"What has happened to our police force?"
Discussion
Elroy Blue said:
People have no comprehension of the damage that has been done. My force has had to close 31 out of 40 stations. Vast swathes of our important back room technical staff have gone. The typists who used to transcribe our interviews have gone. (We now spend hours having to do it ourselves). Our vehicles and equipment are worn out. We've now found out that a further £32 million has to be cut next year. There is no meat left on the bone. No fat, no gristle, no marrow. But it's ok, frontline services are apparently unaffected. May and Cameron say so.
The public are swallowing the pill alright.If only they knew.
I work in a big city and surrounding area, population of 325000 according the the internet. How many officers do people think are on duty to cover the 999 calls that come in and how many open logs (incidents reported) we have a day on average?
Elroy Blue said:
Rovinghawk said:
We can apparently fund trips to Portugal supervising a dig, though. Is it 6 detectives over there currently?
All this for a crime committed abroad many years ago.
You really are a parody of yourself. All this for a crime committed abroad many years ago.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madelei...
Zeeky said:
The Home Office is funding this one directly. Government can find the money if it is politically advantageous to it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madelei...
Thank you; it explains much.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madelei...
Greendubber said:
Elroy Blue said:
People have no comprehension of the damage that has been done. My force has had to close 31 out of 40 stations. Vast swathes of our important back room technical staff have gone. The typists who used to transcribe our interviews have gone. (We now spend hours having to do it ourselves). Our vehicles and equipment are worn out. We've now found out that a further £32 million has to be cut next year. There is no meat left on the bone. No fat, no gristle, no marrow. But it's ok, frontline services are apparently unaffected. May and Cameron say so.
The public are swallowing the pill alright.If only they knew.
I work in a big city and surrounding area, population of 325000 according the the internet. How many officers do people think are on duty to cover the 999 calls that come in and how many open logs (incidents reported) we have a day on average?
I told them the norm for a late-turn - this was around 8pm - calls to their town, grade 1s and 2s, and then asked them how many officers the division had available. The lowest was over twice what was available. I then brought in the arrests and such that were self-generated.
I showed them the operational list, the outstanding jobs, the way they were prioritised and such. They were astounded, that is the only word to use. They could not understand how the police could cope with the demands. I then ran up an historic night during the summer - that was fun.
Whilst I was being a bit self indulgent, the thing is that since that night, now more than 15 years ago, the force has been through probably six rounds of cut backs. Probably more. And then, on top of that, we've got Cameron's 20%+ slashing of the budget.
I was quite heavily criticised for telling the resident of Eastbourne just how stretched their police force was. My job, I was told, was to keep the public's confidence up. Or lie is how I put it.
I was never asked to perform the role of liaison with the visitors ever again and I assume non-operational PR people were used.
The thing is people didn't have any idea of how stretched the police were even before Cameron went mad with the scissors. Another time there were 250 drunken rioters coming into Newhaven on the ferry one night. The biggest division in the county was ordered to supply a PSU serial to back up the local division - Peacehaven, Newhaven, E'bourne, Hastings and a village or two. The locals could muster three PCs, and a sergeant was released from cell duties.
So I turned up with three PSU vans and two cars. We 'hid' the vans in full view but behind parked cars in a car park near to the ferry pedestrian exit, in a position where, should the demand arise, we could flood the area with personnel. I stood a certain distance away, being an inspector I thought that if I stood too near to any action the rioters might smell a rat, and put my sergeant between me and the crowd.
And the total strength the biggest division could supply? Three PCs, one of whom was PSU trained, all van drivers though, one sergeant who was not PSU trained, and one inspector, PSU trained some 15 years previously.
And this was 22 years ago. Manning levels have more than halved in the meantime, even before Cameron's cuts.
The bluff worked. But it doesn't always. When the riots broke out in Croydon, it took time to assemble sufficient officers to go in. The police were criticised of course, and there was little or no support from the government of the time. Of course not. So much easier to blame the lack of action on officers.
Officers are being injured now, already, due to the cuts. This number will increase.
It is not so much a question of 'if only they knew' as more 'if only attacking the police wasn't a political stance'.
Those of us who wanted standards of the police to increase, to be made a proper profession, for it to be improved, have had our hopes dashed.
La Liga said:
Looks like a traffic Sergeant should to me :P
You're honestly telling me you can fit one of those in a car? I presume it's a slow response vehicle. 
I now accept Elroy's comment that the vehicles are worn out & understand the reason why.
Edited by Rovinghawk on Wednesday 4th June 15:54
Rovinghawk said:
We can apparently fund trips to Portugal supervising a dig, though. Is it 6 detectives over there currently?
All this for a crime committed abroad many years ago.
btw- Which bit is a slur? It's a statement of events, followed by a question over detail, followed by a fact.All this for a crime committed abroad many years ago.
Who exactly has been slurred?
Derek Smith said:
I told them the norm for a late-turn - this was around 8pm - calls to their town, grade 1s and 2s, and then asked them how many officers the division had available. The lowest was over twice what was available. I then brought in the arrests and such that were self-generated.
I showed them the operational list, the outstanding jobs, the way they were prioritised and such. They were astounded, that is the only word to use. They could not understand how the police could cope with the demands. I then ran up an historic night during the summer - that was fun.
Of course you couldn't do this now as you would be 'spreading disaffection'. Cameron's Gov introduced S91 Police Act 1996 that means we are committing a criminal offence if you tell the truth about numbers. He certainly set out his stall early after coming to power.I showed them the operational list, the outstanding jobs, the way they were prioritised and such. They were astounded, that is the only word to use. They could not understand how the police could cope with the demands. I then ran up an historic night during the summer - that was fun.
Rovinghawk said:
btw- Which bit is a slur? It's a statement of events, followed by a question over detail, followed by a fact.
Who exactly has been slurred?
It was a direct response to my post about lack of numbers. Your reply was 'rubbish, you've got enough to waste time on this'.Who exactly has been slurred?
But I forget. You're the master at completely changing context and sticking your fingers in your ears going lah! lah! lah!.
You are absolute comedy gold.
Elroy Blue said:
Of course you couldn't do this now as you would be 'spreading disaffection'. Cameron's Gov introduced S91 Police Act 1996 that means we are committing a criminal offence if you tell the truth about numbers. He certainly set out his stall early after coming to power.
Considering David Cameron didn't even become an MP until 2001, I struggle to see how it was 'his' Conservatives who introduced that law?Would you heap praise on Ed Miliband's Labour for all the good things they did for the Police between 1997 and 2010?
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