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I wonder if anyone will read this?

I've decided, like many other British Cops, to write a blog. Most of my posts will be work related but some will be about other things that get me going!

I am not allowed to bring the Police Service into disrepute. Quite what that means, is anyones guess! I think most Chief Constables manage that feat, every day!

Anyway, what's all this nonsense about Stop and Search?

Trust the Politicians to jump on the bandwagon. We've been telling them for years that there is far too much bureacracy in the UK Police Service. However, Stop & Search, or more to the point, Stop & Account forms, are not the problem.

I have been a copper for nigh on 20 years. When I first started, we would spend 80% of our time out on the streets, patrolling. Back then, there were no Criminal Justice Units. We had to prepare all our own court files. The vast majority of the people I arrested, ended up in court.
Nowadays, I spend about 80% of my time in the station!
A normal day starts with logging on to a computer and checking one's e-mails. These are usually global nonsense, about Doreen from accounts' leaving party, or the opening times of a station the other side of the county! Once you've waded through these, you then have to check the crime recording system. This wonderful piece of kit, dictates my day. Every time someone phones up complaining about anything from a rude binman, to a street masacre, it gets recorded on this system. Once it's recorded, it can't be deleted. If it falls into the bracket of a criminal offence, then alarm bells start ringing. That's because this government and all their puppet Chief Constables, are infatuated with crime figures. They introduced 'ethical crime recording', which basically means, if someone thinks a crime has occurred, it must be recorded as such, until such time as it can be proved it wasn't a crime.
So, CC's are left in a quandry. Do you just record everything and only investigate the proper stuff, or do you record and investigate everything, in the hope that you will be able to disprove some of the crimes, therby lowering your crime levels?
My lot, seem to have gone for the second option. You should see some of the utter drivel that I end up investigating (more of these in future posts). A lot of these so-called crimes, can be resolved with a quick phone call, but when you pick up half a dozen every shift, this can be very time consuming.
Every time I do anything relating to one of these 'incidents', I then have to type out my investigation notes onto the computer. Obviously, having a lap top would make life a lot simpler. But, I am but a lowly constable and in no way merit such devices. Oh, no. Every time I want to update the system, I have to traipse back to the station and log on the the box tied to the wall!
Hence, why I am nearly always to be seen inside the nick.

So, Mr BROWN or Mr CAMERON, stop going on about one poxy form, as if that's going to make a blind bit of difference. Don't ask Chief Constables or the Police Fed, what to do about reducing bureacracy, because they wont have a clue. Ask the boys and girls on the ground