Stunning bit of kit!

So, all frontline officers are to be issued with a Taser. Well, maybe not Metpol officers, but at the moment, all us county mounties.
Amnesty International are appalled at the prospect. Their spokesperson, Mr Sprague said Amnesty was especially concerned about the welfare of vulnerable people who had "emotional" problems or were under the influence of drugs. No mention of the police and public that might be protected by their deployment, oh no.
I don't know about other forces, but in mine, the deployment of Taser has to be authorised by the Ops Room Inspector. To those not in the job, that means, an officer cannot take it out of their holster, without prior authorisation (except in spontaneous life or death incidents). Even if Taser deployment is authorised, any officer using it, has got to be able to justify it's use. No doubt, there'll be another 6 page form in triplicate to be completed.
At the moment, we often either have to put our own or the publics lives in jeopardy when a 'knife' incident occurs, as we are instructed to wait for Armed Response Officers to attend with Taser. That usually means a delay of 20-30 minutes. Is that acceptable?
I've seen the effect of it's deployment. 99% of people sh*t themselves, when they see those little red dots on their chest. If anyone is stupid enough to continue, then they deserve what they get.
I've no idea what the training will encompass. However, you can be rest assured that it will be thorough and effective.
I hope that Taser will not be used for your everyday angry drunk, but just used where offenders have weapons or are so dangerous, that they cannot be restrained by ordinary means. No doubt time will tell.

Reassurance

First of all apologies for the lack of posts over the last few months. Unfortunately, my personal life has been through a lot of turmoil and I had more important things to concentrate on. However, I'm back now!!!

The latest buzz word amongst ACPO ranks is reassurance. According to them, the public's fear of crime is far greater than the reality of crime and they therefore need reassuring that everything is wonderful and safe.

How do they go about doing this? Well, for starters, we have thousands of PCSO's patrolling the streets reassuring people. The public see them and therefore know they are safe, apparently. The only problem is, that every member of the public I've spoken to, does not feel re-assured when they see a group of yobs giving the PCSO's a verbal battering, only to see that the PCSO can't do anything about it.

The other way of reassuring the public is through crime figures. Now, most sensible people know the saying, lies, damned lies and statistics. So they are not fooled by crime statistics.

So what is the only other option. Getting more Police Officer's out of their offices and out onto the streets. Old fashioned I know, but a proven way of reassuring.

Just a thought....

I was wondering if anyone else noticed the correlation between the fact that recorded crime is at its lowest for years, yet the prison population is at a record high?

So Prison doesn't work eh?

Knife Crime

So we are about to get another knee jerk reaction to the recent knife incidents in London.

No doubt it will involve some new laws. You know the type of thing, an offence to carry anything pointy, with so many exceptions, that it means nothing.

I'd love to say there was a simple answer to the problem, like mandatory prison sentences, for those found carrying. Unfortunately, I don't think prison alone, will work. This problem has been brewing for a number of years. This govt has brought up a generation of people who accept no responsibility for their actions. Just look at the telly adverts ("I was drilling a hole in a wall, using a rickety old ladder, which was the wrong type, when I fell off. My boss should have given me the right ladder." No, you should have secured your ladder properly, you burk!).

So we have people bringing up kids, that expect everyone else to teach them life skills. Whilst schools do an awful lot, it is still parents responsibility to 'bring their kids up'. Unfortunately, a lot of inner city kids are not getting this grooming. Instead, they are joining street gangs and follow their code of conduct. We only have to look at the Gang problem in the US to realise that this is a problem that cannot be fixed overnight.

In my honest opinion, the govt need to have a serious look at the welfare state. Stop encouraging the under classes to breed like rabbits. By all means, stop children being brought up in poverty, but if needs be, put them into decent care (not the current system, where the kids run riot in their care homes, because legislation prevents their carers from physical contact). Bring back some proper discipline and a sense of right or wrong, with proper consequences, not silly CPO's or ASBO's!

At the moment, the kids who are committing these offences, have no decent morals. Until we instill some, we are fighting a losing battle.

Car Tax

I know this is nothing to do with the Police, but it does make my blood boil. Gordon Brown wants to discourage people from using high polluting vehicles. So, from later on this year, the vast majority of us will have to pay more vehicle excise duty (car tax).

Now, I drive a 8 year old diesel estate car, which apparently, is a fairly 'high' polluter. The car is in quite good condition, but is not worth very much. I cannot afford to replace it, with a less polluting car, of a similar size and condition. If I could, I would have done so already.

This, policy sounds very good to environmentalists. Unfortunately, when you scratch away at the surface, you soon realise it is just another revenue generator. Let's face it. Many people are going to be in the same boat as me, and not be able to afford to change their cars. So, these cars are still going to be driven around, until they fall to pieces. Meanwhile, the driver's will still be paying more fuel duty to the government.

I can understand the sentiment behind the idea for getting us to stop driving high polluting cars. However, this should start with brand new cars, so you know what you've got to pay, up front. It hardly seems fair, to move the goalposts, once a car has been purchased.

All I can see this policy achieving, is more untaxed vehicles on the road, and you know who has to deal with them!

Supervision

HMIC have announced that Sergeants are not doing their job properly! Too much time is being spent on auditing and checking and not enough time supervising.

Well hello, this is not exactly a startling discovery. Lets face it, Pc's are spending far too much time doing paperwork, so in the bureaucratic Police Service, it's inevitable that the Ps's are going to have to 'check' all that paperwork.
My poor skipper, has to not only check all files that are complete, but also has to regularly check my ongoing investigations and add 'helpful' comments in the log, to prove that he has done so.

Now, in every walk of life, you get good and bad. A good skipper, will do the minimum of paperwork and get out on the street and supervise his/her troops. A bad skipper, will be tied to their desk and never see the light of day. Unfortunately, we seem to be promoting a lot more of the latter.

In my humble opinion, the Sergeants job, is probably the hardest in the whole service. They get sh1t from both ends and nowadays, have very little authority. I am aware of Sgt's trying to discipline Pc's, but getting no backing from those higher up the chain of command.

The fact of the matter is that there is no discipline anymore. When I joined in the 80's, there was two Sgt's and an Inspector on every shift. Nowadays, there is just one sergeant, (who is normally just acting up) and one inspector to cover the whole division. In reality, it means Pc's get no supervision. Most of the time we don't need any, however, there are always some who will take the pi55 out of the system.

I would love to go back to the old days of a disciplined service, but it isn't going to happen. Not unless, Chief Constables start to promote a lot more of the right sort of people!

Shortage

So, there is a shortage of handcuffs.

I can't see that myself. Well, if forces are struggling to kit out new recruits, they just need to re-distribute old stock. Let's face it, there must be thousands of pairs of handcuffs, languishing in lockers up and down the country, that belong to the 9-5 squad members. I suspect, most will need refurbishing, because they are probably jammed solid through lack of use.