"What has happened to our police force?"
Discussion
I am no fan of Ann Widdecombe most of the time, but this article is hard to argue with (and bloody depressing).
NB: this is not BiB-bashing. Note the last paragraph. I'm sure many BiB here are indeed deeply frustrated by not being able to use their initiative or apply common sense. Although TBH much of this is irrelevant anyway when "you never see a policeman" in the first place anymore.
NB: this is not BiB-bashing. Note the last paragraph. I'm sure many BiB here are indeed deeply frustrated by not being able to use their initiative or apply common sense. Although TBH much of this is irrelevant anyway when "you never see a policeman" in the first place anymore.
Article said:
How have our police come from being a force that was respected throughout the entire country and against which no politician would have dared breathe a word to being a body of men and women regarded as useless at best and corrupt at worst?
Theresa May listed the major scandals but they have probably done less damage in total than the cumulative disillusionment which has built up over decades and which a succession of Home Secretaries has failed to address. Mrs May should now take a close look at how the average bobby is expected to operate: without any discretion, enslaved to the rulebook, averse to risk and judged by statistics. Afraid for their jobs if they use common sense, they arrest householders instead of vandals, refuse to ride bikes unless they have a certificate of fitness to do so and shy away from a couple of feet of water. When my garden shed was burgled I was offered counselling. Don’t be daft, said I. “We have no choice but to offer it,” responded the officer. He should have had a darn choice.
A single complainant gets all offended by a poster outside a local church proclaiming the existence of hell and the police say they are “obliged” to investigate. Why can’t they just tell him to get a life and go back to tackling thieves and rapists?
A constable once told me that when he began training for promotion it was all about gender equality in the office and that was years ago. The man who joins the police force almost certainly still does so because he wants to fight crime not tick boxes, cope with reams of paperwork and enforce political correct- ness but that laudable ambition is squeezed out of him before he walks his first beat.
That is the fault of chief constables and home secretaries and if Mrs May does not bring about a sea change then the public will continue to be disillusioned despite the bravery and decency of so many policemen who are as frustrated by it all as the rest of us.
Theresa May listed the major scandals but they have probably done less damage in total than the cumulative disillusionment which has built up over decades and which a succession of Home Secretaries has failed to address. Mrs May should now take a close look at how the average bobby is expected to operate: without any discretion, enslaved to the rulebook, averse to risk and judged by statistics. Afraid for their jobs if they use common sense, they arrest householders instead of vandals, refuse to ride bikes unless they have a certificate of fitness to do so and shy away from a couple of feet of water. When my garden shed was burgled I was offered counselling. Don’t be daft, said I. “We have no choice but to offer it,” responded the officer. He should have had a darn choice.
A single complainant gets all offended by a poster outside a local church proclaiming the existence of hell and the police say they are “obliged” to investigate. Why can’t they just tell him to get a life and go back to tackling thieves and rapists?
A constable once told me that when he began training for promotion it was all about gender equality in the office and that was years ago. The man who joins the police force almost certainly still does so because he wants to fight crime not tick boxes, cope with reams of paperwork and enforce political correct- ness but that laudable ambition is squeezed out of him before he walks his first beat.
That is the fault of chief constables and home secretaries and if Mrs May does not bring about a sea change then the public will continue to be disillusioned despite the bravery and decency of so many policemen who are as frustrated by it all as the rest of us.
Mk3Spitfire said:
You do enjoy using that acronym don't you? It's not always in the right sense though.
I like it cause it makes me feel like one of the boys 
She even uses the ''they should be catching real criminals'' line. I am suprised she didnt say '' we pay their wages''. Maybe Ann is 'non-domiciled' for tax purposes like Lord Paul so doesnt actually pay the police wages so thats why she left out the age old and tested line.
GPSHead said:
I am no fan of Ann Widdecombe most of the time, but this article is hard to argue with (and bloody depressing).
It's not hard at all. Article said:
How have our police come from being a force that was respected throughout the entire country and against which no politician would have dared breathe a word to being a body of men and women regarded as useless at best and corrupt at worst?
I love the way she rose-tints the past against the present then uses a picture of Orgreave as if it represents 'how good things used to be'. article said:
Afraid for their jobs if they use common sense
Who is? No one I know. article said:
they arrest householders instead of vandals
Do we? I've never ever known anyone arrest the householder instead of the "vandals". Occasionally people are arrested for either taking revenge or because the incident is so serious it's the best for all involved. But then she's framing this as being a 'sign of the times' and modern. Has this increased? Could it not have occurred more in the past? How does she know? Any data or just pulling it out of her arse and making lazy assumptions to support her crap article? article said:
refuse to ride bikes unless they have a certificate of fitness to do so
I've never seen this occur. Perhaps she's confusing it with the 3 day cycling course to make sure the people enforcing the law are up-to-scratch with the highway code etc. article said:
and shy away from a couple of feet of water.
Is she referring to this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7006412.stmarticle said:
When my garden shed was burgled I was offered counselling. Don’t be daft, said I. “We have no choice but to offer it,” responded the officer. He should have had a darn choice.
Lots of evidence points Victim Support (not "counselling") being a great help to many victims. So many times they've supported people going to court that otherwise wouldn't have. The choice is hers to decline, which she did. That's a better option than officers making judgements as to who and who shouldn't be offered it.
article said:
A single complainant gets all offended by a poster outside a local church proclaiming the existence of hell and the police say they are “obliged” to investigate. Why can’t they just tell him to get a life and go back to tackling thieves and rapists?
Because making superficial judgements is flawed? Lots of times I've seen incidents which look on-the-face-of-it to be nonsense and present little to no risk, but when actually looking into it more the circumstances evolve into something more serious. article said:
The man who joins the police force almost certainly still does so because he wants to fight crime not tick boxes, cope with reams of paperwork and enforce political correct-ness but that laudable ambition is squeezed out of him before he walks his first beat.
And Woman. Are prisons full because of "political correctness"? article said:
That is the fault of chief constables and home secretaries and if Mrs May does not bring about a sea change then the public will continue to be disillusioned despite the bravery and decency of so many policemen who are as frustrated by it all as the rest of us.
The biggest problem in the criminal justice system isn't catching and conviction, it's punishment and rehabilitation. The former is easy. The latter not so much. 
.
), writing this drivel? 
Hooli said:
Any proof of that? the vast majority of law abidding citizens I know detest how useless the police (& the rest of the so called justice system) is.
If you ask any of the serving or ex BiB here they'll tell you how good they are. They regularly do.How much more evidence do you need?
Hooli said:
Eclassy said:
Law abidding citizens love the police and the way they operate.
Any proof of that? the vast majority of law abidding citizens I know detest how useless the police (& the rest of the so called justice system) is.However, here's some statistical indication that the group you know is not inline with national views. Perhaps you need a more balanced group
Ask the group why prisons are full if the police are useless. Someone has to put them there, right?
Rovinghawk said:
Hooli said:
Any proof of that? the vast majority of law abidding citizens I know detest how useless the police (& the rest of the so called justice system) is.
If you ask any of the serving or ex BiB here they'll tell you how good they are. They regularly do.How much more evidence do you need?
La Liga said:
Hooli said:
Eclassy said:
Law abidding citizens love the police and the way they operate.
Any proof of that? the vast majority of law abidding citizens I know detest how useless the police (& the rest of the so called justice system) is.However, here's some statistical indication that the group you know is not inline with national views. Perhaps you need a more balanced group
Ask the group why prisons are full if the police are useless. Someone has to put them there, right?
I was hoping no one would figure it out! 
Dave Hedgehog said:
that increase is mostly from speeders
That's not prison, that's fines or SAC fees with the threat of bigger fines. I believe that the police go out of their way to say "It's not us, it's the SCP!", quietly ignoring that they're a big part of the SCP.I'd venture an opinion that this profitable witchhunt is a massive part of why the police are less respected than was once the case.
Dave Hedgehog said:
and people who have not paid there council tax or tv licence fee
Generally no real police investigation or involvement, surely?La Liga said:
think he's being sarcastic.
However, here's some statistical indication that the group you know is not inline with national views. Perhaps you need a more balanced group
Ask the group why prisons are full if the police are useless. Someone has to put them there, right?
Hooli?!However, here's some statistical indication that the group you know is not inline with national views. Perhaps you need a more balanced group
Ask the group why prisons are full if the police are useless. Someone has to put them there, right?
Rovinghawk said:
Dave Hedgehog said:
that increase is mostly from speeders
That's not prison, that's fines or SAC fees with the threat of bigger fines. I believe that the police go out of their way to say "It's not us, it's the SCP!", quietly ignoring that they're a big part of the SCP.I'd venture an opinion that this profitable witchhunt is a massive part of why the police are less respected than was once the case.
Dave Hedgehog said:
and people who have not paid there council tax or tv licence fee
Generally no real police investigation or involvement, surely?Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff