And now. from the people who gave us the “Sanctioned Detected Rate” and the “Home Office Counting Rules” i.e those responsible for the same credit being given for the arrest of an 11 year old for throwing cream cakes as for arresting a serial burglar; comes the hindsight ivory tower judgment that:
The Metropolitan Wiot Police Are Too Wuff
In an extraordinary statement which has left the Police Inspector Blog bewildered, the totally unbiased and not-really-posted-here-as-a-bridge-to-my-next-promotion HMIC has said that the Met TSG and other MAST officers who are specifically trained to expect and deal with violence were…. too focused on expecting and dealing with violence.
In Ruralshire Constabulary, I have to confess that the Burglary Squad is too focused on people who break into houses. The Traffic Department are clearly too busy with traffic matters and those dastardly swine in the Child Protection Team are simply too obsessed with protecting children.
Local priorities set by local people = Dog Poo.
Here on F Division, we have taken on board the message that our prime reasons for existing in 2009 are:
1. To be terribly nice to everyone all of the time, especially criminals.
2. To help the local council pick up dog poo.
3. To stop children playing outside and being children.
To achieve all of this we have spent even more of your money employing teams of civilian staff, who constantly drive the public mad by telephoning them over their cornflakes to ask whether the police have been terribly nice, normally nice or not nice at all. We have also diverted the Crime Pattern Analysts away from analysing crime and re-branded them as “Performance Analysts” to count (or should that be ‘weigh’) the amount of dog poo on our streets.
We have also recently changed the way we record calls complaining about children playing outside and generally, well, being children. There now appears to be less of this, but there isn’t really. Someone just changed the input code on the IT system or something. It’s too sad to even look into in detail.
No wonder the lads all lose their rags once they get out and face the potential of a decent riot. If we were criminals, our Key Workers would call it “Projected Anger” and send us on a course.
Yeeesssss,
I read that as well, that icon of policing ,Denis (one N) O’Connor said they were too focused on dealing with violent rioters and not enough on dealing with peaceful demonstrators
Eh ???????
Violent protesters…….crack a few skulls and fill the cells
Peaceful demonstrators…… errrr, leave alone ??
But of course what the icon hasn’t considered is when ‘peaceful demonstrator’ suddenly turns into ‘violent protester’ and, as reinforcements arrive, turns into ‘peaceful demonstrator’ again.
Ah, but that would require original thought, and as we all know, doesn’t happen anyway.
Does it
The primary intent of the Police was to keep them from shooting distance from the summit buildings. This is a guess. What would have happened if the protesters had penetrated the Police line and approached the buildings doesn’t bear thinking about. That’s another guess. What isn’t a guess is the Police were there on the day with a meticulously worked out plan with the best interests of ALL in mind. That it may have fallen short of 100% effectiveness is a reasonable thing to say IMO. Given that nothing works perfectly.
The only personal experience I’ve had of situations like these is walking through the aftermath of the Poll Tax riots. We walked inadvertently through the thick of the destruction touring the capital on foot after visiting a scuba exhibition. Me, my Mum and my girlfriend of the time walked through the general litter, placards, smashed windows, signs of hastily fixed remedial protection to buildings and was left with the overwhelming feeling of the passing of organisations of wildly differing intents over this unlikely battleground.
The highly organised nature I again say was what I felt about the nature of this experience. A wide array of guesses about what passed filled my mind.
Firstly was the organisation of the protesters themselves. All those people getting together to do what they wanted to. Presumably also sub-groups with more violent intentions in mind. The Police of course charged with the task of sorting the mess which is their lot to do. Their presence in a way showed it’s presence by their near absence in this scene I walked through all of this.
They made it possible for MOPs like me to get on with their lives in peace and of course let the guys in the white vans to shortly make everything look like it never happened.
The dog poo and children being children bits infuriate me.
The trouble is that most householders only ever see dogs doing what comes naturally and children playing. They don’t see the knife crime, the burglaries, the violence at 1.30am.
Of course they don’t – these things don’t happen to most people.
When you allow the unthinking public to decide priorities then logic goes out of the window – written as a thinking MOP.
And yes, 40-some years ago, I was one of those kids being kids – and one or two neighbours didn’t like it then, either. However, the police had better things to do.
So what is a riot cop supposed to behave like when confronted with people that are, well, rioting? Does the HMIC make that suggestion?
Am I right bludy daft, there was no mention of Molotov’s cocktails being traded with the men in blueas they were a “piece” offering.
Shoving and pushing, I guess be terms of endearment.
Action always gets an equal action.
It goes along with that adage,
Your customer can do NO [w]rong.
I read O’Connor’s comments with disbelief, it was the same Dennis O’Connor who would snarl and be horrible to almost every perosn he came in contact with, old Sir John’s attack dog O’ Connor?
IGH – you missed one activity out:
‘vishiting the proshtichutes and squatters and sheeing if we can do shome shopping for them’
(H/T to Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse – Dutch Cops sketch)
More scapegoating by the Apparatchik and their Henchmen.
The next time a “peaceful” protest is planned for London the Met should, collectively, go sick.
I’m sure nothing untoward would happen. If any protestor misbehaved the Stewards could sort it out…
Someone somewhere (in an air conditioned office) is probably looking at colour swatches right now, deciding on a new ‘less confrontational’ colour scheme for riot gear ( black is so last G8) pale aquamarine I suspect, very calming.
Fantastic!
I wish I’d thought of that!
They should also consider decorating those tough-looking black helmets they wear with Mickey Mouse ears so they don’t scare any passing children. Okay, no children are likely to be in the vicinity, or at least not if their parents have an ounce of parenting ability, but surely they should be prepared for every eventuality?
hmmm…dont joke. on the official, our new public order suits after being exposed to fire bombs in training go from tactical black to a nice friendly shade of pink.
I give up.
As an outsider, i.e, non-police, I would be interested to know if HMIC bothers to invest the same ammount of time and effort in publicising the numbers of the Police Officers who are injured during public order situations/riots – especially the protests in London that they are currently getting excited about.
I would not at all be surprised if you guys come back with an answer along the lines of ‘zero, not one iota’.
Incidentally, how many of the protestors been prosecuted for public order offences/assaults on police? Again, I am not expecting a very optimistic response…
One of the problems with containment is that lines were drawn at this event on roads (Cannon St and side streets) when the action was quite some distance away. Officers in full gear including balaclavas, but sans numbers, prevented us returning to our offices in empty streets for the whole afternoon after getting our sandwiches. We had to go and stand with non-PPE’d BTP in the station who were none to impressed with the TSG especially as any troublemakers didnt come near for another three hours. It was the police who stopped some of the City working that day by not being reasonable, not the “rioters”. We were grateful for what they tried to do but it was not managed well by team leaders. The subsequent request for comment from City Police makes it plain they’re only interested in good news comments, so I’ve given up. I write as an ex level 2 pulic order trained officer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpb8PiLW25Y
See parts one and two for how to deal with dog poo.
Ha Ha Priceless!
Fantastic – liked the linked Mitchell & Webb video about the truth between CSO’s & PC’s.
Ha ha ha ha – class.
It’s easy to see that Denis O’Connor hasn’t set foot outside his nice air conditioned office or attended any event where public order may be a problem.He even mentioned the fact that risk assessments were not carried out on the medical problems of using shields!
I can tell you the medical problems of shields,if I didn’t have one on many occaisons I’d be lying in hospital.
Of course all SMT will be rushing to implement any recommendations.It doesn’t bode well because what happens in the Met will be followed by the rest of the Police everywhere else.That’s why I will never be on a shield line for the rest of my career.
Squaddie on Tour-Its well known that SMT are quite happy to have an acceptable level of police casualties before they take action.It means they can justify any of their actions in case they are questioned about it.
Though to be perfectly honest – who gives a flying f*ck?
in fact, I am off now to fill in the application form for that security guard position at Argos.
The pay and conditions are better!
(Just hope I pass the IQ test)
Thank you HMIC for telling us what we shouldn’t be doing during serious disorder, how about suggesting some alternatives?
Gadget – it’s the Territorial Support Group not ‘tactical’
If only I could tell you why D O’C left the MP! Oh – and it’s Territorial SG but otherwise excellent as use
If they think the Met police are too harsh, perhaps they should look to our continental cousins for some tips?
They could justlearn how they deal with things and then teach those methods over here.
If nothing else, it’d liven up ‘Police, Camera, Action!’ no end…
Come on R/T dont be shy……
I wish I had one of those devices that people OConnor have-you know they look into them after it has all happened and can sort it all out….
I suspect he actually just had a computer and got an email from IPCC and the Home Office with the heading….
This is your report…..
R/T, please DON`T tell us why D O’C left the MP. It`s not fair to spread unfounded rumours about public officials who are not here to defend themselves. It`s a breach of his human rights and may well be libellous. You would be bringing the police service and probably this government into a potentially embarrassing scandal.
On the other hand, you could tell us that other (completely unrelated) story about ‘Denise O’Condor’ who left a completely different force for entirely different reasons…….
I love how every liberal minder MP and everyone else besides has crawled out of the woodwork to criticise us in blue over the actions. We hear that there is a ‘democratic right to protest’ and indeed it should be ‘encouraged’ as part of a healthy nation.
Yep i totally agree, BUT that is built upon a presupposition that is fatally flawed. and that is that any protest and the people behind it will be and are reasonable.
As we have seen this is clearly not the case. In the footage sent in by the protesters against the police, i have seen innumberable examples of obstructing the police, and people generally setting out to make officers lives and work as difficult as possible.
To a worse degree on the footage we see people squaring up to the plod, shoving them, throwing things at them etc. When will an ACPO rank stand up and say “right now this is not a lawful protest. revert to protesting within the law, or face the consequences”….. SIGH that would take an ACPO rank with some courage and one who wouldnt be afraid to stare at the liberal moaners and defend the course of action…………………….. Yes that noise is tumbleweed…..
So AGAIN people who werent there and never will be and who havent tried to qeull a disorderly crowd many times there number, have gathered to pass judgement on things they arent qualified morally or professionaly to judge.
My favourite thought on all this is that our political masters are extremely fond of europe and we seem to be constantly surrendering our ideas to them.
Can we adopt say, the greek, french, or spanish attitude to such disorder then? you know water cannon, tear gas, BIG batons, rubber bullets, and generally making an unruly mob compliant?
yeah bet thats not gonna happen…………
My advice is to just ignore the shit being peddled by the deluded so called elite within the police service.
As someone who has a little supervisory responsibility just like Insp G, a large degree of common sense and practicality, what can they do to me? I work and have a 24 hr policing attitude already.
I don’t play the game of coming in for the management meetings on my days off, or coming in early or staying on after nights.
I ignore or delete my e mails on mass. Oopps must have missed that one!!!!!
We can all do our bit to challenge or ignore this bollox when we are on duty, we just need to be savvy about the way we do it.
Ask questions, be like a child, But Why? Keep asking why and challenge, because they are so shallow.
I’ve just read that a HMIC representative, Ch Supt level is coming in to my Force to check at random, people’s understanding of the Policing Pledge.
As one of my customers might say to me ‘Am I bovered’, no I’m not so Feck Off. Why are we paying someone £80k to do this?
I know what the decent law abiding tax paying public want and that’s a competent copper that makes the pond life disappear. We care, showing compassion and reassurance when they need us. We don’t harrass them for trivial matters, for example, doing 34 in a 30 mph zone.
We don’t criminalise them by targetting them because they tell us who they are, pay their bills, their cars are taxed, registered and insured.
This econonomic down turn has got the civvies and bean counters worried, as they are talking about redundancies and concentrating on actual policing. I will wait and see what happens, but things might be about to come full circle.
Dink Dank Do.
Seems it’s not only the Met who are “too enthusiastic”………..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198059/Scarecrow-dressed-policeman-village-fete-stolen-overzealous-WPC.html
.
Forgot to say that we also need to be credible to the Great British Public.
Well done Nolfolk for undermining us as a service!
Apparently Chief Constables are now now taking backhanders to be induced to take a job.
And cars? and bending the figures.
….and [paid for] private education for their kids.
and no doubt having their frigging moats cleaned out.
…oh, and private health care, greedy fuckers.
Don’t forget their overseas jollies, first class and business class travel, free food and drink at the management meetings held in hotels, golfing days, so called charity events, management away days / weekends at expensive hotels. Fantastic corporate car deals for supts and above that are not available to anyone else and don’t forget chauffeur driven cars.
Going on management courses just before they retire that cost a shed load of money out of the training budget, meaning nothing for everyone else because the money is spent. Then have the nerve to offer leadership training at shed loads of money back to the same Force.
Being brought back as consultants to the same Force, even though those who had the misfortune to work to them would not pay them in washers.
Surprised the press have not got to grips with this yet, we live in hope?
My favourite SMT Jolly, is when they all go off to a very expensive country retreat together to have meetings over how to meet goverment targets.
They spend every day in the same building, on the same floor, with offices next to each other but need 3 days in a very expensive hotel to talk to each other.
HMIC are as an old sweat colleague would say,” a bunch of shiny arsed armchair commandos”. About four borough commanders ago we had a boss who had only ever made one arrest in their entire career!!! I have been Level Two( MAST in the counties for 4 out of my 51/2 year career. There seems to be two different cultures in the police. Those that are proactive and want to arrest criminals for comitting crime. then there are those that get an office job with office hours (never venture out on the streets unless it’s overtime) climb the rank structure by fucking up the system as evidence for promotion. G20 was a success because of our tactics it did not end up like the POll Tax riot mayday etc. Its because a bunch of namby pamby left wing liberals have complained to a government in economic trouble who all have left wing police hating pasts need a diversion from the expense scandal and their fiscal mismanagement that we are seen as a good diversion. With our toadying leadership in the MET not backing us up and levelling the blame on the C on the ground we havn’t heard the end of it yet/
[...] [...]
Having been a veteran of many public order situations ranging from the National Front demo in the 70s-complete with reinforced “top hat” with add on plastic visor-through the miners strike to air base pickets sheep transport demos anti vivisection in fact anti just about everything it was much to my chagrin that I was eventually put on the “cooks and bottle washers” section at demos…This consisted of a lot of old sweats who would waddle out of the transits engage verbally with the demonstrators and then bore them to death so everyone could go home and have a nice cup of tea!!!Perhaps this is what the HMIC means the police should now do….Unfortunately now what we see is not only a European but also an International aspect to demos so the people on them are not just the semi retired women with short hair and dangly earings who have got nothing to do that day but also some very nasty individuals from all over the world who (shock horror) wear masks squirt urine and acid at police as well as used condoms sanitary waer and carry concealed weapons-at least in the good old days you only smack in the mouth….
Perhaps its time the HMIC and his ilk caught up with what is happening in the real world..
Ditto Retired Sgt, re my service experience. I was one of the first in my County force to train as a level 1 public order intervention unit. We were first deployed on a NF march. The local Ch Supt appeared and asked us to cordon off a street. I de-bussed my team to await a quick briefing. We were all kitted out with protective kit inc NATO hemets and round shields. Ch Super’s eyes nearly popped out. “What the hell are you kitted up like that for?” Insp replies, “Well you’ll never get the authority to use CS or baton rounds, so they’ve given you us lot instead”. Ch Super: “Jesus Christ, get off the street and go had have your grub somewhere”. Just about sums up the attitude still swilling around the HMIC. Perhaps they should read Ecclesiastes Ch. 3 v 1-11 ….to everthing there is a time and purpose…
I think it should be mandatory that all NEW Labour public school wallas spend one month in Tehran IRAN advising
[ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/200961445310869719.html ]
how to use kid gloves and tear gas.
Common Sense!
Seems that it’s never been not ‘legal’ to take photos of the “Met Wiot Police Being Too Wuff”……….
http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm
Bl@@dy Hell, two consecutive bouts of Common Sense from the Met in one day.
Yates-of-the-Yard has told oh-so-indignant Two-Jags that there was probably nowt in his voice-mails worth listening to.
[Am I the only one who finds politicians can be indignant if they think they might have been under surveillance; yet they're quite happy to want to know everything there is to know about us public?]
Joe Public,
After all the problems and criticism Comm. Yates faced from Nulabor members and hangers-on when he was trying to investigate Cash for Peerages, it is not surprising that his response to one their complaints was F*** Off (or words to that effect)
So what is a riot cop supposed to behave like when confronted with people that are, well, rioting? Does the HMIC make that suggestion?
Politely ask them to stop. And then cuddle them.
Next year’s May Day will be fun with the nations dross and liberal left eager to try and provoke poor old plod…
re mully mudgar’s suggestion suggesrtng Officers go sick for next big demo, not g8 or g20 but g string, they could suffer from “blue flu”.Very effective ” Next people to riot, venessa phelphs the moron, ex deputy p.m. whose phones weren’t tapped and they are losing their 15 mins, of fame which they crave. eX DEPUTY PM spent £4000of public money on wine for hi s scronies, had it off on the desk with his sec, I can recall fat va nenessa being involved with some scam involving her T.V show. due to recent stroke, I cant recall the details. THEN THE “SPOKESWOMAN FROM the i. p. complaints c. what a tosser. why are these lefties allowed to sit on these quango’s?
I’m glad I got to hell out of the FORCE[SORRY SERVICE ] when I did despite my father being a police man, my brother-in law, being a very fine p/supt. my son and nephew being current serving Officers. I don’t miss it, knowing full well I wouldn’t “fit in”.