tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-200756232024-03-07T20:24:36.277+00:00Diary of a former Bow Street RunnerA blog, written by a recently ex-UK Police Officer. Covering a wide range of issues, both inside and outside the job, this blog can often be quite controversial.
Please note, the contents of this site do NOT reflect official force policy!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-53696124886706763932006-11-12T09:17:00.001+00:002006-11-12T09:19:09.237+00:00Apologies, this IS my new blog!Posted on the 31st of a new blog, and didn't mention that it's taken over from this one!<br /><br />This one is staying up as an archive, whilst I'm updating my other blog now which is running concurrently, at <a href="http://securityofficer.blogspot.com/">http://securityofficer.blogspot.com </a><br /><br />Should really change the title though, as I don't do as much hotel security anymore!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-84960516788549935692006-11-12T09:17:00.000+00:002006-11-12T09:19:04.247+00:00Apologies, this IS my new blog!Posted on the 31st of a new blog, and didn't mention that it's taken over from this one!<br /><br />This one is staying up as an archive, whilst I'm updating my other blog now which is running concurrently, at <a href="http://securityofficer.blogspot.com">http://securityofficer.blogspot.com </a><br /><br />Should really change the title though, as I don't do as much hotel security anymore!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1159777308864107022006-10-02T08:21:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:32.594+00:00New bloghttp://securityofficer.blogspot.comBow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1159587589745245242006-09-30T02:20:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:32.499+00:00Working the private security gigI've decided that dealing in a casino 5 days a week really isn't what I want to do, so I put a transfer request in for their Security department. I secured an interview within 3 days, and pending variation of my gaming licence they'll start training me fairly soon. It's on a casual basis to start off with, so I can juggle it with the other casual security gig I'm working at a 5 star hotel and see which I prefer. Pay wise both jobs are only a couple of dollars less than the cops get, and at the 5 star hotel job I'm on the same rate as the cops when I work this weekend.<br /><br />My Air Force assessment is in October, and the commissioning board is in November. If I'm successful, I'll start in early 2007. I've got my police application form to send off but the enthusiasm has gone. From speaking to a fair few officers here, the job really isn't that dissimilar, and is beset by the same obsession with bureaucracy; arbitrary paperwork and idiotic customers as the UK. Indeed in this part of Australia, police are rarely seen on patrol except on Friday and Saturday nights in the clubbing districts, as most visible patrolling is performed by private security, who observe and report and will intervene where necessary, usually handing it over to the police who will turn out from the station. Thinking about it, this situation may be because of ongoing industrial action over a pithy pay rise offered by the government.<br /><br />I did my first late shift at the hotel, and it was unusually quiet for a Friday night, so I was trained up in cash auditing, patrolled a uni society ball and the hotel bars, which were pretty uneventful, and escorted a drunken woman back to her room, having been engaged that night and probably separated from her fiancee within a few hours going by the way they were carrying on! Pretty easy money.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1159110475963856422006-09-24T14:59:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:32.395+00:00Anyone still reading this?In the event that people still check this blog, I though I'd post an update.<br /><br />Have got an application in for one of the state forces here in Australia. Not that enthused about it, thanks to talk of industrial action in one of the state forces and an ongoing industrial dispute with another. The pay is rubbish here for the police - I start work tomorrow as a security officer at a rather swank hotel, with an hourly rate that is just a couple of dollars less than what sub-18 month service police officers are paid, and a weekend rate that matches their hourly rate! Job should be a piece of piss, and they're looking to promote me to Assistant Security Manager after a little bit, so if the package is good enough, I might blow off the cops entirely.<br /><br />Application for the Air Force as an Officer is proceeding nicely in the meantime - it's a good package and good job opportunities, so I'll probably do that for three years if I'm successful.<br /><br />Have also been training for a Croupier position at a casino here, before the security position came up. So I have to ask myself - do I want to work security and be promoted, then possibly join the Air Force at some stage next year, or work blackjack several hours a day, several days a week, for a couple of months until I learn another game, then join the Air Force? For those who haven't played it, it's a bloody repetitive game to play, and even more mind-numbing to deal! The hotel, however, may be pretty quiet, so there's a risk that, after Christmas, my hours may be reduced, which won't happen with the Croupier job.<br /><br />The answer is a bit of a no brainer (I shall probably favour the security job), but I'm going to inquire as to whether or not I can transfer across to casino security on a casual basis and work both jobs to get my debts from the UK paid off. If not, I've got a professional security qualification here, previous police experience and a truckload of other bits and pieces in my favour.<br /><br />For those looking to come out here and not join the police - it's VERY easy to find work in the security field, with or without a security qualificiation, although having such a qualification will be beneficial. Unlike the UK, security work here can be pretty well paid if you find the right company and the right job at the right time.<br /><br />I haven't missed policing in the slightest, and stay in occasional contact with a few colleagues and friends, who now want to come over! If you make enough of a go of it here, you can't really go wrong, and you certainly won't want to go back to the UK!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1153362463358959642006-07-20T02:23:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:32.292+00:00Wow!I e-mailed Richard Brunstrom (whose<a href="http://www.north-wales.police.uk/nwp/public/en/blogs/viewBlog.asp"> blog</a> I've linked to), with my views on the idea and content of his blog (basically, keep it up!), and received a reply the same day! That's more than can be said for most senior officers in my old force, or indeed even the Chief Constable of that force!<br /><br />Definately recommend a visit to his blog, as unlike other 'official' police blogs he writes about what he gets up to and his view on things, as opposed to trotting out a press release through another channel of distribution!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1153320352359820442006-07-19T14:38:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:32.122+00:00Updates...Hello everyone,<br /><br />Things are going well on this side of the world. Temperatures for the winter are far more tolerable then the snow, sleet and hail of UK winters. Sunny during the day and rains (sometimes) at night.<br /><br />Career wise I'm looking at Direct Entry as an Officer into Air Force or Army, with a view to specialising in Security Police (Air Force) or Military Police (Army) after a period as a General Service Officer. Haven't heard back from the civllian police forces I've enquired with, and a change is as good as a rest, so will press on with the military applications for now. Enlistment wouldn't be until 2007, so I've got a fair amount of time to explore, relax in and enjoy this country!<br /><br />Added a link to the new blog by Chief Con of North Wales Police, Richard Brunstrom. It's on the official site, but then he was hardly going to host it on blogspot as 'A Chief Constable Writes' now was he?<br /><br />Taken to cycling again, especially with a very good and reliable bicycle network that has some great views. I wasn't formally cycle trained in the police, so I was a little nervous, having never been trained in the science of bicycle riding except by some ten years of trial and error as a child through to teenage-hood. However, I've not been injured, sued or have injured anyone, so I just might be ok without taking a course in it.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1152204254258696572006-07-06T16:31:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:32.022+00:00How to avoid prison......<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5153600.stm">crocodile tears!</a> And the judge fell for it. Makes you proud to be British, doesn't it?<br /><br />It's very amusing to sit on the other side of the world and observe the remnants of what used to be a system of protecting people and bringing offenders to justice slowly collapse in on itself through its own lunacy. These stories are a great cure for any residual feelings of doubt about emigrating!<br /><br />And so that country continues to hurtle towards its own destruction, teetering on the edge of widespread civil catastrophe and institutional breakdown. I predict this within ten years the way thing are over there now. In the interim, the 'nation', whose identity is formed around a distinct lack of one, has not quite fallen into the abyss yet, but its not doing much to save itself either.<br /><br />When it finally does go, with a whimper rather than a bang, will the rest of the world even notice? Ingerlund certainly seems to exist in its own parallel universe of morality, justice and logic these days...Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1151850833377115982006-07-02T14:32:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:31.931+00:00Attention Aus cops...Could anyone who reads this blog who currently serves in Aus please e-mail me at <a href="mailto:constabularyduty@yahoo.co.uk">constabularyduty@yahoo.co.uk</a> ? As well as the Air Force I'm looking at joining the job here. As relocating is not a problem I'm keen to find out about the different forces and get an idea of what's involved, so would like to ask a few questions!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1151837759674965592006-07-02T10:24:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:31.838+00:00Bring on the revolution!Well, after a week in Australia, with two job interviews in the pipeline (one for the Air Force as an Officer a little later down the line, and the other for a mind-numbingly dull but quick-starting and interim cash-providing retail job), as well as a general standard and cost of living far surpassing most of what England had to offer, I am now in a position to look at BBC News and other websites, and think "Thank God I'm not there!" I certainly won't be living in the UK again if I have any say in the matter whatsoever. I shall be hiring an armoured vehicle for transport and will clad myself in Kevlar if I return for visits. It's great here - no Human Rights Act, a strict and stringent welfare system, no EU over-regulation or criminal-loving, to-hell-with-innocent-people rights groups. Crime wise it does have its problems here, but then any country in the world has, and compared to what<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>I was used to in the UK, it's nowhere near as bad.<br /><br />Whether it's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5138094.stm">drunken primates being sore losers over a football game</a>, or <a href="http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13530927,00.html">the clear need to issue stab vests to civillians as standard</a>, my decision to emigrate has been quite rigorously reinforced by the continuing decline of the country, occurring at the same time as a continuing increase in violent crime. As a cop I was issued with a stab vest, and to be honest, with the way things seem to be in the UK now, <a href="http://www.vestguard.co.uk/productselect.php?t_id=1%20&t_name=Body%20Armour">I'd have probably bought and worn one after quitting</a> (had I stayed in the UK), because you've got a pretty good chance of being stabbed by some dickhead off their face on drink, drugs or both. They don't even need a reason - it could be for fun, because you looked at them the wrong way, didn't have/wouldn't give them a cigarette or <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5132544.stm">simply because you were there</a>! I await the inevitable stage where people stab each other as a form of greeting.<br /><br />Carrying and using knives in England is as fashionable as any clothing accessories, backed up by lots of media attention, that satisfaction that your're sticking two fingers up to the government's pathetic knife amnesty, and that you can pretty much get what you want from the shrinking number of people who aren't carrying themselves. I don't write this because I believe the media hype - it's also because, from personal experience as a serving cop, I know that, for once, the situation <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> actually that bad.<br /><br />So, aside from buying your own stab vest, assume that group of little shits on the corner in your neighbourhood/in the shopping centre/<a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/217/217012_knife_purge_after_teenager_mayhem.html">on the train</a> has at least one blade amongst them and are drunk/stupid (or both) enough to use it for any reason whatsoever. Tool up or wear a stab vest and remain in a state of paranoia/readiness for the rest of your life. If they draw on you and you have neither a stab vest nor a knife yourself, hit them as hard as you can with anything to hand, and don't bother calling the police, because you'll be the one infringing the human rights of poor little Kyle, who was only carrying a knife because <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5128808.stm">he doesn't like one of the other boys at school</a>. Furthermore, school your kids in knife disarmament techniques in between Key Stage 1 and 2.<br /><br />Because, let's face it, noone in power has the balls to do anything about it, so you have to take matters into your own hands. Don't waste time calling the cops - offensive weapon jobs will lose favour once the media storm dies down, and unless a force makes it a key crime, they won't take it too seriously until someone is stabbed, preferably whilst the offender is committing a force priority crime.<br /><br />Either that or get out whilst you still can. At least there's less of a chance of being stabbed on an airplane these days.<br /><br />Meanwhile, it's midwinter here and this weekend has been clear skies, sunny and between 19-23c. I'm a five minute bike ride from a river and park offering stunning views, and the food here isn't anywhere near as full of chemicals, so I can eat without worrying about steroid inhalation! Beats attending crap jobs, helping thankless people and following end-in-itself procedure.<br /><br />Oh, and I see <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5137982.stm">heatwave warnings have been issued</a>. Aside from the fact that between 30-35c is quite bearable if sensible precautions are taken, people will read that as "Great! Let's go lie out in direct sunlight between 12 and 3pm without suncream, sunglasses or hats, and drink plenty of beer!" They then wonder why they get sunstroke, severe sunburn dehyrdration and an increased risk of skin cancer. Idiots.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1151313440767801502006-06-26T08:23:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:31.687+00:00Final police blog entryRight, I'm abroad now. It's been beautiful and sunny, even though it's wintertime, and I've already stopped thinking about the job. Things are underway, new career and integration wise, and moving was definately the right thing to do. To fully enjoy myself and make the most of these new opportunities, I'm disassociating myself with continued active involvement with police related stuff in the UK anymore - that includes forum participation etc. I'm on the other side of the world, it doesn't affect me anymore, nor do I care about it.<br /><br />I may continue this blog in a non-police capacity, for those who are interested to see how things unfold here in terms of making the change, lifestyle, opinions and comparisons on life here versus in the UK. If you want me to do this, please post a comment or e-mail me and let me know. If there's no interest, I won't bother.<br /><br />On the plane on the way over I was reading 'Dilbert: The Joy Of Work' by Scott Adams. A very funny book. On pages 152-156 is a fantastic section called 'You Are Wrong Because' - a list of 'wrongs' someone commits when airing their unqualified and nonsensical thoughts and opinions on a topic. So, I've decided to write the police version, with full credit to Scott Adams and the book.<br /><br />Fill in the blanks and circle the errors, then print out and give to the person concerned. Works equally well with either the public, colleagues or management:<br /><br /><strong>YOU ARE WRONG BECAUSE</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Sir/Ma'am,<br /><br />For your convenience, I have circled the acts of stupidity that most closely resemble(s) the one(s) you recently made on the topic of: PLACE TOPIC HERE<br /><br />AMAZINGLY BAD ANALOGY<br /><br />Example: You can train a dog to fetch a stick. Therefore, you can train a potato to dance.<br /><br />FAULTY CAUSE AND EFFECT<br /><br />Example: From what I've seen, more police means less crime.<br /><br />I AM THE WORLD<br /><br />Example: I didn't get an immediate police response to my report of a burglary that happened yesterday. Therefore, the police don't care about people who are burgled.<br /><br />IGNORING EVERYTHING SCIENCE KNOWS ABOUT THE BRAIN<br /><br />Example: People commit crimes because they feel like it - there's no other motivation.<br /><br />THE FEW ARE THE SAME AS THE WHOLE<br /><br />Example: Some police officers prosecute people for speeding. Some police officers speed when going to jobs. Therefore, police officers are hypocrites.<br /><br />GENERALISING FROM SELF<br /><br />Example: I'm new to management. Therefore I believe you know nothing about the job either.<br /><br />ARGUMENT BY BIZARRE DEFINITION<br /><br />Example: He's not a criminal. He just does things that are against the law.<br /><br />TOTAL LOGICAL DISCONNECT<br /><br />Example: We should increase police performance figures because I woke up on the wrong side of bed today.<br /><br />JUDGING THINGS WITHOUT COMPARISONS TO ALTERNATIVES<br /><br />Example: I don't insure my car. (Generic insurance company) are too expensive.<br /><br />ANYTHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IS EASY TO DO<br /><br />Example: If you have the right resources, how hard could it be to identify the mugger from a crowd of 3000 with no CCTV, descriptions or witnesses?<br /><br />IGNORANCE OF STATISTICS<br /><br />Example: Criminals ALWAYS get away with crime because there's not enough police to catch them.<br /><br />IGNORING THE DOWNSIDE RISK<br /><br />Example: I know making all officers single-crewed increases their personal risk, but it means there's more patrols around!<br /><br />SUBSTITUTING FAMOUS QUOTES FOR COMMON SENSE<br /><br />Example: Remember, 'good things come to those who wait'. So don't bother applying for promotion.<br /><br />IRRELEVANT COMPARISONS<br /><br />Example: Catching ten street robbers is an excellent result, compared to catching one murderer.<br /><br />CIRCULAR REASONING<br /><br />Example: I'm right on this because I'm the senior manager. And I must be the senior manager because I'm right on this.<br /><br />INCOMPLETENESS AS PROOF OF DEFECT<br /><br />Example: Your activity monitoring report didn't include how long you spent writing the report, therefore it must all be inaccurate.<br /><br />IGNORING THE ADVICE OF EXPERTS WITHOUT A GOOD REASON<br /><br />Example: Sure, the police advise that you shouldn't leave your Ferrari unlocked, running with keys in the engine and aboandoned in the middle of a dodgy area, but I have my own theory.<br /><br />FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF KNOWN IDIOTS<br /><br />Example: The prisoner recommended I don't bother searching him. That's good enough for me!<br /><br />REACHING BIZARRE CONCLUSIONS WITHOUT ANY INFORMATION<br /><br />Example: I was assaulted in a club whilst drunk and on a night out. I'm sure that's because police were targetting speeders.<br /><br />FAULTY PATTERN RECOGNITION<br /><br />Example: This estate has houses burgled every week six weeks in a row. Next week, we're focusing everyone on a car crime operation on the other side of the division.<br /><br />FAILURE TO RECOGNISE WHAT'S IMPORTANT<br /><br />Example: I know you're struggling with someone wielding a knife, but could you tell me where the nearest cash machine is please?<br /><br />UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT OF SUNK COSTS<br /><br />Example: We've spent tens of thousands on this divisional restructure. We can't change it back now or it will all be wasted.<br /><br />OVERAPPLICATION OF OCCAM'S RAZOR (WHICH SAYS THE SIMPLEST EXPLANATION IS USUALLY RIGHT)<br /><br />Example: The simplest explanation for an increase in crime is more criminals.<br /><br />IGNORING ALL ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE<br /><br />Example: Crime always increases when we introduce new paperwork that ties up officers. But without a scientifically controlled experiment, it's not reliable data. So we continue to introduce new paperwork, since we can't tell if it has an effect on crime.<br /><br />INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME THINGS HAVE MULTIPLE CAUSES<br /><br />Example: I was mugged for the mobile phone adorning my neck one reason only: The police weren't patrolling on the street at the time.<br /><br />JUDGING THE WHOLE BY ONE OF ITS CHARACTERISTICS<br /><br />Example: Sometimes people arrested by the police haven't done anything wrong. Therefore, it's better if the police don't arrest anyone.<br /><br />BLINDING FLASHES OF THE OBVIOUS<br /><br />Example: If I stopped drunkenly inviting people to fight me, I might not get assaulted as often.<br /><br />BLAMING THE TOOL<br /><br />Example: I bought a burglar alarm but I still got burgled. The burglar alarm must be defective.<br /><br />HALLUCINATIONS OF REALITY<br /><br />Example: I can get the police to solve any problem I may have.<br /><br />TAKING THINGS TO THEIR ILLOGICAL CONCLUSION<br /><br />Example: If you don't get officers to document what time they take refs, next thing you know they'll never report anything they're doing!<br /><br />FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND WHY RULES DON'T HAVE EXCEPTIONS<br /><br />Example: It should be legal to drink and drive, as long as you don't kill anyone.<br /><br />PROOF BY LACK OF EVIDENCE<br /><br />Example: I've never seen you arrest anyone, therefore you must be a useless police officer.<br /><br />Enjoy!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1150876575539280392006-06-21T07:48:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:31.571+00:00Hi-vis stab vestsSaw some officers in the area I'm currently residing in wearing hi-vis stab vests!!!<br /><br />Sorry if that sounds strange, but its a complete unique phenomenon to me! We've always worn black overt stab vests, which whilst warm and require a hi vis overlay sometimes, look quite smart and professional. The hi-vis ones, with various bits of kit hanging off it, just look messy and thrown-together, though I'd imagine the officers would be cooler wearing those than black with hi vis over the top.<br /><br />Is this the way of the future in an effort to make the police more community friendly? I liked the way Strathclyde police went - all black, with polo shirts, combat trousers and flat cap. I tried it once - for the first three hours of foot patrol I went out in white short sleeves, body armour and helmet, and was mithered by the public and got all sorts of passing comments from drunks. After refs, I wore a black fleece under the body armour, with a very high neck which zips up so you can't see the tie or white shit, a flat cap and belt attached to body armour. Was left alone to walk in peace, not even so much as a request for the nearest cash machine! Forgot to attach the epaulettes to the fleece too, which was an added bonus.<br /><br />I suppose police should be approachable and friendly, but when you can't go more than six steps without being asked stupid questions by three separate members of the public, you wish you could just be left in peace, intimidating enough to not be bothered with trivial rubbish, but not intimidating enough to deter people bringing genuine police business to attention. Also helps if, when dealing with offenders, you don't look to them or the public that you're dressed up to give them a hug straight after the bollocking, which is what I think hi vis achieves.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1150787253861671592006-06-20T06:43:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:31.024+00:00Police 'need to be more diverse'...According to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5092268.stm">this headline</a>. Not quite sure why it's a headline really, for self-appointed 'leaders' of rent-a-cause who are short of their monthly press release quota need only trot this one out and guarantee a few column inches. In fact I often read the papers and think "Hmmm, it's been at least 6 weeks since there's been a call for more women/minority/Martian/police officers in the press - I wonder what will be in here tomorrow?"<br /><br />Leaving aside the Met's spectacular ability to generate bad press of Biblical proportions for themselves over the last year, Phillips here is clearly jumping on the back of the bandwagon of negative sentiment against the Met after the Forest Gate raids. I don't know the intel behind the raids, and I wasn't on the raids, so can't comment on them. A look at Philips' article - the gist of which is "more Muslims in cops = less community relations problems", and applying the essence of the Forest Gate raids - triggered by intel, which according to reports was duff, fails to reveal a connection between a change in recruitment and the execution of these raids. How does Philips expect this to have changed Forest Gate?<br /><br />Would he honestly have expected the line "We've got intel there's a chemical device in an address in North London" to be answered by a Muslim officer with "Don't raid them. They're Muslim. You'll cause community relation issues. Let's risk death instead of publicity" or "I know them. I'm Muslim and thus know every Muslim in London, and it ain't them"? I think not. More Muslim officers does not mean better or more sensitive handling of intel, unless each and every single officer is transferred to Special Branch or put on Counter-Terrorism assignments, in which case it would be their job to handle such intelligence on a regular basis. Unless that happens, more Muslim officers will mean more Muslim officers doing the same as all other police officers - drowning in paperwork, being crapped on from above and leaving after getting cynical and disillusioned. Most officers didn't know about the raids and weren't involved in them. Any increase in recruitment in the last year of Muslim officers would mean they would still be going through training school when the raids took place, and had no knowledge or input whatsoever. What planet does Philips hail from trying to link Forest Gate as a base to launch a campaign for a change in recruitment laws? There'll be more raids, probably with more backlash, in the interm. Is he going to demand that someone who even so much as fills out a preliminary application form be put on active duty to appease people?<br /><br />If Philips is hoping for more Muslims to enter and then hoping they will be favoured over other candidates for promotion, he'll alienate the rest of the minority groups the un-elected and self-appointed CRE 'exists' for, so if he's in favour of that he'll need to be very careful about how he promotes that in public.<br /><br />I only know a few Muslim officers, all of them as capable as the next officer, but I do know the turnover rate for Muslim officers is quite high. Why this is I cannot authoritatively comment. However, changing the recruitment law to increase the number of Muslim officers will succeed, probably, in nothing more than inflating the turnover numbers even further, as more Muslim candidates are shooed in under false pretences and are not given a realistic job preview, decide it's not for them and resign, going the same way those that joined under other recent 'mass recruitment' campaigns for some forces have gone. You can't force officers to join, nor can you force them to stay in, even if it is in the name of PR. It will result in some shite and unscrupulous candidates getting into the job, knowing they got in because of their ethnicity and then demanding their every whim and desire be catered for lest they play the race/religion card to the press and the Force's minority rep association, which reflects badly on those who are actually good at the job and put up with the rubbish passing itself off as procedure and 'best practice'. They're not excessively vocal or crying injustice every five seconds, and are thus quietly smothered by modern policing (metaphorically speaking) like everyone else. Merely getting on with the job these days is no way to survive!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1150448796314001662006-06-16T08:50:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.939+00:00Department namesCheers for everyone's comments and wishes of good luck by the blog and by e-mail. Much appreciated!<br /><br />Before I left, I noticed the force renamed quite a few of its departments, from a name that provided a vague insight into what the department did, to names that seemed utterly meaningless, excessively multi-syllabic and appeared to be the result of putting a collection of nouns into a hat and drawing two or three at a time to form the new name, often with the nouns bearing no correlation to the work carried out.<br /><br />I have two theories as to why this is the case - either there's a competition between forces to have departments with the most syllables in their names (each syllable incurs a point); or the vaguer the name of the unit, the wider their remit can be creatively interpreted, and thus more irrelevant work can be shovelled in their direction.<br /><br />Here's some examples:<br /><br />Tutor Unit becomes the Professional Development Unit<br />Accident Investigation Unit becomes the Collision Reconstruction Unit<br />A new unit set up mainly to deal with intelligence becomes the Operational Tasking Unit and seems to be doing everything now.<br />What used to be Section and gets shafted with any positive lines crime on the division becomes the Area Policing Team<br />Volume Crime Unit (shoplifter squad) becomes the Volume Crime Prisoner Processing Unit<br /><br />Even more ironic was the renaming of some units to sound more paramilitary, at a time when providing a friendly, corporate image seems to be important, such as the Dog Unit becoming the Tactical Dog Unit. I predict the imminent establishment of the Tactical Paperwork Unit, given the mission of strategic insertion of arbitrary forms into the daily routine of police officers everywhere.<br /><br />Any more for any more?Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1150225963922846032006-06-13T19:12:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.821+00:00Appeal for informationCan whoever 'anonymous' is who says they know me please drop me an e-mail? Quite curious to find out who it is and if they do actually know me!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1150198868653389592006-06-13T10:47:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.726+00:00I'm free!That's it. Done. Dusted. Sorted. Over. Whilst it's a strange feeling not having the warrant card on you all the time (it's drilled in at training to always carry it with you), it's also a feeling of liberation in part as well.<br /><br />Whilst I'll miss my colleagues and some aspects of the job, I won't miss having to walk on eggshells whenever speaking or acting, for fear of offending people. "No it's not because you're black/white/muslim/agnostic, it's because you are being an utter cock and behaving in a criminal manner." Nor will the endless and arbitrary paperwork purely for obtaining statistics be missed. There are some in the job who have become so obssessed and brainwashed that due process has become an end in itself, as opposed to a means to an end. This applies especially to crime recording and resulting.<br /><br />One of the last things I did was write a 1-9 up for a Burglary Other that occurred last year, was resolved at the scene by the offender paying the money for the stolen item, and was only put on because muppet incarnate complained about myself and another officer after the incident, and PSD insisted the crime be put on. Point 9 asked for the officer's next tour of duty. I took great pleasure in writing "Never, ever, ever again!". When I asked what the point of doing a full write-up for a crime that was resolved at the scene and is over 8 months old was, I was given a look of horror and the words "You can't just ignore that, it's POLICY!" Finished the write up for fear of being hanged for treason if I didn't.<br /><br />Furthermore, at training people are ingrained with a view that using force is a bad thing, as it could lead to negative PR and a bad image, as well as it being spelt out that it could potentially be the end of their careers. Indeed some probationers come away from training so scared to use force that they were injured in situations where they need not have been, because forces were more concerned about their image than the safety of their officers. I never had a problem using force, and used it wherever I could justify it as being needed. I was more concerned with my human right to life than any conceivable rights of the offenders. It raised eyebrows, but I've emerged after a few years relatively unscathed and in one piece.<br /><br />Any complaints I may have attracted will remain permanently unresolved, indeed my lack of concern for incivility complaints may not have done me any favours in keeping the numbers low. C'est la vie.<br /><br />The ridiculous and quaint policies that cover every offence from assault to murder, which lead officers step-by-step through everything that must always be done in all circumstances, has killed what little discretion was left to be afforded by officers. Now, street level decisions made at an incident will often be in breach of force policy if not illegal. I've lost count of the number of cannabis joints I've put down the drain rather than confisicating and going through the bureaucratic rigmarole, wasting my time and everyone else's for the sake of one sanctioned detection. It's often accompanied with a lecture to the smoker, often a young asian lad, in which case it is centred around them being a disgrace to whichever religion they'll claim we are discriminating against.<br /><br />So, why have I jacked it in?<br /><br />Several reasons:<br /><br />1. The job is shite - as any officer with more than a few years in will tell you. I'm naturally cynical anyway, and realised this after just two and a half years. It's run and determined at all levels by people more concerned about advancing and protecting their own careers than the utter mess they leave behind for everyone else to cope with. This runs from the top level of government down. Fighting crime is not a priority, something freely acknowledged by certain members of the force, preferring the achievement of sanctioned detections instead to keep the figures healthy. Real crime is a distraction, and any prevention or solving thereof is an incidental by-product of the main aim of the police - PR and performance management. If we tell everyone crime is lower, people will feel safer.<br /><br />A good example is Manchester. An insider there e-mailed me recently pointing out that gun crime has exploded (so to speak) in recent months, often with at least one or two firearms incidents a week (indeed there was one <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5074932.stm">today</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">)</span>, yet senior officers will go on record to say that it's down, which considering there was the second double fatal shooting this year, in the same division as the last one, is somewhat rich. It's certainly down compared to the Gang Wars of 80s and 90s, but compared to most other places its a worry. At least Nottingham admitted they had a murder problem!<br /><br />2. I'm emigrating - I've got the chance to move out to a country with a far better quality of life. I'm young, am not affected by pension worries having left the job and am taking this chance whilst I have it. Whether I join the cops or not out there depends on the culture, lifestyle and whatever opportunities present themselves out there.<br /><br />3. I passionately don't care about the public anymore - having been abused, assaulted, complained about by and generally snubbed by the very people we supposedly swear an oath to uphold and protect, I've sometimes identified more with the offender of a crime than a victim. When you get to this stage you know it's probably time to finish.<br /><br />More often than not, the victim is rarely innocent to a crime and is often as much to blame for it. They're the 'victim' only because they dialled 999 faster than the 'offender'.<br /><br />Once every year someone will come up and say we are doing a good job and they appreciate and respect the police. They are becoming an increasingly smaller minority and their compliments no longer balance out the abuse and ungratefulness of the Great Unwashed I had the misfortune to encounter on a regular basis. The GU demand that police succumb to their every whim and desire; that police dare not close roads, redirect traffic or inconvenience them with such trivial things as crime scenes (which are, of course, there purely for them to walk through); that each crime be investigated with a full team of detectives, and summary justice be dispensed against whoever happens to be standing with a 50 yard radius at the time of the call, for they are 'clearly the one who did it'. Failure to comply with any or all of the above leads to an unleashing of cliches, threats of complaints and the kind of abuse you'd expect from a drugged-up and tooled-up lunatic you've just restrained and prevented from committing a bank robbery, even if you've just said "I'm sorry, the road is closed for 2 minutes whilst this parade passes by". They have, however, carte blanche to put themselves in harms way and in exceedingly dangerous situations, demanding that we get them out of it.<br /><br />At the same time, the Great Unwashed are the first ones to complain if we arrest them for any offence under the sun, for in their own mind they have the equivalent of diplomatic immunity. If we dare reprimand them for their behvaiour or conduct, they take on a demeanour akin to genuine surprise and offence, as if the police should be out policing everyone except them. Any intervention of any nature, including terorrist ops, result in the demand that we be catching muderers, rapists and muggers. When we say we've caught them all, they won't have it. Tossers.<br /><br />At most jobs, nobody is innocent, the distinction is the degree to which they are guilty. Yes we police officer shouldn't pass such judgements, but do the job even for a few weeks and you won't be able to help yourself. Even the occasional purely innocent victim of crime, usually a member of the Chattering Classes, can turn on a dime to a nasty, snarling, hostile animal for even so much as the faintest whiff of something not going in their favour. How dare we say there's no way of catching the offender - we should be arresting everyone in the city and bringing them in for questioning. Damnit, they are the victim of a crime and we should be doing absolutely everything in our power to solve it. Never mind that it's the fifteenth theft from person we've had that day, they are better than everyone else and should get priority treatment. Sorry, if it's not a key crime it doesn't matter who you are, you'll just have to wait in line. Next time report it as a robbery or something.<br /><br />Blue light runs to urgent jobs often involved braking at the last minute because some idiot decided that safety be damned, they were going to run right across the road in front of us, because the two seconds saved by doing so as opposed to waiting for us to pass, in spite of the risk of injury or death, would make a profound difference in their lives. I've often been tempted to get such people run over just to teach them a lesson. There's absolutely no excuse for it.<br /><br />What gets me the most is when we're doing our job and are suddenly interrupted with "Listen to me", followed by a rant of how the utterly ill-informed and often poorly-educated fool with ideas above their station thinks we should do their job. I used a Life on Mars line on one to great effect, with "Shut up. I'll listen to the snot in my hanky before I listen to you" stopping them in their tracks.<br /><br />The Public - wanting 100% of their rights, 100% of the time, 100% perfectly delivered and always 100% by everyone else. I'm sick of saving them from themselves and receiving nothing but hostility in return, and think they should just be left to kill themselves through stupidity without intervention. That's what most of them want anyway. They're not worth risking your personal safety or life for, and I no longer care what happens to them.<br /><br />4. Erm - I think the above three and the previous blog entries explain it.<br /><br />This isn't the end of the blog just yet though, final a post as this may seem!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1149970057991980622006-06-10T19:27:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.504+00:00Unable to organise a pissup in a brewery - why you should stay home to watch the World CupIf today was anything to go by, the World Cup this summer will be a nightmare for England.<br /><br />It's a nice idea, showing crucial matches on a big screen in a busy city centre, but since people love to combine drink, football and violence, any attempt to stage something along those lines will ALWAYS end in tears.<br /><br />Tempting as it may be to watch it outside in the sunshine with a big group of mates, it's not worth it!<br /><br />You'd have thought the police and council, on a nice sunny Saturday, with England's first World Cup game due to be played in the afternoon, and the game being shown on a big screen, would have a decent operation in place to keep crowds under control; ensure everyone enjoyed themselves; uphold the law and stop people from being killed. Aside from a lack of deaths, which was quite frankly surprising, everyone involved failed to achieve any of these goals.<br /><br />There is a law against consumption of alcohol in the city centre, with powers for police to confiscate alcohol which we assume will be drunk, by the way.<br /><br />Here's what happened:<br /><br />By 11am, there were already 1000 people in the area drinking. There were not enough cops on to do anything about this - most came on at half 12. Why didn't anyone launch the operation earlier?<br /><br />The Council came up with the bright idea of erecting construction mesh fencing around an area of the big screen. That fencing didn't go up until near enough 12pm, resulting in it being built around people as they were streaming in.<br /><br />Stewards were on to search bags for alcohol and control entry. Within half an hour we'd seized a lock blade, which had been thrown at one of the stewards by someone who ran in and disappeared into the crowd. There were so many people coming in so quickly that it became impossible to control flow and search everyone. Many point blank ignored the stewards or refused to surrender alcohol when requested.<br /><br />By 2pm the fencing had to be removed entirely, as there were far too many people in the area, and the fencing would have been torn down, resulting in injuries.<br /><br />The BBC ignored a request not to publicise that the match would be broadcast on the big screen.<br />We were expecting 8000. Partly due to the BBC, at least 12-13,000 turned up, and the relatively small number of officers on was very quickly overwhelmed. Enforcing the alcohol law or maintaining any sort of crowd control became both futile and dangerous for us officers. Most if not all of the division was sent down, and reinforcements called in from no less than three other divisions and two specialist units.<br /><br />By kick-off (for the game, at least), we had clearly lost what little control we had of the situation in the screening area and withdrew, resorting to keeping any more people from coming in. We pretty much locked down the entire area - noone came in, and if you went out you weren't allowed back. People weren't happy.<br /><br />Shopping centres and shops had to close to prevent people circumventing the cordons to get to the screening area, and to prevent widespread theft and/or crushing. They lost a lot of money today.<br /><br />Idiots were turning up and completely ignoring the police tape or officers standing by it, ducking under and trying to get in. They looked genuinely offended that we dared to challenge them for crossing the line.<br /><br />I gave up trying to explain that we couldn't let people past because there were too many in the area; people were getting crushed and injured and it was too dangerous for them. Towards the end of the match I was strongly tempted to let people through with the words "Fine, get seriously injured. I'm really not arsed". The police don't protect the public from criminals, we protect the public from themselves, and it is often an exasperating and futile exercise for which many are singularly ungrateful.<br /><br />At half-time there were at least 30 people fighting in the crowd, 1 person stabbed and several people glassed. Ambulances could not get in and bottles were being thrown everywhere. We were witnessing mob rule, with the general throng of the crowd determining the actions and strategy of the police, instead of the other way around - an unfortunate phenomenon that is becoming increasingly common in this country.<br /><br />People complained we weren't doing anything about it. They were right. There weren't enough of us to do anything. It was plainly apparent to even the most casual observer that we were reacting to what was happening as opposed to having anticipated it with plans in action, did not have it under control and were overwhelmed. I cared far more for my personal safety than for the safety of the general public, so did not risk myself.<br /><br />The force helicopter was unavailable throughout.<br /><br />We had to request voluntary closure of several stores that people were buying booze from and then drinking in nearby public arenas, in contravention of the law and creating serious risks of further violence. Luckily the stores complied.<br /><br />I was kept on from 11am-6pm without a single rest break, after which we were told to get 'a quick bite to eat'.<br /><br />The prisoners we locked up were treated better than us - at least they got food and water on demand. There were no lunch packs, the shops we were stood outside ended up getting us water, when it should have been supplied by the force, and a request by one officer for water bottles was met with The officer distributing them is on point and can't leave it". Bear in mind this is one of the hottest days of the year so far.<br /><br />I got sunburnt on my arms, mild heatstroke and felt very ill.<br /><br />We then had spots of fights at several different venues across the city after the game. A few were arrested. Many more could have been but it would most likely have exasperated things and resulted in officers getting hurt.<br /><br />Today could have been far, far worse than it was, and it is only be sheer luck, as opposed to careful planning, that a major riot did not start. Next time, either public screenings should be banned entirely, or an early operation, involving a large number of officers at strategic points maintaing road closures, crowd control and rigid search policies should be implemented. When the area gets full, it gets closed off and this is communicated to the general crowd further away from the screening area. There should be a rotation of officers in place and enough food and water supplies to ensure officers do not become physically ill through lack of refreshments. The course of events and management of the day by the authorities involved was a disgrace. I know for a fact that things have been communicated to very senior level.<br /><br />It wasn't a carnival atmosphere so much as a dangerous atmosphere. And this is when England WON!<br /><br />For officers reading this - if you are offered overtime for World Cup related duties, trust me - do NOT take it!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1149848655105521512006-06-09T10:06:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.302+00:00Soon-to-be an ex-copSorted it so my final shift is on Sunday now, not next week - from 0300 hours on Monday June 12th I will no longer be a police officer. Woo hoo! Since these sorts of things come around full circle, I'm getting the same adrenaline rush and feeling of elation that I had when I joined the police.<br /><br />Now I won't have to worry about <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17202252&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=roof-justice--name_page.html">wasting time getting KFC for people</a>, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5058132.stm">arresting World Cup fans for racism</a> or <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5054348.stm">apologising for doing our job of protecting people</a>.<br /><br />"Why didn't you arrest the terror suspect who was about to blow himself up?"<br />"I didn't want to cause disruption to the community"<br />"No, you let him do a damn fine job of that himself didn't you!"<br /><br />You'll be pleased to know, however, that I've used my initiative and have already implemented <a href="http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_objectid=17192391%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26page=2%26headline=cops%2dcut%2ddown%2dtrivial%2dpursuit-name_page.html">Liverpool's Trivial Crime Squad</a> tactics myself - I'm often telling people that the pile of crap trying to pass itself off for something we should gave a damn about won't be investigated, and why. Since being on notice period, if they really start to annoy me I tell them the real reasons rather than trotting out the polite and rehearsed corporate spiel about lack of evidence - it is because they are wasting our time with one-upmanship allegations against whoever happens to have offended them this week, and really should get a life. Surprisingly, they don't kick up as much of a fuss about that as I'd have thought - maybe they appreciate being given a reality check? Nothing's come back to me yet anyway, and I don't care now because most of PSD don't work weekends.<br /><br />I've decided to keep this blog going after I leave - will update it every so often with more inside info on policing as most of what i know won't be going out of practice within weeks of leaving, as well as little tidbits about life as an ex-cop and what I'm up to. There's a few things I'll miss:<br /><br />1 - Collegaues - hard-working, dedicated, and put up with a world of crap. But I can stay in touch every so often via the Internet.<br />2 - Free travel on public transport - has saved me an absolute fortune over the years!<br />3 - Scrapping with people in such a way that no marks are left on them (hint - pressure points), the force is fully justified and they don't complain afterwards because they have something to hide/are drunk.<br />4 - Telling pain in the arse prisoners a few home truths in the old custody suites before CCTV and sound recording.<br />5 - Erm...<br />6 - That's it.<br /><br />Will reveal my reasons for leaving after I've left, when I'm no longer under control of the force.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1149537800012425982006-06-05T19:53:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.200+00:00Leaving dosHave put the posters up for my leaving do. It will be one of many the station has had of late, as loads of people have transferred, retired or jacked the job in altogether.<br /><br />A quick scan of Divisional Orders each week shows loads of officers doing any of the above. It's also interesting to note the amount of probationers who are resigning before they've completed their two years. Makes you wonder - did they decide the job wasn't for them, or is the job so difficult on new probationers that it takes superhuman levels of patience and perseverance to survive the initial period?<br /><br />Either way, we're at the stage now where if there were ever to be an overtime ban or restrictions, we wouldn't be able to carry out all of our roles and responsibilities. Of that you can be sure. It's partly down to lack of officers and pisspoor management of officers that are there.<br /><br />Yet at the same time there exists a list of officers who earn in excess of £1000-£2000 per month in overtime. I don't know if anything is done about this list. Certainly if bossess ask staff to cut down on the overtime they'd cause some major problems, since initiatives and obligations would go unfulfilled, and the bosses in charge of making sure these are met would face some tough questions. On second thoughts, if it's likely to affect a managerial career, nothing will be done that is adverse to the advancement or protection of that career.<br /><br />Maybe I should ask the bosses how much they earn each month, and keep a list? It's the same principle, and they do less than half the actual work we do!<br /><br />"There's been a murder! We need to investigate it!"<br />"Sorry, we haven't got the staff - they're all tied up on performance management evaluations, specifically with regards to meeting budget savings targets"<br />"Right well let's get people in on overtime - the killer has left a note saying he'll strike again within two weeks."<br />"Oooh, bad news on that one too..."Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1149461112123982192006-06-04T22:28:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.121+00:00Police at gigsWorked a large-venue gig today. I won't say who or where for obvious reasons.<br /><br />Off-duty, I prefer gigs in small venues, where you can get relatively close to the performers, and enjoy a more intimate atmosphere. Maybe it's just me, but the music seems more 'personal', that way. When I was a student, and even now when I'm not, I liked/like gigs in the Student Union's various venues for those very reasons.<br /><br />Admittedly you get the 'wow' feeling stemming from the awe-inspiring scale of the concert when held in a large venue, but it's never really been my preferred choice to hear a group. Thus I've not attended one for many years. You either have to queue up for many hours to get a decent view, or you get stuck at the back and are reduced to watching the concert on a large screen, with all the atmosphere up the front. May as well stay home and watch it on DVD.<br /><br />Maybe it was because I had an ear defender stuck in one ear and an earpiece in the other, but all I could hear was a general 'noise' which followed a vaguely familiar pattern (as I'd heard all the songs before). It was hard to discern between instruments, the vocals were too loud and all I heard was a vaguely recognisable tune, accompanied by the slow murmuring of the crowd as they 'sang' along. Then again, people don't attend gigs to hear a crystal-clear song. That's what high-quality recordings are for. People attend gigs for the experience of seeing and hearing that song <span style="font-style: italic;">performed</span>.<br /><br />At most gigs, we work outside the venue, on traffic point; crowd control; enforcing drinking bans and the like. Very few work inside, and those who are will be Public Order trained (proficient in 'riot' tactics). The same goes for football matches. It's primarily a safety issue - a small number of officers inside a venue against far more attendees is not conducive to a safe working environment if something goes wrong. The more cynical would argue that bossess don't want officers skiving off and watching the gig.<br /><br />Today was a very rare occasion, as I was able to work inside, in plain clothes, on an operation to tackle incidents of drunkeness, which had marred previous gigs in the area. Once everyone was inside the venue, there wasn't much for us to do, so I was able to enjoy the concert. I remained professional, however, as I still found time to eject a few drunken idiots. See - I can balance work and play!<br /><br />In the main, we opt for discretion over intervention, as most events will have their own stewards and marshals responsible for the majority of the grunt work involved in queue management, admission etc. We just hang around in case something goes wrong or traffic levels (human and vehicle) reach stupid levels. It's an easy shift!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1149248843554683782006-06-02T11:25:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:30.010+00:00Something in the water?Have been quite busy on shift so haven't had the chance to update.<br /><br />Last night I swear there must have been something in the water, because there were more fights than usual in the town centre.<br /><br />For some, a good night out is not complete if it is not accompanied by a punch-up, for any reason whatsoever. This perhaps stems from Industrial Britain, when thousands flocked from the farms to the cities for employment, overpopulation crippled the water supply, and the general populace resorted to drinking ale more than water, which was far cheaper to produce; cleaner and safer, as the heating of the hops killed bacteria, which was endemic in the water supply. The raucous and near-perpetual state of drunkenness enjoyed by the people of that time, with the oft violent atmosphere brought about by the circumstances people found themselves in, has perhaps been the breeding ground for generational inheritance of this predisposition towards violence as a nominal objective when intoxicated. I have no sources to prove my theory, so feel free to disprove it!<br /><br />Anyway, within the space of an hour there were seven or eight reported fights, half of which turned out to be the usual phantoms. For the remainder we managed to neatly circumvent the force assault policy, send the parties on their separate ways and result if as 'no offences'.<br /><br />Sadly in one particular incident, a MoP (member of the public, or in this case a NoB, an idiot) was unhappy with how we resulted a taxi fare dispute in which both parties alleged the other had demanded a mobile phone with threats. His unhappiness was manifested by every cliche about the police under the sun and threats to "come and get us all". I don't see why he was so upset, we merely adopted Standard Operating Procedure and told everyone involved that it was a civil dispute to be sorted out amongst themselves. As a form of pithy, drunken protest, he decided to stand in front of our van and prevent us from leaving the scene. Not in the best of moods, I alighted and shoved him on to the pavement. He ran back and stood in front of the van again. Were it not for CCTV and potential witnessess, I had half a mind to transfer him into the nearby canal. Instead I settled for arresting him for obstruction and taking him a reasonable distance away. I tried to spin him around so he could face me for one of my lectures, but as he was drunk, he lost his balance and fell to the floor. This was not what I intended, but a fortunate bonus nonetheless. He was then dearrested (because, of course, the grounds for arrest were no more). That seemed to do it. I might get a complaint for some of what I said to him - by the time an incivility complaint is actioned I'll be long gone!<br /><br />Next two idiots were fighting in the corridor of a tacky hotel. We separated them and used our area's tactic of sheer numbers to overpower. I arrested one of the men involved, as I was due off later than the others. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Concerned that he may have taken something else other than his body weight in spirits, I asked a question to that effect, otherwise he'd be leaving in an ambulance rather than a van. No reply. Needed to know before bringing him in, so slapped him hard across the face with the back of my palm. That woke him, then whilst repeating the question he fell asleep again. The same palm slap didn't work, so in a scene reminiscient of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, he was slapped across the cheek with one of my force-issue leather gloves several times. This time it worked and he snapped back awake, to mumble something incomprehensible. His mate threw up all over one of my colleague's boots. Delightful. Somehow the glove tactic seemed to get around the nick very quickly. Not Home Office approved, but fully justifiable nonetheless. Better than risking him becoming ill en route to custody because we didn't know he'd taken something.<br /><br />Finished just as two confirmed thieves-ons came in. I always miss the good jobs and get lumbered with the low-level drunken shite. Does my head in sometimes!<br /><br />As an amusing aside, we were reading through the major incident list for the force, and saw a log titled "Attempted Suicide - May Prove", with the text of the (not particularly interesting) job below it. My colleague exclaimed: "I know that person"!<br /><br />Me: "Who, the attempted victim?"<br />Colleague: "No, May Prove! She's on our area. Sure I've seen her before"<br />I looked blankly at him for a second, then it clicked what he was on about, and I had to slowly explain that "May Prove" is a tactful, shorthand way of saying "May Prove Fatal", not the name of the person involved!<br /><br />Finally, we've got ten whole knives in our amnesty bin. So clearly that's the end of knife crime in our area. And my Gerber is going nowhere near that thankyou very much!Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1148813749018358592006-05-28T10:39:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:29.921+00:00Perhaps the police magazine should be renamed?Considering the current media obsession with 'flavour of the month' knife crime, it's quite ironic that the Home Office's very own pisspoor piece of police propaganda is a magazine called 'The Sharp End'!<br /><br />As predicted, the knife amnesty is just a futile publicity stunt, and anyone with even a quasi-functional brain will realise that any such amnesties always will be. As I wrote elsewhere, those most likely to use knives are not going to suffer a sudden attack of conscience and hand in the weapons, partly motivated by the fact that they will not be prosecuted if they do. Knives come in all shapes and sizes, are simple to get hold of and can be very easy to conceal, and are the perfect tool for any criminal.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the media would appear to make out that there has suddenly been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5023422.stm">an</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5022770.stm">epidemic</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/5019010.stm">in</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5023078.stm">stabbings</a> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5019840.stm">nationwide</a>. I'm inclined to disagree. Knife crime is round about the normal levels, which are frequent anyway. There's two reasons why there's a perceived increase:<br /><br />1. The knife amnesty, surrounding press and certain high-profile incidents have increased people's awareness of knife crime, as opposed to an increase in knife crime itself. Therefore, people read about nominally reported knife incidents more often than they would have done.<br /><br />2. The press are giving more attention to knife incidents, quite possibly to show that the amnesty is a waste of time and that serious action needs to be taken. Good on them too, for once.<br /><br />So what serious action should be taken? Banning sales of knives is a waste of time - people will just import them or get them elsewhere. The punishments for carrying knives should be increased. Possession of a bladed article, without a satisfactory defence (statutory or otherwise) should have a minimum term of five years. This will deter the opportunist criminal, or the criminal normally less inclined to carry a knife but will do so because of the limited punishment currently afforded by the system (I've seen people get small fines and conditional discharges for carrying knives before).<br /><br />This, however, won't deter the criminal who carries and uses knives on a regular basis. In this instance I suggest that police firearms officers be granted firearms authority against offenders carrying knives. Ultimately, they are life-threatening weapons, are VERY difficult and dangerous to forcibly disarm at close range (so much so that we are not taught knife disarming techniques during training) and present serious threats to all involved. Therefore, if an ARV is able to be called out to a man with a knife, and have authority to use lethal force if need be, then that will also serve to send out a message that carrying a knife has very serious consequences. I'm not saying that it'll end the problem, but it'll at least provide short-term remedies on a job-by-job basis. I can't think of any long-term solutions, and I don't think there are any - we've been using knives and similar instruments for several thousand years. We're not going to end the culture in five.<br /><br />Thoughts or comments welcome.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1148525534976053952006-05-25T02:34:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:26.271+00:00Imagine the newspapers if drunken cliches prevailed...<strong>"Police in 'doing their job' scandal"</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />The City of Scallies Police Department was rocked by scandal today, when it was revealed that police officers had arrested someone who had committed a criminal offence.<br /><br />Said one horrified, utterly sober and sound-minded onlooker: "It was incredible. This guy was minding his own business, just smashing a few windows, when police officers just ... just ... turned up and <em>arrested </em>him!"<br /><br />Another aggrieved bystander concurred: "I've only had 30 pints tonight and I know exactly what I saw. These cops just harangued this male, and when he started to shout threats of violence at them and wave his arms about, more of them turned up. Then they cuffed him and placed him in a van. It was shocking. The police should not be allowed to get away with this behaviour. They were heavy-handed and over the top."<br /><br />Police Officers, who are emotionless automatons, singularly funded by direct personal taxation of whoever happens to disagree with them at that particular moment in time, exist to lock up innocent people who haven't done anything wrong.<br /><br />This case is similar to the shocking incident just a couple of weeks back when a male was arrested for doing nothing more than jokingly poking people in the ribs with a 12 inch machete, which led to similar accusations of heavy handedness when police turned up and put the male on the floor. The outcry at this abuse of power caused ripples amongst the residents of Scally City's Stupid Idiots Estate.<br /><br />"It's disgraceful - they should be out catching murderers, burglars and muggers, that are committing crimes right now, just around the corner, not wasting their time harrassing innocent people like us" said one scally to us, who wanted to remain nameless as he sped through a red light in a stolen car.<br /><br />We tracked down a murderer; a burglar and a mugger, and sought their views:<br /><br />Murderer: "Well, it's been difficult to kill people lately, what with all this CCTV and stuff around everywhere, so I've had to lay low for a bit. I tell you what though, when I do go out and about killing people, I don't get bothered by the police at all - 'cos they're always off dealing with them innocent lads instead. Gives us a right breather that does. Thumbs up to you, Joe Public! Taking one for the team!"<br /><br />Burglar: "'Cor blimey - it ain't half easy blagging these days, what with them coppers ignoring us to focus on them people who work for a living doing stuff like driving whilst talking on their mobiles. Copped for it the other week though, when I was on the phone to my fence after a blag. I had several grands worth of gear in the back, when I got pulled over 'cos I forgot to use the handsfree."<br /><br />Mugger: "It's awfully convenient you know - I get to go round and rob people whilst the police busy themselves with those who just want to go out and have a good time. I say, good on you officers! Jolly well done! Only last week, I was looking for a potential target when I saw a group of people around an officer who had just arrested some drunken larrikin for sparring with another in the street. I went up to one fellow, just as he yelled "WHY DON'T YOU CATCH SOME REAL CRIMINALS", and bally well took his jolly wallet and mobile phone then and there. Classic!"<br /><br />Chief Constable Red Tape sought to assure members of Scally City's Community:<br /><br />"I assure you all, that we will not be tolerating this kind of behaviour from our officers. Clearly, incidents in which people do not feel they are doing anything wrong are not of a police nature, and officers found arresting people for committing an offence will be severely disciplined.<br /><br />In fact, in the spirit of diversity, I pledge to you all now that we will not arrest ANYONE, irrespective of sex; race; colour; creed or lifestyle. Now THAT is embracing multiculturalism. After all, if we can't arrest everyone equally, we shouldn't be arresting anyone at all. The days of discriminating based on someone committing a criminal offence are now over.<br /><br />That is NOT what we are about. It is a supreme waste of time, especially when there's progress reports on status updates of implementation strategies of vision statements of multi-agency initiatives to be done instead!"<br /><br />Several people arrested for committing criminal offences are considering suing the force for a breach of their Human Rights. Said one anonymous detainee: "It's disgraecful. I have a human right not to be arrested for anything, ever, and this is a flagrant breach of that right. I shall have my day in court, compensation, book deal and line of merchandise!"Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1148303814777861912006-05-22T12:59:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:26.173+00:00Elaboration on previous postI received a comment from a reader, part of which needs elaborating upon:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"H</span>owever, once a log has been created (after the helpful call staff has asked) stating injuries have occured, we must produce a crime report. There would be hell to pay if we did a skeleton crime report with no MG11. Even if you have all the evidence and m,ade the right decision it takes a brave (or cocky) officer to stand up to the DVU officer or sgt."<br /><br />PC Midlands has a point - under NCRS recording standards, we should report a crime if one has occurred, even if nobody wants to proceed. There's several ways of going about this:<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Crime it and file as 'undetected'</span> - this occurs when there's no witnessess, CCTV, decent evidence (forensic or otherwise) or nobody wants to prosecute but we have victim details - this an absolute no-no in the majority of cases, as it will mean that the crime goes undetected and adversely affects performance figures. If you do this but name an offender, you'll have shot yourself in the foot - you will be expected, if not ordered, to go and arrest the offender anyway, so that at least it can be DNPed. It's still not desirable, but it's better than the crime being undetected.<br /><br />A skillful update on the crime progress page can often square away crimes that might have ordinarily led to protracted and pointless investigations, without even needing to do Option 2. Stuff like "Victim description minimal, would not recognise offender again. Witness information incorrect and unable to contact them. CCTV camera was pointing wrong way at time of offence." I've become quite adept at this.<br /><br />With this in mind, officers become far less likely to write down possible named offenders on a crime report as it will hopefully mean the crime can be filed and never mither them again. The evidence burden for the likelihood of the named offender and the actual offender for inclusion into the report becomes 'higher', if you catch my drift.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">DNP it</span>. DNP stands for 'Detected No Proceedings', and means that we would state that have detected the crime, but would not be proceeding with an investigation or proseuction, which then necessitated a checklist of reasons justifying the decision.<br /><br />Management hated it, as a lot of crimes were DNPed and it didn't make their overall stats look good, and officers would offer the option of DNP to a victim, explaining the benefits of taking that particular course of action. It was my favourite option as it meant we still got the detection but didn't need to bother with a pointless investigation that even the victim didn't want. Plus there wasn't THAT much to write up once you became savvy about how to write it up. So, now, we're not allowed to do DNPs and we HAVE to proceed with crimes wherever possible. It may not go anywhere, but at least it's been detected and proceeded with.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><br />3. <span style="font-weight: bold;">"No offences, please close the log accordingly"</span>. In the majority of instances, police officers are still trusted to use this resolution information appropriately. Turning up to a report and there's noone on scene, there's no injuries in spite of the log or call saying there were, and clearly no crime has taken place all warrant this resolution code. This is also used when the victim flatly refuses to give any details or co-operate whatsoever - we can't submit a crime report with no victim! This is how the vast majority of weekend night tiffs are resolved, even if there are injuries, as people would much rather weather the aftermath of such altercations than get the police involved. Personally I'm not going to push someone to push charges in these situations.<br /><p></p>4. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hand it over</span> - only applicable if you're on an operation, with a specialist unit or have a 'specific remit' and have come across an assault. It means you just take the initial crime report; statement; arrest and process the prisoner and build the basic file, then hand the investigation elements and full file preparation to someone else. I've tried arguing before that my 'specific remit' is real crime, where victims are innocent, have suffered detriment as a result of the crime and are fully willing to co-operate with police.<br /><br />Sadly, my one-man 'Real Crime Unit' lasted about half an hour when I was advised that there's not enough real crime to go around and far too many undetected trivialities I could be cracking on with.<br /><br />Any other ways of dealing with these things, please post in comments or e-mail me at constabularyduty@yahoo.co.uk - I like hearing new and creative ideas!<br /><br />Oh, and no, I wouldn't consider going into police training - the thought of spending ages teaching purely theoretical guidelines, some of which originate from an an unelected and unaccountable body that dictates from on high (ACPO) which have little practical application, forgotten within weeks of finishing training, does not particularly appeal to me.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20075623.post-1148288053453187802006-05-22T08:15:00.000+00:002006-11-11T10:09:26.079+00:00How to apply force policy - longLately I've been increasingly reflective about my time in the Job. I've been comparing how I saw and did things when I was very new, to those same matters and my approach now. Initially, Force Policy, and only Force Policy, was my guide. Now, however, Force Policy is followed, but only in situations where it applies.<br /><br />Indeed, an officer's interpretation of a situation is often the deciding factor in a particular course of action, not a prescriptive set of guidelines and procedures written from above by those who are under pressure to meet the latest Home Office counting rules. I think if senior managers (I don't call them officers because they are so far removed from what police officers do that they are constables only in name) found this out, they'd be most upset.<br /><br />An example of this is the latest 'proactive assault' policy. In a similar vein to domestic violence jobs, on high has divinely decreed that we should be looking to make an arrest wherever possible in incidents in which allegations of assault are made, and that all allegations of assault MUST be fully investigated and prosecuted, even if the victim changes their mind.<br /><br />If this policy were to be unquestionably applied to every situation, you would never see another police officer on patrol in your lifetime again.<br />"Where are all the police?"<br />"Investigating about 10 or 11 slaps and shoves in the street that occurred last Saturday. It'll take 'em weeks, y'know".<br />"But someone got deceived!"<br />"Sorry, that's not a key crime right now."<br /><br />When I first started, I would have been enthusiastically following this rule, turning up to, or coming across jobs where allegations of assault were made (the vast majority being neighbour disputes and public drunks) and happily locking up anyone who was alleged to have assaulted someone, even if this mean locking up both parties due to the inevitable counter-allegations. Indeed I see the younger-in-service brigade do this on a regular basis, wasting endless amounts of their time and taxpayer's money putting together prosecution files for which the parties involved will later be vehemently opposed to, but unable to stop. Can't really blame them, they're just following orders, but there are better ways of going about it.<br /><br />Common sense and disrection would dictate a different approach than just blindly interpreting the letter of the policy and arresting because it says we have to. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Common sense and discretion are no longer conducive to modern policing. They are are phased out in training school,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> to be slowly regained with experience.</span><br /><br />First, we see if the policy even applies. Is anyone even making any allegations or has an assault taken place? If there's no allegations and no evidence of assault, all is well.<br /><br />Next, if there are allegations, is there anything in it? Force policy would say "Doesn't matter, arrest anyway". But if you arrest for assault just on the say-so of one party and nothing else, you're flying in the face of basic police work!<br />Take the Jeremy Paxman approach, think "Why is this lying bastard lying to me?".<br />It's well-known that in cases of assault, those involved are rarely innocent or predisposed towards telling the whole truth. Instead, you'll get an account which puts them in the best possible light, whilst putting anyone else in the worst, regardless of what actually happened. It's human nature and there's nothing anyone can do about it. So, with this mindset, look for holes in the story of the victim and physical evidence to support what they are saying. If the story seems to hold up and is consistent, you've probably got as much truth out of them as you can before taking a formal statement. Then speak to the alleged offender.<br /><br />It's difficult to shake the prejudice one has when speaking to someone who is alleged to have committed a crime, because we are conditioned to oppose those who commit crime. Thus the person making an allegation has an automatic psychological advantage insofar as they are the one with whom we should initially sympathise, having being wronged by exactly the type of person we are obligated to protect against and prosecute. Some people know this and exploit it by making allegations after they've been slapped by someone they've badly provoked. It's vital, therefore, to be impartial and let you own emotions get in the way of a judgement. It doesn't affect you personally, so don't you personally get involved. Often, on speaking to both parties and (eventually) obtaining consistent stories, it's often the case that the roles of victim and offender are reversed from those of the initial reports.<br /><br />If we have allegations, have we evidence? If someone's alleged to have been punched in the face by a 6"4' male built like a professional wrestler, are they really likely to be stood up, talking to you normally, without even a wince of pain or reddening of the face? Force policy would say "Arrest anyway". Unless one happens to be on their way back home from an abbatoir in full work gear. blood or bleeding from or on anyone is usually a good indicator. Someone on the floor out cold or having difficulty moving can also be a telltale sign. This one should be obvious really. If there's no good evidence whatsoever to match up with any allegations, then it's a safe bet that your prosecution won't get very far, nor will the victim be bothered enough, due to lack of significant injuries, to inconvenience themselves significantly over the coming months by giving statements, doing IDs, testifying etc.<br /><br />Next, if we have allegations and evidence, is there present a desire to prosecute and a willingness to proceed? Force policy would say "Doesn't matter, arrest anyway". Never EVER ask "Do you want to press charges?". This will inevitably lead to an initial "yes", fuelled by the collective blood pressure of the situation, the alcohol or the loss of face (pun not intended) and bruised ego that an assault inflict on people. These are often more injurious to the victim than the physical injuries, and to regain their perceived sense of status, they will take advantage of this well-intentioned question, only to regret it later. NEVER assume that people want to press charges either. What can often be a serious assault will sometimes be accompanied with an abject refusal to co-operate or comply with the police. If you arrest the offender and try to take the victim through the investigation procedure, they will be un-cooperative and CPS will give you a dirty look as they decide not to prosecute the offence, wondering why you bothered to bring it to their attention in the first place when the victim won't even give a statement. By all means arrest the offender for a serious offence and place them in a secure vehicle at the scene, but ascertain from the victim first whether or not they want to proceed. This leads on to the next paragraph.<br /><br />If we have evidence, allegations and willingness to proceed with prosecuting the assault, you MUST explain the assault policy to them. This is where many probationers fail, as they just apply the policy without explaining it to the victim. Hell, with the Victim's Charter now law, this is merely an extension and interpretation of the obligation to inform about what you are doing and what you will do. So explain to the victim, on the scene, then and there (if you're able to of course, if they need to goto hospital don't keep them there) that, if they decide to prosecute, they cannot change their mind later on. They can't, a few weeks down the line, decide it's not worth it and request to retract their allegations. They will have to give a detailed statement; have photographs of their injuries taken; be called in to identify the suspects and eventually testify at court. If they don't want to attend, they'll be sumonsed, and the consequences for not attending then really aren't good. Emphasise that it's an initiation of a serious set of events, and not something to be taken lightly whilst nursing injured pride. Don't say "I think you should press charges" or "Mate, just leave it". That's not your call to make. But if you fully explain the procedure, including what will be required on their part, and that it is a road down which they cannot return. If they want time to think about it, you'll have their details, and the offenders (which you have, of course, verified through PNC, local and voter's roll checks), so if they call back the next day and want to proceed then at least it'll be an informed decision. More often than not, in light of this information and their responsibilities therein, they'll decide it's not worth it. You've saved their time, your time and taxpayer's money just by taking the time out to explain something.<br /><br />The best part of this approach is that you can't be accused of "cuffing" jobs either. In a slightly longer amount of time it takes to cuff a job, you've systematically assessed whether or not there are any substantial allegations, whether or not a crime has even been committed, and if so, whether or not the victim wants to proceed. A couple of sentences in the pocket note book (signed by the victim if need be) and you're got your arse covered so well that not even a crime evaluator could come back at you alleging you've breached force policy by not arresting someone at that job.<br /><br />Discretion and common sense are being continually eroded, but the pervasive police mentality of "let's find the best way of interpreting and applying this" for any new piece of procedure, bureaucracy or law means that this potentially onerous policy only applies in genuine situations. Thank God for creative thinking. They'll probably issue a force policy against it soon.Bow Street Runnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135946499701470059noreply@blogger.com2