Dispatches - is that it ?
Discussion
Well I did watch it. Didn't see a great deal that bothered me. Made a few notes (sad git I know). Comments assume not outright fabrication by the Journalist. T
This was all they could find in four months.
(i) the "showing porn at her home" incident ; there was (as there was throughout) some fairly quick cutting to the various comments made it impossible to get context. It's not clear whether or not this was encouraged, or how bad the porn was. "My Little Pony" was mentioned ; I have heard that cartoon porn of such exists (seriously) and I did wonder if that's what it was rather than real porn. The whole conversation had a unreal air to it ; it didn't come over as 2 PCs making a WPC view porn at all ; actually they didn't, at worst they offered her the chance to . I also presumed they were invited, it seems unlikely someone would simply turn up. If they were there when they should have been patrolling as they appear to admit (unclear) this was one of the two concerns I had.
(ii) the sexism wrt female cops ; the lad who said he wouldn't let his girlfriend do it is a personal opinion and is really fair enough. I'd probably feel like that about the missus. The 'testosterone' Sarge appeared to be trying to protect the WPC from excessive violence more than anythng else. It is a reality that women are on average not as strong as men, which the more nutty feminists claim is sexist.
(iii) the rape 'pinch of salt' comment. There's no evidence to suggest that the rape allegation wasn't followed through properly ; this is an assumption. Tactless at worst.
(iv) the non dispatch of SOCO to the rape scene. It struck me that this might simply be staff shortages in general. There are many complaints from the public of the 'police not turning up for ages', due to manpower I suspect, and therefore it does not follow that this is because they are not taking rape seriously or ignoring it ; the complaint is not prioritising rape to the level that this woman wants (probably above all others). For most of the conversation between the reporter and the other WPC it is unclear who is saying what, so the opinions raised may have been either of them.
(v) despite the spoken claim of 'breasts and bottoms everywhere' only one very borderline picture was shown (with arms etc. covering the 'bits'); appears to be hyperbole, and it isn't really porn either. I think this statement was a bare faced lie,'cos if it was true they could have shown it easily.
(vi) double yellow parking / chinese meal. Scraping the barrel. I would hazard a guess that the cheap chinese meal is not because of bribery (say) but more to do with the safety aspect of having regular visits from Police Officers to your restaurant (and just possibly the expectation of faster response time if something does happen). Maybe the owner just really likes the Police ! Presumably Police are allowed to eat at night when the canteen is shut (?) ; sending the rookie to get the shift some food does not strike me as a daft usage of time. This is one 'evil police crime' I have actually witnessed, (except it was fish and chips).
(vii) Nightshift break. Skiving, supposedly, playing Poker. It's impossible to say from this footage, which could have been produced on an actual break. But it probably will happen, human nature being what it is.Likewise the game of cricket.
(viii) Hide and Seek game with cars ; don't know.
(ix) Poker when radio down. I got the impression (it wasn't clear) that they weren't allowed out because of radio failure ; it is slightly odd if that is true to complain they weren't going out ....
(x) the £50 spray antidote is b/s talk.
(xi) the non-response to crimes in the vicinity because you are about to go off shift, if accurate, is the other thing that bothers me (2 incidents same cop), along with the ignoring of the injured man, though this might just have been bravado.
The last third was complaints about the CPS demanding everything with a ribbon round it, and excessive amounts of pointless paperwork, targetism affecting the way crime is recorded, and the morale problems that caused. This is AFAICS pretty accurate, though it was presented as BiB fiddling ; the pressure to fiddle exists because of its admitted use for staff assessment.
It was interesting that in the wrap up where the reporter appeared to by crying over leaving the Police this last third was what she claimed bothered her.
This was all they could find in four months.
(i) the "showing porn at her home" incident ; there was (as there was throughout) some fairly quick cutting to the various comments made it impossible to get context. It's not clear whether or not this was encouraged, or how bad the porn was. "My Little Pony" was mentioned ; I have heard that cartoon porn of such exists (seriously) and I did wonder if that's what it was rather than real porn. The whole conversation had a unreal air to it ; it didn't come over as 2 PCs making a WPC view porn at all ; actually they didn't, at worst they offered her the chance to . I also presumed they were invited, it seems unlikely someone would simply turn up. If they were there when they should have been patrolling as they appear to admit (unclear) this was one of the two concerns I had.
(ii) the sexism wrt female cops ; the lad who said he wouldn't let his girlfriend do it is a personal opinion and is really fair enough. I'd probably feel like that about the missus. The 'testosterone' Sarge appeared to be trying to protect the WPC from excessive violence more than anythng else. It is a reality that women are on average not as strong as men, which the more nutty feminists claim is sexist.
(iii) the rape 'pinch of salt' comment. There's no evidence to suggest that the rape allegation wasn't followed through properly ; this is an assumption. Tactless at worst.
(iv) the non dispatch of SOCO to the rape scene. It struck me that this might simply be staff shortages in general. There are many complaints from the public of the 'police not turning up for ages', due to manpower I suspect, and therefore it does not follow that this is because they are not taking rape seriously or ignoring it ; the complaint is not prioritising rape to the level that this woman wants (probably above all others). For most of the conversation between the reporter and the other WPC it is unclear who is saying what, so the opinions raised may have been either of them.
(v) despite the spoken claim of 'breasts and bottoms everywhere' only one very borderline picture was shown (with arms etc. covering the 'bits'); appears to be hyperbole, and it isn't really porn either. I think this statement was a bare faced lie,'cos if it was true they could have shown it easily.
(vi) double yellow parking / chinese meal. Scraping the barrel. I would hazard a guess that the cheap chinese meal is not because of bribery (say) but more to do with the safety aspect of having regular visits from Police Officers to your restaurant (and just possibly the expectation of faster response time if something does happen). Maybe the owner just really likes the Police ! Presumably Police are allowed to eat at night when the canteen is shut (?) ; sending the rookie to get the shift some food does not strike me as a daft usage of time. This is one 'evil police crime' I have actually witnessed, (except it was fish and chips).
(vii) Nightshift break. Skiving, supposedly, playing Poker. It's impossible to say from this footage, which could have been produced on an actual break. But it probably will happen, human nature being what it is.Likewise the game of cricket.
(viii) Hide and Seek game with cars ; don't know.
(ix) Poker when radio down. I got the impression (it wasn't clear) that they weren't allowed out because of radio failure ; it is slightly odd if that is true to complain they weren't going out ....
(x) the £50 spray antidote is b/s talk.
(xi) the non-response to crimes in the vicinity because you are about to go off shift, if accurate, is the other thing that bothers me (2 incidents same cop), along with the ignoring of the injured man, though this might just have been bravado.
The last third was complaints about the CPS demanding everything with a ribbon round it, and excessive amounts of pointless paperwork, targetism affecting the way crime is recorded, and the morale problems that caused. This is AFAICS pretty accurate, though it was presented as BiB fiddling ; the pressure to fiddle exists because of its admitted use for staff assessment.
It was interesting that in the wrap up where the reporter appeared to by crying over leaving the Police this last third was what she claimed bothered her.
shuvitupya said:
I used to work in a fast food joint (for my sins). Police officers were offered a 20% discount along with nurses. I was just considered to be good sense and community spirit. Traffic wardens were told to off.
Police officers got offered nurses...
Doesn't happen in my job
... ROFLMAO Where do I sign up !
autismuk said:
Well I did watch it. Didn't see a great deal that bothered me.
(ix) Poker when radio down. I got the impression (it wasn't clear) that they weren't allowed out because of radio failure ; it is slightly odd if that is true to complain they weren't going out ....
The radio was clearly working mate, you could hear it while they were busy playing poker ! LOL
>> Edited by shuvitupya on Thursday 27th April 22:52
Not a bad marketing ploy though. 
I'm really suprised that they didn't get one racist comment on camera at all.
I thought it was a bit wishy washy really. There are lazy gits in every walk of life, we certainly had a few on the team. If I was the operator (in the passenger seat) when a shout came out that I wanted to go on, I used to put up for it without bothering to ask the driver. They used to get the hump sometimes but what can they say, "I don't want to do any work"??!!
It suprised me that someone who had been on a 5 year career break having done 12 years already, would defer judgements to probationers. She seemed to be quite unsure of herself and a bit wishy washy which might account for why the skipper didn't want her around at pub kicking out time.
At least the hide and seek game involved driving around their ground and one would hope that they would respond to something if it happened.
The other thing that I couldn't understand was the rape where they claimed that the soco hadn't been around. She was talking about a towel that needed examining for DNA. I would have thought the best way of preserving the evidence would have been to bag it up and let the soco examine it at their leisure. Not exactly rocket science. Suprised it hadn't been done at the time of reporting.
Scott
I thought it was a bit wishy washy really. There are lazy gits in every walk of life, we certainly had a few on the team. If I was the operator (in the passenger seat) when a shout came out that I wanted to go on, I used to put up for it without bothering to ask the driver. They used to get the hump sometimes but what can they say, "I don't want to do any work"??!!
It suprised me that someone who had been on a 5 year career break having done 12 years already, would defer judgements to probationers. She seemed to be quite unsure of herself and a bit wishy washy which might account for why the skipper didn't want her around at pub kicking out time.
At least the hide and seek game involved driving around their ground and one would hope that they would respond to something if it happened.
The other thing that I couldn't understand was the rape where they claimed that the soco hadn't been around. She was talking about a towel that needed examining for DNA. I would have thought the best way of preserving the evidence would have been to bag it up and let the soco examine it at their leisure. Not exactly rocket science. Suprised it hadn't been done at the time of reporting.
Scott
Hide and seek 
Must be a Leicestershire game!
Poker for 3 hours! I work at a much smaller town than Liecester and have 16 officers on my team (should have 20). My staff do not even have time for a break in the canteen on night turn. They mostly eat on the hoof or whislt preparing court files at their computer terminals. The custody area is also so busy (nearly always full) that there is no space to even think about cricket!
Last night before this programme, I briefed my team on parkig issues!
One of my staff has recently attracted 2 local authority tickets for parking an unmarked car in a restricted area. The first was due to the fact he did not have access to a marked vehicle because most of them were broken and the builders have taken a large number of spaces in the car park and there were none for him to park in. He was called in to custody to pick up a prescription urgently needed by a prisoner issued by the Police doctor. He parked outside the nick on a double yellow line and in the 2 minutes it took him to collect the prescription, he had been issued a FPN. I got this one recinded.
The second was in the same car when he parked it on a single yellow line whilst he obtained a statement for one of his cases. He will be paying this one! He could have parked legally and walked 200 yards to his appointment!
I will not tolerate my staff parking illegally to go to the ATM or the chip shop. They have been told that if complaints of such behaviour are received, they will be dealt with.
There is no excuse to park illegally even for police business if it is a routine enquiry.
An emergency is another matter!
Often, restaurants have their own policies about energency services buying from them. Quite often a discount will see a return to the restaurant several times during the month for large amounts of food. If you were a business person would you consider a regular captive source of income and be tempted to offer a discount so that the customer returns regularly? There is a difference between discounted food and food given for nothing!
The comments about the rape victim "take it with a pinch of Salt" are unfortunate but are bourne from experience of dealing with ladies of the night. Many hours are wasted with police resources when they claim rape doing scene watches, obtaining evidence such as clothing, bed clothing, SOCO input to then find that the allegation is false and they have not been paid after delivering their services. Genuine rpae victims are ealt with very professionally. It is sometimes difficult with certain people to ascertain the truth!
Must be a Leicestershire game! Poker for 3 hours! I work at a much smaller town than Liecester and have 16 officers on my team (should have 20). My staff do not even have time for a break in the canteen on night turn. They mostly eat on the hoof or whislt preparing court files at their computer terminals. The custody area is also so busy (nearly always full) that there is no space to even think about cricket!
Last night before this programme, I briefed my team on parkig issues!
One of my staff has recently attracted 2 local authority tickets for parking an unmarked car in a restricted area. The first was due to the fact he did not have access to a marked vehicle because most of them were broken and the builders have taken a large number of spaces in the car park and there were none for him to park in. He was called in to custody to pick up a prescription urgently needed by a prisoner issued by the Police doctor. He parked outside the nick on a double yellow line and in the 2 minutes it took him to collect the prescription, he had been issued a FPN. I got this one recinded.
The second was in the same car when he parked it on a single yellow line whilst he obtained a statement for one of his cases. He will be paying this one! He could have parked legally and walked 200 yards to his appointment!
I will not tolerate my staff parking illegally to go to the ATM or the chip shop. They have been told that if complaints of such behaviour are received, they will be dealt with.
There is no excuse to park illegally even for police business if it is a routine enquiry.
An emergency is another matter!
Often, restaurants have their own policies about energency services buying from them. Quite often a discount will see a return to the restaurant several times during the month for large amounts of food. If you were a business person would you consider a regular captive source of income and be tempted to offer a discount so that the customer returns regularly? There is a difference between discounted food and food given for nothing!
The comments about the rape victim "take it with a pinch of Salt" are unfortunate but are bourne from experience of dealing with ladies of the night. Many hours are wasted with police resources when they claim rape doing scene watches, obtaining evidence such as clothing, bed clothing, SOCO input to then find that the allegation is false and they have not been paid after delivering their services. Genuine rpae victims are ealt with very professionally. It is sometimes difficult with certain people to ascertain the truth!
What astounded me was the fact that you fill in the custody details 4 times and then fill in a computer form.
Why cant the input to the computer be used to print the custody sheet, the phoenix form etc etc etc?
Interesting also was the CPS angle.
The CPS got an absolute kicking last year for being incompetant, their reaction, shit on the people below them to make themselves look better.
This governments obsession with statistics has left this nations legal system in a shambles.
Why cant the input to the computer be used to print the custody sheet, the phoenix form etc etc etc?
Interesting also was the CPS angle.
The CPS got an absolute kicking last year for being incompetant, their reaction, shit on the people below them to make themselves look better.
This governments obsession with statistics has left this nations legal system in a shambles.
Plotloss said:
What astounded me was the fact that you fill in the custody details 4 times and then fill in a computer form.
Why cant the input to the computer be used to print the custody sheet, the phoenix form etc etc etc?
Interesting also was the CPS angle.
The CPS got an absolute kicking last year for being incompetant, their reaction, shit on the people below them to make themselves look better.
This governments obsession with statistics has left this nations legal system in a shambles.
They have no clue. There is a bright idea about inputting crime data using a PDA. I've got a PDA, and if it's anything like mine it'll take far longer than writing it on paper and typing it up later ...
It seems that this footage was taken approximately ten months before the show was broadcast, although the police were only informed of its contents this week. If that is so,
if the alleged infractions and misbehaviour are not serious enough to bring to the attention of authorities before ten months have passed, then they were trivial and not worth the broadcast time and predictable palaver.
If the alleged infractions and misbehaviour are serious, then both the officer and especially ITV had a duty to report them to authorities asap. The fact that they did not do so demonstrates the cynicism and disingenuousness of all involved with the programme.
if the alleged infractions and misbehaviour are not serious enough to bring to the attention of authorities before ten months have passed, then they were trivial and not worth the broadcast time and predictable palaver.
If the alleged infractions and misbehaviour are serious, then both the officer and especially ITV had a duty to report them to authorities asap. The fact that they did not do so demonstrates the cynicism and disingenuousness of all involved with the programme.
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