advice but it will take time. Let's start by not encouraging or supporting the practice, unless the kids are under 10 and/or accompanied by their parents!

The Faces of Modern Management?

Being a little busy of late I haven't posted to the blog for a while. This probably isn't a major issue unless that is, there are readers out there waiting with baited breath for my next words? Yep, hardly likely I know! That said my despair and regular condemnation of various elements of our society along with discussions about what is wrong with today's police service haven't faltered, it's just I haven't committed them to the ether of the blogging world.

One question came to mind the other day though and it went along the lines of; why do so many police officers appear to totally loose sight of what policing is actually about the higher they ascend the ladder of command?

It appears that once cops loose the need to pass exams for promotion, they also loose an element of their humanity. By this I mean they are more inclined to forget their principles, forget they are part of a team, and find the sudden need to dump on their colleagues or stamp on any opinion that contradicts theirs. Indeed, they forget the reason why the police exists in the first place i.e. protect and serve the public!

I can understand why it happens though, for anyone to get to the top of the police tree it takes that level of single bloody mindedness and determination. It appears that if you haven't got that skill or can't develop it, you will never reach a senior level. Despite all the lip service to political correctness, diversity awareness, anti bullying initiatives, embracing of partnerships and embroidered truths during media opportunities, the hierarchy of today's police service appear to be there for one reason and one reason only, themselves!

Today we have to listen to a load of politically correct spiel that often says nothing and gives no answers or decisions and, it's delivered by people with more faces than Big Ben. Just at that very moment you think you've understood the direction your leader wants you to go, it's about turn... All because of the possibility of a new notch on the CV or publicity opportunity. True politicians! On top of all this, they generally have the ability to proffer a face of stark surprise and total denial when challenged about something they have said previously.

Alf says: Bring back the good old days of pompous, plain speaking, bullying time served gaffers who expected you to ask "how high Sir" when they told you to jump. At least then you knew where you stood!

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.

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

Want a Beer?

Yes I'd love one but no, that's not the purpose of this post's title! Beer (and other alcoholic drinks) are frowned upon by many. Lots of people see drinking as the 'root of all evil' however, it's not the drink that is the problem in itself no, it's the idiots who drink to excess and have no thought or care for anyone else, let alone themselves.

Trust me, after nearly 30 years in the police I know what I'm talking about. I, like many other people, enjoy a drink (see Alf's Locker) but I don't go and get shit faced and cause a problem for everyone else around me!

Now there's a lot of hot air expelled from many who talk about beer and drinking, some of it over the years has even come from CAMRA, the beer consumers' champion however, they currently want to see an end to short beer measures and I would have to agree.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see flat beer that's filled to the rim of the glass (like some woosy southerners often drink) but the National Full Pints Petition has a point. The Take it to the top campaign suggests we are all getting short measures and that's just not cricket! Getting what you ask for, without getting ripped off by profiteering conglomerates, is hard enough these days, especially in the UK. The 'Take it to the Top' moniker is perhaps a bit misleading, if all pubs did that we would get flat beer. You can't beat getting good head, if you know what I mean (still talking beer... concentrate)? That's why we have a line on our glasses in the North to allow for the head so...

Give me a pint, a proper pint but for gawd sake, don't fill it to the top without any head!

Hoisted by our own petard

The ‘father’ of modern day policing in the UK Sir Robert Peel, engineered the creation of the Metropolitan Police Service in the same decade the term ‘sociology’ was coined. Auguste Comte in 1838 believed ‘all human life had passed through the same distinct historical stages and that, if one could grasp this progress, one could prescribe the remedies for social ills’. It is therefore bizarre for anyone who has a basic understanding of ‘sociology’ to comprehend why, most of today’s pundits and commentators would have us believe that; meltdown of our society is due to an increase in crime and lawlessness. This is only the consequence, not a tangible root cause of the outcome.

Social and moral breakdown in our society is solely due to our own liberalism. The simple acceptance of what was once unpalatable as now being the norm. As a society we have lowered our standards and, it has become almost unacceptable to try and maintain them. Our children are taught to challenge whatever they are told, if people fail to reach a particular standard for any roll in life, we reduce it so as not to exclude them.

Our welfare state appears to reward those who do nothing to contribute to it and, various ‘experts’ also suggest changes to the age of criminal responsibility for kids will reduce crime. It will reduce the statistics we record, but won’t actually reduce the crime. All these factors are evidence of our societies desire to dumb down standards.

Why does it appear so wrong to reward achievement and why do we undervalue honesty, integrity and ethical standards? Why can’t it be ok to aspire to better things, whilst still accepting your destiny is governed by your own efforts? Our society and humanity as a whole do not owe us a living we owe them! The continued reduction in our ‘standards’ only serves to exacerbate the overall situation.

Recently Ann Widdecombe MP adopted the approach of making people feel uncomfortable about their own personal situation; she made them feel embarrassed about what they accept as normal. In short, Ann provided a form of social peer pressure, the only methodology that will actually reverse the trends in our society. Unless we are happy for our society to plummet to the lowest levels of deprivation, we all need to utilise these ‘tools’.

If we have no aspirations for a safe and civilised society we will be hoisted by our own petard.

Social decline or just too damn soft?

Thousands of mourners gathered in Liverpool for the funeral service of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones recently. The media and our Nation are united in grief and disgusted. People are rightly asking how something like the murder of a small boy can happen. And just as importantly, what can we do to prevent it happening again?

Winifred Robinson (BBC reporter), recalls her childhood in Liverpool's Norris Green estate in the early 1960s and observes today’s problems asking why things have changed? Drugs, Violence, Vandalism, Gang Culture and a general feeling that, even if you stand to be counted and give evidence to the police about the thugs… No-one can touch them!

Our communities may have many problems which include unemployment and fractured families but none of these are new. What makes them more profound and a person more knowledgeable about their actual existence is the wider ‘real time’ ability of the media. I recall early in my service when talking to a colleague in Manchester, being totally shocked at the amount of violent crime they had way back then. Crime that was ‘old news’ by the time the media got hold of it and, as a consequence, not sensational enough! However, a catalyst in today’s mayhem has to be the prominence of drug dealers… Large amounts of money are always powerful incentives!

Internet news sites, forums for social comment and blogs are packed solid with wailing doom and gloom about the issues. A comment (produced in its entirety) from the Norris Green Article explains a lot: “My mother would always caution against seeing the past in too rosy a hue. She'd remind us that there were always families who couldn't cope with life's pressures, people who had mental breakdowns, who drank and let their children run amok, people who didn't know how to behave. But in the past, if standards of good behaviour were not set at home, when children stepped outside, a whole host of confident adults were there to impose order; they included neighbours, teachers, police and the local vicars and priests. An old family friend reminded me how her son Billy had been dragged in off the streets by a bobby and hauled before his parents where he was given a dressing down for being a vandal”. Unfortunately we now have the situation whereby, there is little fear of actually being caught for your minor misdemeanours.

We need to get tough every one cries… Let’s have some of that good old Zero Tolerance stuff that Ray Mallon brought to the UK from America! Ok. So despite the undoubted success of the zero tolerance approach, why is it the community that actually benefited from it are now baying for the removal of the man who delivered it? (Link) Simple! The public, the media and in many respects the government are all fickle. They are only interested in the ‘here and now’ and what actually affects them as individuals, they are not concerned about the ‘wider picture’ or underlying root causes of a problem, be it social or otherwise.

Zero tolerance policing actually runs counter to community policing or ‘policing by consent’, a system which has, until relatively recently, always served us well in the UK. This has been realised by many and, the government have responded with Safer Neighbourhood policing. However, despite the undoubted virtues of both elements, the government has failed in their duty to fully support both regimes. These two systems need to be run in seamless parallel.

‘Proper cops’ on the streets have been replaced by street wardens or community support officers with little or no ‘real power’ and the thugs and crooks know this. And, those Police Officers that are actually able to patrol are drowning in endless waves of paperwork resulting from government statistic chasing. They have had their discretion removed, they are younger in service with less experience, and they are constantly verbally and physically abused by the public they serve, on top of this the government now want to reduce their salaries in real terms. Is it any wonder that even the cops are disillusioned and things are going to pot (no pun intended)!

The government are in effect creating a two tier system, instead of a policing function that can provide the two systems in ‘seamless parallel’. It has created police officers with endless powers of enforcement and a secondary uniformed support element with little or no powers. This in turn is creating public misconceptions about the actual ability and worth of our police service. A service that has, until recently, always been community based and ‘policed by consent’ but has also provided enforcement when required. A multi skilled, multi functional service that was flexible to demand. And what is the reason for all this? Governmental financial constraint! The constraints which are actually driven by the depth of the public pocket, a pocket we must all be prepared to dig deep into if we want the police service we require and deserve!

Now more than ever we need to adjust or priorities and perceptions about policing. We must stop conning ourselves (and the public) that community support officers and street wardens are actually ‘police officers’. All we are doing is providing ‘policing on the cheap’ and will undoubtedly suffer the consequences in the longer term! Let fully sworn police officers provide the service that the public expects of them, a service they (should) have the training and expertise to actually deliver!

Chek Dis!!!

Yo, Here me now and chek dis man is seriously well cool, init! Happarentley dis is for real, me bredren he says like, I is ere! wif a big blac pen on da wall. Dats wicked bro, Peter Addison is well cool, wot e rote in his best hand writing like also de crew tag... 'Adlington Massiv'!

Boyakasha, I

(BBC Report: An 18-year-old burglar who vandalised a children's campsite building was caught because he wrote his name on a wall at the scene, a court has heard. Cheshire Police, said: "This crime is up there with the dumbest of all in the criminal league table. "There are some pretty stupid criminals around, but to leave your own name at the scene of the crime takes the biscuit).

Alf Says: Thought the youth of today were incapable of reading and writing? Obviously Peter was sooo proud he got enough education to write his name that he wanted to tell the world!

Supermarket Incident

Now I'm no racist and some of my greatest friends have been from different ethnic backgrounds. I have always believed in taking people on face value whatever their background. However, this tale (which you may already have heard elsewhere) was relayed to me by a visitor to the station. It may be controversial but I think is worthy of an airing here?

A woman dressed in a Burkha was standing with her shopping in a queue at the supermarket checkout. When it was her turn to be served, as she reached the cashier, she made a loud remark about the English flag lapel pin which the female cashier was wearing on her blouse.

The cashier reached up and touched the pin and said, "Yes, I always wear it proudly. My son serves abroad with the Forces, and I wear it for him".

The Muslim woman then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing and killing her countrymen, explaining that she was an Iraqi.

At that point the cashier became visibly upset and, a gentleman standing in the queue stepped forward, and interrupted with a calm and gentle voice, and said to the Iraqi woman: "Excuse me, but hundreds of thousands of men and women, just like this lady's son, have fought and sacrificed their lives so that people just like YOU can stand here, in England, which is MY country, and allow you to blatantly accuse an innocent check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen."

"It is my belief that if you were allowed to be as outspoken as that in Iraq, which you claim to be YOUR country, then we wouldn't need to be fighting there today. However - now that you have learned how to speak out and criticise the English people who have afforded you the protection of MY country, I will gladly pay the cost of a ticket to help you pay your way back to Iraq".

"When you get there, and if you manage to survive for being as outspoken as what you are here in England, then you should be able to help straighten out the mess which YOUR Iraqi countrymen have got you into in the first place, which appears to be the reason that you have come to MY country to avoid."

Apparently everyone in the queue applauded...

TOAST?

Yesterday evening I received a Royal Commandment to watch ‘The Queen’. Fortunately it wasn’t some last minute Royal Visit with the usual scrabble for police resources or some inane public function with masses of self important civic dignitaries or even, a Freddy Mercury concert (he’s dead any way). No this was the film portrayal of HRH by Dame Helen Mirren on ITV. The ‘Royal Command’? Oh, that came from Mrs ‘V’ who tends to get a bit fed up of me being at work or, ‘missing presumed internet bound’! She often swears I have more interest in the computer than her? Not so! Anyway I digress. Isn’t that a good thing these days? Oh no, that’s ‘diversity’, knew it began with ‘D’.

Any way there I was, settled in the armchair with my glass of something warming, fighting the usual traits of tiredness ensconced in front of the TV, when I quickly realised she was holding my complete attention. Helen that is (not the missus), she had quickly succumbed to a deep slumber induced by two days of twelve hour shifts. Pity really, she had been looking forward to the program. It appears the high acclaim showered on the production by critics was well founded for a change. I must admit I’d been a little sceptical about the plot etc. and was fully expecting some trashy half baked box office money spinner. Not a bit of it, the film went on to show both the good and bad of our national structure.

The Bad: It showed how fickle and shallow our politicians are. How often their only interest is the latest sound bite opportunity or, blind pandering to public opinion to remain in power. Often at the expense of ‘u’ turns on policy and avoidance of manifesto promises. The good? Well that’s an easy one to answer: Tradition, Stability, High Standards and the ability to totally rise above mass hysteria. All of which are traits evident in the British Police Service. Some of the fundamental things that make our Monarchy (and the Police), so respected in the majority of the civilised world. When politicians don’t have an input.

Now call me cynical, but I’m sat this morning with my cup of tea and fag when GMTV announce; ‘According to the results of a YouGov survey, only 17% of people think the Government is doing a good job when dealing the effects of anti-social behaviour’. And this is quickly followed by; the ‘apparent’ withdrawal by British Troops from Basra, a fact confirmed later in the day by the BBC. Whoops, Government taking a bit of a battering again! Fly on the wall at No. 10 hears Gordon Brown red at the gills and shouting to his cronies: “Quick… Get them out of Iraq now! Thanks’ to Tony’s dithering about I’ve only been here five minutes and I’m bloody sure I’m not getting kicked out yet!

‘Royalist’ or ‘Republican’, you can’t underestimate the significance of Her Majesty (or the police) to this Nation. They are both British commodities we’d be lost without. A factor evidenced by a viewing report in The Guardian: Television premiere of Oscar-winning movie The Queen brought some right royal cheer to ITV1 last night, pulling in nearly 8 million viewers.

Oh yes the toast??? My Lords, Ladies & Gentlemen… THE QUEEN, God Bless Her!

No Crime - It's just kids having fun...

Today the BBC report: ‘Almost 3,000 crimes were committed last year where the suspect was too young to be prosecuted’. So what’s the answer? Change the age of criminal responsibility, simple! Overnight every police force in the country has a substantial increase in their performance figures and everyone is happy? More evidence to support the fact we just manipulate statistics to prove whatever the government wants. ‘Creative’ accounting in the best tradition!

In a BBC report dated May 2007: The virtues of raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to as high as 18 was lauded vociferously. Apparently the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, also suggested ‘children should no longer be sent to prison’. So now we approach the situation where, marauding gangs of out of control snotty nosed oiks rule our streets, our communities and our lives. And just because as a society, we are too scared or just unwilling to ‘force’ them to learn discipline, respect and an understanding of the basic difference between what is right and what is wrong. Another fine example of what has become society’s pathetic liberalism.

These thoughts are not new, in November 2005 the BBC reported; ‘the age of criminal responsibility should be increased from 10 to 12’, according to a report by a Commission on Families and Wellbeing. It is worrying that before long nothing will constitute a ‘criminal act’, any more of this methodology and our society suffers the ultimate consequence of a free for all meltdown without any standards!

But applying a little ‘mild force’ to the problem also appears to be unacceptable. In January 2005 it became unlawful to smack your child although ‘mild smacking’ was still allowed under a "reasonable chastisement" defence against common assault. At that time the NSPCC (amongst others) were up in arms saying "It should be just as wrong to hit a child as it is to hit an adult." When the law was being enacted in 2004, Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown (Warwick Medical School) writing in the British Medical Journal argued that the law was ‘too ambiguous for doctors to offer judgements’ on. It was also stated; ‘there was already a shortage of doctors to give evidence in child protection cases as a result of the increasing number of complaints about colleagues involved in such work and recent cases where ‘experts' evidence had been disputed’. So, as the ‘mild force’ option is also a non starter, where do we go from here?

In ‘Street Life’ (BBC News Magazine Feb 2007) a report on ‘Gang Culture’ and the affects on our youth today probably gives an answer. Shaun Bailey recalls his near miss with crime and violence as a youth. He thanks his uncle for introducing him to the Army Cadet Force and is grateful for the opportunity of not becoming the perpetrator of another crime statistic or even worse dead, like several of his pear group at that time. Now I’m not suggesting that every kid should join the cadets however, all of them need a worthwhile purpose in life, a sense of belonging to a ‘gang’ and, something to keep them off the streets. Something to teach those values and standards we all need. To give them a sense of respect, both for themselves and for others.

As we appear to be totally incapable of teaching these values in our schools or at home today, perhaps the time has come for us to examine the ‘National Service’ option again? After all, the UK is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have a form of national service and, we have some of the highest instances of drink, drug and crime related problems with our youth. Is there not some correlation here? It’s time for the ‘kids’ to enjoy some ‘organised fun’ that doesn’t hurt someone else!