Policing Pledge adverts on the radio

[paddyhasneeds]

Anyone else heard these? Am I missing a trick or are they basically spending money to tell you that, shock horror, the Police are doing what you'd expect (I realise expectation and reality aren't the same thing) them to be doing i.e. catching criminals?

Very strange adverts.

[satchbot]

Heard them for the first time today. The most common complaint against the Police was/is that the aggrieved party not being given regular updates on their case. This new pledge is in place so that this is rectified.

[richyb]

Great, they are going to start doing the job the tax payers already pays them billions to do. Good work.

[Battenburg Bob]

Or perhaps carry on doing the job they've been doing for years, while having to listen to this Politically inspired clap trap on the radio!

[paddyhasneeds]

richyb said:

Great, they are going to start doing the job the tax payers already pays them billions to do. Good work.

Don't get me wrong in where my "WTF?!" factor is aimed, I expect the average "foot on the ground" is simply stuck with policy from above and the Government - I just find it quite incredible that we seem to need adverts to tell us what to expect from the Police.

[richyb]

paddyhasneeds said:

richyb said:

Great, they are going to start doing the job the tax payers already pays them billions to do. Good work.

Don't get me wrong in where my "WTF?!" factor is aimed, I expect the average "foot on the ground" is simply stuck with policy from above and the Government - I just find it quite incredible that we seem to need adverts to tell us what to expect from the Police.

Its all political bullst. Look on the bright side though atleast they are wasting the money on advertising than on more PCSO's.

[satchbot]

Battenburg Bob said:

Or perhaps carry on doing the job they've been doing for years, while having to listen to this Politically inspired clap trap on the radio!

PDR entry

[Jasandjules]

Perhaps they have an increased PR Budget this year? (removed 20 front line officers to pay for it, but hey, that's senior police thinking in these politicised days).

[tenohfive]

Okay, heres the reason why they've done this:

By and large crime isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is. Everyone sees violent crime etc on on the news, but the fact is that (on the whole) you're less likely to be affected by violent crime or crime generally than you were 5 years ago. The police and the government fiddle the figures no doubt, but crime still isn't as bad as people think it is - there isn't an knife wielding hoody behind every corner (except maybe in Romford )

People don't believe this though. So whilst crime itself is going down the fear of crime is going up. This is whats known as the 'reassurance gap' and chief constables the country over are scratching their head trying to work out how they can fix this.

PCSO's are one attempt. They walk around, deal with common, low level stuff and get their faces seen by people where they live - making them (in theory) feel safer. This is popular with chief constables because a) a PCSO costs less than a PC and frees up PC's time and b) PCSO's are part funded by the local councils, meaning that they don't cost much to employ.

Another attempt is sending out police officers by themselves in cars, with the idea being that if you see more police cars driving about (as opposed to 2 police officers in 1 car) you feel safer. Theres plenty of different ideas being tried out, often varying from force to force.

And this pledge is another attempt to make you feel safer, and reduce the 'reassurance gap.'

Whether you think its a waste of time or money is up to you. I can't say what can be done to make people believe that crime is going down, and if I did I could make alot of money doing management seminars etc - but IMO thats the reasoning behind this campaign.

[Jasandjules]

tenohfive said:

Whether you think its a waste of time or money is up to you. I can't say what can be done to make people believe that crime is going down, and if I did I could make alot of money doing management seminars etc - but IMO thats the reasoning behind this campaign.

It's easy (ish). Put more police on the beat and have officers attend to a crime i.e. burglary/vehicle theft etc.. then people will at least see things being done. You see, people don't actually mind to a degree getting their car broken into IF they think plod will do something about it (I know that they won't BUT if they gave the impression that they were all immediately out looking for that brick throwing scumbag, people would be happy.).

[Bee_Jay]

Why?

Reason is that very shortly new council tax bills will be landing on our doormats, detailing what portion is spent on Police...

[King Herald]

And here's me thinking you wanted some sort of supervision over furniture polish ads....

[tenohfive]

Jasandjules said:

tenohfive said:

Whether you think its a waste of time or money is up to you. I can't say what can be done to make people believe that crime is going down, and if I did I could make alot of money doing management seminars etc - but IMO thats the reasoning behind this campaign.

It's easy (ish). Put more police on the beat and have officers attend to a crime i.e. burglary/vehicle theft etc.. then people will at least see things being done. You see, people don't actually mind to a degree getting their car broken into IF they think plod will do something about it (I know that they won't BUT if they gave the impression that they were all immediately out looking for that brick throwing scumbag, people would be happy.).

If you've had your wing mirrors kicked off and realise in the morning, do you want to have a chat with your local BiB or do you want a crime number for your insurance? Where I live the same enquiries will get carried out - knocking on neighbours, checking for CCTV that might show the offenders - but will either be done by PCSO's or will be done by a PC when he has a few minutes, rather than at a set time when you're hanging around waiting for him. That means that he's free to deal with those jobs where the offenders are still on scene, or theres a fight etc - the blues and two's job. It makes you feel better granted, but it does mean that while you're chatting to a friendly PC he's not responding to jobs and catching criminals. Either way the same enquiries get done, the only difference is if you get to see a PC.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying its a double edged sword and thats why I don't envy the people who make those policy decisions. Thats just low level vehicle crime though - with stuff such as burglaries (which do have a big impact on people - its not just property, its an invasion of a persons life and can really affect people) you should always see a PC IMO.

[tenohfive]

Bee_Jay said:

Why?

Reason is that very shortly new council tax bills will be landing on our doormats, detailing what portion is spent on Police...

Lol, I disagree but admire your cynicism

[polus]

tenohfive said:

Okay, heres the reason why they've done this:

By and large crime isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is. Everyone sees violent crime etc on on the news, but the fact is that (on the whole) you're less likely to be affected by violent crime or crime generally than you were 5 years ago. The police and the government fiddle the figures no doubt, but crime still isn't as bad as people think it is - there isn't an knife wielding hoody behind every corner (except maybe in Romford )

People don't believe this though. So whilst crime itself is going down the fear of crime is going up. This is whats known as the 'reassurance gap' and chief constables the country over are scratching their head trying to work out how they can fix this.

PCSO's are one attempt. They walk around, deal with common, low level stuff and get their faces seen by people where they live - making them (in theory) feel safer. This is popular with chief constables because a) a PCSO costs less than a PC and frees up PC's time and b) PCSO's are part funded by the local councils, meaning that they don't cost much to employ.

Another attempt is sending out police officers by themselves in cars, with the idea being that if you see more police cars driving about (as opposed to 2 police officers in 1 car) you feel safer. Theres plenty of different ideas being tried out, often varying from force to force.

And this pledge is another attempt to make you feel safer, and reduce the 'reassurance gap.'

Whether you think its a waste of time or money is up to you. I can't say what can be done to make people believe that crime is going down, and if I did I could make alot of money doing management seminars etc - but IMO thats the reasoning behind this campaign.

Some areas are lovely, others (like my area) are filled with people that keep the police busy. If ever I have a day off I put money on there being some incident locally. E.g. Last Friday I went for a run in the morning and on the way back a guy who was 'detained' right in front of me. The Friday before two chavs slung in a meat wagon right outside my window. The sheer amount of money that it must take to police areas like mine must be huge. And there are lots of them.

So, it depends where you live but I certainly don’t believe its got better in the last 5 years ago, it definitely not in the last 2 and seems worse.

Edited by polus on Monday 2nd March 18:44

[tenohfive]

polus said:

So, it depends where you live but I certainly don’t believe its got better in the last 5 years ago, it definitely not in the last 2 and seems worse.

It does depend where you live - like I say, its a sweeping statement that covers everywhere. In some places it'll be better, some places worse. An low income housing i.e council and housing association will always be worse. Personally I wouldn't live in those sorts of areas if I was paid to.