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Discussion
My sister-in-law was recently reversed into by a police car. Apparently the driver had spotted a car coming in the other direction that he suspected was stolen. Contents of car were three male yoots. He flashed them and got them to pull over then attempted to reverse to the other side of the road to discuss his suspicions. Unfortunately he failed to notice the bright green car behind him and reversed straight into it. The damage was not too major. New/Re-sprayed bumber all on BiB insurance, though apparently the back of his car wasn't too pretty. And she had a visit from a very pleasant Inspector to get her statement and tell her just how much p:censored:ss taking the driver (a Sergeant I believe) was getting as a result. She has also now received a 'Thank You' card from the driver for being 'so nice about it'.
This certainly isn't a BiB bashing thread. On the contrary, accidents happen and in this case no real harm was done and the results have been very well handled. However, it could have been much worse and it does make me think that single crewed vehicles create considerable risk. Being expected to concentrate on aprehending potentially three fit young blokes in a stolen motor, probably juggle a radio and perform (shall we say unusual) manouvres in a car, would seem to be asking too much of one person without the risk of at least one of them going awry.
I appreciate that this is all a resource issue but one has to wonder whether half the panda's double crewed would be more effective than twice as many with the BiB having to concentrate more on driving than policing unless involved in something when the conentration on driving may understandably lapse.
This certainly isn't a BiB bashing thread. On the contrary, accidents happen and in this case no real harm was done and the results have been very well handled. However, it could have been much worse and it does make me think that single crewed vehicles create considerable risk. Being expected to concentrate on aprehending potentially three fit young blokes in a stolen motor, probably juggle a radio and perform (shall we say unusual) manouvres in a car, would seem to be asking too much of one person without the risk of at least one of them going awry.
I appreciate that this is all a resource issue but one has to wonder whether half the panda's double crewed would be more effective than twice as many with the BiB having to concentrate more on driving than policing unless involved in something when the conentration on driving may understandably lapse.
Glad the prang was handled well.
Unfortunately, single crewed cars are a necessity. With such a large geographical area to cover, and jobs stacking up, the majority of jobs can be dealt with by one officer, in fact any reactive crime.
Proactive jobs sometimes do require double crewed vehicles, as in your illustration, a car full of potential trouble.
It would be marvellous to crew every car with two, but in the majority of cases it is a waste of resources.
For instance, my previous nick covered from just outside the centre of bristol, to the wiltshire border, down to Bath, and across to filton.
The shift used to parage 2 sgt's and approx 15 pc's
I have been on that shift with 2 pc's. Me, and at the time an acting sgt. Granted that was rare, but if we had 3 vehicles out, one being double crewed, the other two single crewed we felt lucky.
Sad isn't it, and no wonder there are complaints, but things do seem to be getting a bit better in fairness, with on average 6 officers now parading, and one Sgt.
From the pointy end, it's very frustrating when you hear very valid complaints about lack of attendance. Trouble is, code 1 emergency calls, arrests take precedence.
Best wishes,
Mike.
Unfortunately, single crewed cars are a necessity. With such a large geographical area to cover, and jobs stacking up, the majority of jobs can be dealt with by one officer, in fact any reactive crime.
Proactive jobs sometimes do require double crewed vehicles, as in your illustration, a car full of potential trouble.
It would be marvellous to crew every car with two, but in the majority of cases it is a waste of resources.
For instance, my previous nick covered from just outside the centre of bristol, to the wiltshire border, down to Bath, and across to filton.
The shift used to parage 2 sgt's and approx 15 pc's
I have been on that shift with 2 pc's. Me, and at the time an acting sgt. Granted that was rare, but if we had 3 vehicles out, one being double crewed, the other two single crewed we felt lucky.
Sad isn't it, and no wonder there are complaints, but things do seem to be getting a bit better in fairness, with on average 6 officers now parading, and one Sgt.
From the pointy end, it's very frustrating when you hear very valid complaints about lack of attendance. Trouble is, code 1 emergency calls, arrests take precedence.
Best wishes,
Mike.
I guess the problems come when you are planning to be reactive and end up being proactive but there's no way of planning for the unplanned I supose unless you stop coppers from responding when they need to, which is obviously not what anyone wants. Good to hear things are getting better.
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