Thoughts from London N15.
February 26, 2008 by inspectorgadget
You might like this post from a member of the public.
It is very interesting to listen to his point of view.
Please visit and leave a comment to let him know where you came from.
I think the Met Police should be happy with the story; although they still seem stretched like the rest of us.
Rialto - Monday Morning 5.19 mp3
we’re not quite as bad yet as some of the county forces but its certainly not getting better. There have been a few changes around the ‘captial of the capital’ and given how busy we’ve been because of it since we change a short time ago, we’re going to be completely f&cked by the time summer hits us. Usual case of planning from the top down instead of puttinf operational needs first but hey ho, someone has to have a nice peachy office don’t they?
Sad thing is that could be 1/2 the roads in any major British town or city that he’s describing.
You lot do your best with what you have resource-wise but as they say, you can only spread the jam so thin!
“And this being London, of course, a few streets can make all the difference. Some are quiet, residential. There’s a park just up the road where people go to walk their dogs. But I didn’t like the neighborhood first time round, and it’s not a grower.”
It’s not quite as nice as Copacabana Beach, but hey, you can’t have everything!
I wonder, do Ruralshire policemen get as much enjoyment as their counterparts in Gwent, or can you get sick of seeing sheep ha, ha!
In my experience what he’s describing is pretty bad for London - but about right for Tottenham :/
Thats my ground he’s talking about! All true i would hasten to add.
Q Cars are good though as is the SNT
we do try but its a tough old world out there!
It’s a different world
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20080226/tuk-bellfield-given-whole-life-sentence-dba1618_2.html
Think we’re on the backswing now the soft sentancing reached it’s peak IG or just a blip on the otherwise flat sentancing landscape…?
Ah but that nice Mr Straw says crime has reduced by 30%. Just think how bad things were a few years ago.
Not far from my patch either. All well and good (nice to see a supportive MOP), but try finding an officer after 10PM Mon - Fri or at the weekend. Safer Neighbourhoods Teams tucked up in bed, PCSO’s feet up at home. Response teams left to paper over the cracks.
I’ve slated SNT’s quite often on here and on DC’s blog but I have now met a skipper and SNT team that are actually out there on night duties, not only having the tea and biscuits but giving the local shitbags a shock too. The skipper said “I run it like we used to run TSG units, and the f&ckers don’t know what’s hit them” Brilliant, and a nice back up too as they are all up for the inevitable west end rumble on the weekends.
Metcountymounty
As you know, I am not a huge fan of the CBT either. Glad to know that some Sarge, somewhere has got a grip. As has been said by others before, there’s a lot to be said for quality leadership.
I feel a post coming on
Perhaps you could send that Sgt up my way. Perhaps the LPOs might remeber what they’re uniform means. (When they can be bothered to put it on…….which is usually about three hours into their shift)
And one day….I might learn to spell….it’s been a long day!!
Perhaps you could send that Sgt up my way. Perhaps the LPOs might remember what their uniform means. (When they can be bothered to put it on…….which is usually about three hours into their shift)
(Reposted so it doesn’t look like a five year old wrote it)
Thanks for the link - I’ve never had so many readers…
Metcountymounty - Really pleased to hear that your SNT’s are working well. I only wish it was mirrored on our division which, to be honest, is a joke. It seems that the post code lottery of the National Health Service is alive and well in Metland too. Perhaps we could set up a league table of ….. doh!
I must specify… it is only the one SNT at the moment that I know is run that way and have both the number of bodies and the (eeuurrgghh) detections to prove they are out and about hammering the nails back in. The rest are a bunch of lazy workshy uniform hangers who are never around when their apparent problems are.
Pandy is slightly disheartened to realise that not everybody has signed up to the brave new world of accentuating the positive. Then again the comments column would be much shorter.
Pandy is off to buy some water wings in order to aid his/her swim against the deceptively strong undercurrents of cynicism.
“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm” - Churchill
“Well as long as its before 2200 hours anyway, and its in our remit” - Pandy
pandy is creeping me out with the constant insistance on 3rd person commentary…… I like the Winston Churchill quote though, shame he didn’t think of that when he was home secretary and it took the full blown and profound threat of anihiliation to bring him round, unlike Neville Chamberlain who obviously didn’t know the face of evil despite sitting across the table from it.
I had the misfortune to be involved in a medium sized job this morning at 0100. It involved knocking a few doors (in). as usual we had to borrow an area to get our gear on in the Divisional nick we were working from. It being before 0900 we purloined an office marked “Northern Neighbourhood Team” or some such nonsense. When we returned some hours later a bit sweaty/muddy to collect our bags the sun was well above the yardarm. Consequently the office was now full….. of CSOs(Police officers to the media) and LPOs. It was obvious we had invaded their space/comfort zone with our big boots and we were not welcome.
it became obvious to me that they were in it for the long game. They were determined to make their area safer from that very office. That is where they were going to spend their “working” day.
They tried to ignore us….which was not easy. after evesdropping their conversation for a minute or two(”Look at the action on this keyboard it’s ruined again”
This is what we are reduced to, this is how we fight the tide of violence and lawlessness that is threatening to swallow us up. Well done Bliar/Brown and of course Jackie “the witch from the ditch” Spliff.
Jobs F****D.
No. I like Pandy’s style. Should write your own blog. Great turn of phrase and very astutely made comments.
The thing about blogging and responding is that it should generate debate and different points of view. It should provoke thought. It might even knock one or two of us out of our closeted world to appreciate the views of colleagues, and amend our working ways.
As a boss, I am grateful for being put in my place now and again. I do it to my bosses and am man enough to also take it from the team. Don’t ever let rank get in the way of making your point.
I don’t let rank get in the way of talking sense (ie, the truth) or speaking my mind, and its got me in the sh&t more times than I care to remember because there are a lot of people in the ‘rank equals knowledge’ mindset. None of them seem to post on here though which is good, I’m sure they’d get pulled down a peg or two, glad to know that your feet are firmly on the ground guv!
Hey, congratulations, U.K. policing makes big American newspaper stories these days. I guess we over here don’t have enough to worry about now that we’ve won the Iraq war and defeated terrorism.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022603716.html?hpid=topnews
Quite frankly, this seems brilliant. Do you guys use these in Ruralshire?
Also, I had another question. I’ve been reading a bit about British policing lately, and I’m curious–where do all of the tapes go? The ones from interviews, CCTV, and whatnot. I have visions of enormous warehouses full of tape springing up all over the Scottish countryside. Should I be buying / selling stock in videotape companies?
Jon, that is exactly where they go, enormous warehouses full of crap. although most have started burning to CD/DVD so they take up less space!!
Metcountymounty, you’re kidding. Well, hopefully they keep them out of sight. Wait a moment, I thought I read that most courts don’t use DVD players. Or is this just salt in the wound, and I should shut my mouth right now?
you’re absolutely right. Get this, because the courts don’t use DVD players, the POLICE have to copy the DVD onto a tape so that the CPS can view it (apparently they can’t afford to buy a £30 DVD player from a catalogue either) they then put the tape in the file to the court and blame the Police if evidence is lost, even though we only got it in DVD form in the first place. Brilliant system isn’t it?!?
Nice. Man, I thought the good olde U.S. had a messed up bureaucracy. My sympathies.
I work on that BOCU, it’s actually heartening to read that someone out there doesnt want to stab me or get me sacked.
Maybe I wont resign this year after all.
We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm” - Churchill
I thought that was from George Orwell…. Hmmmm either way, I think its a damn fine mission statement for a POLICE FORCE !!!! (not a service)!!)
I heard a brilliant one today at an undisclosed stadium somewhere in London. Colleague I know very well to annoying, overly outrgaged and clueless visitor to London about a guy being ’stuffed and cuffed’
“No I don’t know why he’s on the deck Sir and frankly I don’t really care, he certainly isn’t going to be on the floor shouting and screaming at officers whilst drunk for no reason is he? We’re the Met Police, we don’t start fights, we f&cking end them. Jog on”
I love Prince Harry’s new cap, the phrase on it would make a cracking mission statement.
Better than all this ‘Working together for a more politically correct and ineffective police service’ crap
it said
We Do Bad things to Bad People
Marvellous.