chief police officer's bonus
Discussion
Just read a report in my local paper regarding the payment of a £10k bonus to chief of police officers if they attain their targets for solving crime.
The local CPO in Falkirk stated that he thought that this payment was wrong, and that as a serving police officer, he was a public servant and duty bound to solve crime, and that bonus payments of this type were morally wrong. (Here, here!)
I'm not sure if this is a Scottish police initiative, or if it is UK wide, but it has always been my opinion that when the law becomes tangled up with targets and financial incentives, then it loses its impartiality, and can become corrupt, or even more than it is now ;)
Anyone care to comment on this 'initiative'?
I'm sure the thinking behind it was with good intentions, but surely its flawed and open to abuse?
The local CPO in Falkirk stated that he thought that this payment was wrong, and that as a serving police officer, he was a public servant and duty bound to solve crime, and that bonus payments of this type were morally wrong. (Here, here!)
I'm not sure if this is a Scottish police initiative, or if it is UK wide, but it has always been my opinion that when the law becomes tangled up with targets and financial incentives, then it loses its impartiality, and can become corrupt, or even more than it is now ;)
Anyone care to comment on this 'initiative'?
I'm sure the thinking behind it was with good intentions, but surely its flawed and open to abuse?
petercam said:
Just read a report in my local paper regarding the payment of a £10k bonus to chief of police officers if they attain their targets for solving crime.
The local CPO in Falkirk stated that he thought that this payment was wrong, and that as a serving police officer, he was a public servant and duty bound to solve crime, and that bonus payments of this type were morally wrong. (Here, here!)
I'm not sure if this is a Scottish police initiative, or if it is UK wide, but it has always been my opinion that when the law becomes tangled up with targets and financial incentives, then it loses its impartiality, and can become corrupt, or even more than it is now
Anyone care to comment on this 'initiative'?
I'm sure the thinking behind it was with good intentions, but surely its flawed and open to abuse?
Define "solving crime"
Targets for the Police is just plain wrong IMO.
They deter pro-active policing as you can't have a crime prevented total.
Also, as with all the targets and figures in the public sector they are open to imaginitive interpretation and manipulation - i.e. allowing the crims to admit to other crimes to help with clear up rates.
They deter pro-active policing as you can't have a crime prevented total.
Also, as with all the targets and figures in the public sector they are open to imaginitive interpretation and manipulation - i.e. allowing the crims to admit to other crimes to help with clear up rates.
silverback mike said:
I haven't heard of it in my force, not sure about other English/Welsh forces...
It will happen directly or indirectly, Mike. There are vast swathes of "grants" or whatever in the Public Sector for hitting the Government's "targets".
Managerialists do what they always do, viz, rather than solve the issues of the targets look for the short cut to get the figures right.
Saw sometime ago this was being mooted by Home office.
Where targets are set there is a tendency to fiddle the fiqures to appease them that be.
Now imagine what would happen if this 'bonus' came about. More fiddling than Sean from the Chieftains?
They are as stated public servants and on a good screw as it is.
Any sense this should be a no no.
DVD
added: Is it not the troops on the ground that will achieve a reduction in crime not those in ivory towers with a pen in hand? It is they that are deserving of any bonus.
>> Edited by Dwight VanDriver on Saturday 25th June 08:09
Where targets are set there is a tendency to fiddle the fiqures to appease them that be.
Now imagine what would happen if this 'bonus' came about. More fiddling than Sean from the Chieftains?
They are as stated public servants and on a good screw as it is.
Any sense this should be a no no.
DVD
added: Is it not the troops on the ground that will achieve a reduction in crime not those in ivory towers with a pen in hand? It is they that are deserving of any bonus.
>> Edited by Dwight VanDriver on Saturday 25th June 08:09
Dwight VanDriver said:
Where targets are set there is a tendency to fiddle the fiqures to appease them that be.
Give you a real life example, non plod obviously.
Some of you know I've been under medical investigation for many moons, quacks still scratching their collective heads. Medical mystery it appears.
Anyway when one gets an appointment from the consultant or other investigative unit the letter always says something along the lines of:- "If we do not hear from you we will assume that this appointment is acceptable. You need do nothing more, just turn up at the above date and time. If the suggested date and time is not convenient please contact us and we will arrange a suitable alternative. Please note failure to turn up for an appointment will mean no others will be booked for you"
Now that seems quite fair to me. OK I accept there might be exceptional circumstances that prevent attendance, but on balance I'm happy with that.
Now at a later date, roughly half way to the due date, one receives a letter from the "waiting list co-ordinator." This goes along the lines of "You have an appointment at hh:mm dd/mm/yy. Do you still need this appointment? If we do not hear from you in writing within 10 days of the date of this letter we will automatically cancel the appointment and no more will be made for you." My bold.
Quite frankly I think that approach stinks.
Of course without a diagnosis I suspect I'm not even on HM Govt. waiting list statistics.
Anyway I've been looking in my dictionary, bonus? What's that? Chocolate bar?
FiF
>> Edited by Flat in Fifth on Friday 24th June 21:12
Flat in Fifth said:My SiL received such a letter and replied. He turned up at appointed date and time to be informed appointment had been cancelled becuase he had not confirmed it. Letter undelivered!
[ ... ]
Now at a later date, roughly half way to the due date, one receives a letter from the "waiting list co-ordinator." This goes along the lines of "You have an appointment at hh:mm dd/mm/yy. Do you still need this appointment? If we do not hear from you in writing within 10 days of the date of this letter we will automatically cancel the appointment and no more will be made for you." My bold. ...
Then the receptionist went down the line of "No further appointments will be made for you!" My SiL refrained from losing his temper and pointed out that as he worked for the Royal Mail (!) his word that he posted the letter was "proof of posting" and would stand up in court also as "proof of receipt by the mail service" (apparently there is precedent). This got him nowhere with the receptionist (naturally!), so he left and later that afternoon managed to speak to the Trust's legal eagle and trotted out this argument. Two days later he received another appointment for a few days ahead!
Streaky
Remember people, most 'Chiefs' of Police stopped being coppers years ago, they're businessmen plain and simple. The shiny arse desk wallahs will cook the books to achieve whatever 'targets' are set.
Look at the current farce in the Met with 'clear-ups' and 'detections'....... Doing the same job i've been doing for years...... but now i stick a piece of paper in front of a 'suspect' to sign, and hey presto, i've solved a crime!
I thought that many Senior Police Chiefs never had been "proper coppers" in the way that our resident BIB are.
I thought they had all this accelerated promotion for graduates tosh.
My preference would for it to be mandatory for any senior Police Officer to have spent x years cleaning the cr*p off the streets etc. - you can't competently manage people if you have no real idea what they do, and ideally you should do it yourself sometimes (not as a PR junket).
However, you can drone on about equality and race awareness (or sing a rap song about it if you are really stupid).
(I'm sure this is a great help to solving crime. I think it's a cunning plan to make the Police "Service" look so ridiculous the criminals don't take basic precautions against getting caught)
I thought they had all this accelerated promotion for graduates tosh.
My preference would for it to be mandatory for any senior Police Officer to have spent x years cleaning the cr*p off the streets etc. - you can't competently manage people if you have no real idea what they do, and ideally you should do it yourself sometimes (not as a PR junket).
However, you can drone on about equality and race awareness (or sing a rap song about it if you are really stupid).
(I'm sure this is a great help to solving crime. I think it's a cunning plan to make the Police "Service" look so ridiculous the criminals don't take basic precautions against getting caught)
autismuk said:
My preference would for it to be mandatory for any senior Police Officer to have spent x years cleaning the cr*p off the streets etc. - you can't competently manage people if you have no real idea what they do, and ideally you should do it yourself sometimes (not as a PR junket).
All police Cheif Constables should be elected by the people in the area for no more than four years, at a time if they reduce crime (proper crime not traffic) then they would be re elected. If you look at the Sherrif in Arizona, sorry forget his name, the poloticians do not like his methods of justice and punishment, but the people do so he gets relelected. The prisoners do not have the choices they do here they do a crime and are punished. I know he probably isn't perfect but if we had this system here do you think Ray Mallen would be in charge in the North east and crime would be less?
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