Well, You're Damned If You Do......

So Mark Duggan, a man in his own Obituary picture shown on national news is posing using what appears to be his fingers shaped like a gun looking like gang signs is pulled over by armed police in a taxi and during an altercation a shoot out takes place resulting in one  officer shot and Duggan fatally wounded.

What we saw last night was according to one "witness" on the BBC "The locals taking revenge for the killing of a brother" and "The Police don't police our community they only turn up when this happens"

Memories of The Broadwater Farm riots in 1985 where many of the rioters were not even born or too young to remember were being tossed about by "witnesses" being interviewed on TV.  "This memory is in our DNA where Cynthia Jarrett died after police broke into her home" said one representing the "Youth of Haringey"  "We may have not been there but it's passed down to us"

Cynthia Jarrett dying is in no way even the same as Duggan dying and comparing the two is an insult to Cynthia's memory.

People on tv last night were calling Duggan "Their Brother" and even they said they didn't even know him.

Duggan lived by the sword and by the looks of it, died by it.  He allegedly shot at officers and therefore was shot at in defence and was killed.

Some bright spark witness on Sky was complaining that Duggan didn't have the safety equipment that the armed police officers had and therefore it was unfair and a reporter on Sky even had the gall to say "We don't know who shot at who first"

There are internet rumours going round that someone who knows someone spoke to someone who saw someone see a 16 year old girl allegedly beaten with sticks by police for no apparent  reason. What angers me more is depending on who you believe is that this was used as a "reason" for a full scale riot in Tottenham last night.

There was a protest about the killing of Duggan and the way the area is policed and this was presented to the doors of the Tottenham police station.  For whatever reason after that, it went down hill from there on.

Then a police car with two officers was hijacked and pushed into the road and set alight. This was then a beacon for others to start violent disorder.

The police were then lambasted by locals and the media for not policing the riot properly and their tactics used.  Some complained that the police were only targeting black rioters and some even complained that the police were too soft.

Damned if we do and damned if we don't.

What angers me more through all of this, is the two faced cheek of the government and media.  Suddenly to the government we have their "full support" and "no justification for the aggression shown to the police" with the media it was the complete lack of support and the cutting off of anyone who dared to voice support to the police coming under attack.

The media completely ignored the fact that Duggan shot at officers, completely ignored the fact the innocent bystanders were caught up in the riot, and that the reason police let the bus and buildings burn is because it was unsafe for the London Fire Brigade to go in and put it out.

The government talk about the "aggression shown to police" but fail to realise the irony of their aggression shown to police with the cut backs to the front line and to the police pensions and pay which are about to take place.  The "thin blue line" is so thinly stretched it's fracturing at points and last night was a case in point.  I think you can expect more of this to come.

What the government and public fail to realise is that Public Order trained officers and others like myself with specialist skills in areas including firearms are all volunteers.  We get no extra money and certainly thanks to Hutton, Windsor and May we won't be getting any more for a few years.

We can just as easily turn our passes in as easy as we got them.  If I don't want to be a Public Order trained officer any more I can turn in my certificate.  Just as easy if I don't want to do CBRN or Search.  I can easily fail to sign up for the next refresher or fail the fitness test.

If this carries on with the front line being savaged by the government and public alike I can see many officers ditching their specialist training.

Why should we face a barrage of petrol bombs and rocks whilst the ones that govern us and take away our rights, pensions and wages are sleeping soundly in their beds?

I can see many officers failing to come in when off duty, the sounds of unanswered ringing phones deafening.  The number of mobiles that suddenly had no signal.

We don't get paid a call out fee, so why should we come in?

One Inspector said to me that you could face disciplinary action if you are on a call out list.  Well, prove my phone had no signal, prove my phone rang at my home and not at the exchange.

We have enough restrictions on our lives as it is without placing me under virtual house arrest in case another riot takes place.

It's about time that the government realised that last night is a taste of things to come.

Mess with our tactics, mess with our numbers, budgets and wages and this is what you get.

A lot of innocent people cleaning up after a night of disorder and many officers injured.

What I will say is that it's going to make the Notting Hill Carnival an interesting two days.

Haven't you got anything else better to do?

As much as I moan about my job and the political goings on in the background I do generally love being a policeman.  


One thing that always amazes me is that over the years the same questions and statements arise time and time again from members of the public who whilst in conversation either bring them up or actually ask them as the main reason for stopping you.


Here are the answers to the questions to save you asking me next time you see me and in some cases are actually what I really want to say next time I'm asked:


How can I get to the most obscure and insignificant named street the complete other side of London?  


I don't know.  Simple really.  You're standing outside a W H Smith try buying an A-Z.  I am not a black cab driver and I've never done the knowledge.  So why would I know where this street is approx 10 miles in the other direction, way off my patch?


But I thought you policemen knew every where in London?


Refer back to my original answer.  As I stated, I'm not a cab driver.  Do you know where every single street is in your city?


I've got this map and I need to get here (pointing to location) from where we are now (again pointing to location) How do I do that?


Follow your finger along the line!  No, Seriously?!  You have a map, shown me where we are on it, shown me where you want to go on it and yet you want me to show you how to get there.


(After showing them how to get there) No, that's not right, I would go this way.


Then why ask me in the first place? You have the map, use it!


Why do policemen always have their hands inside the stab vests?


Because it's considered rude and unprofessional to have my hands in my pockets and I need some where to rest my hands.  It's also because I'm bored of this conversation and these stupid questions.


I'm going to ask you about the most obscure piece of legislation known to man and then moan because you don't know the answer to it.


I'm not a legal expert. I've had training in the law, yes and I've an A-Level in Law but I don't know the law about it being illegal for a lady to eat chocolate on a conveyance.  If you want the answer to your question either seek a solicitor or better still, research the internet.


What time does this shop close?


So I look like I work for Tesco now?  I must have not noticed that the average Tesco worker carries cuffs, baton, spray, wears a stab vest and a hat which has sign clearly saying "Police" written on it.  I guess it must get a little fraught at Customer Services with all these customers asking stupid questions!  You must have walked past exactly the same sign as me on the way in and as it's 3am I'm guessing it's open all night.


Do you think you should be eating that?


Well, no actually, I was going to use it to throw at speeding motorists to make them think they've hit someone.  I tell you what, I'll take a look inside your basket and start asking why it is you only have "Meals for One"


Shouldn't you be in the doughnut aisle? 


I think you are confusing us with the American Police.  If this was a kebab van, then you've got me.  Stop watching all those films and thinking it's real life.


You can't talk to me like that!


But you think it' perfectly acceptable to talk to me like that and not expect anything back.  Listen. You've been tugged for a perfectly good reason.  You decide to trap off and call me every thing under the sun and because I tell you to wind your neck in and shut your mouth, suddenly I'm the one being rude.


Can a pregnant woman wee in your helmet?


I've been asked this one about a thousand times.  Truthfully I don't know but why on earth would anyone want to do that when they've probably walked past so many toilets, pubs, cafes, restaurants and bushes is beyond me.


Do you get many people asking to take your photo.


Well, it's dipped to only about five hundred today.  Yesterday was well over seven hundred by the time I booked off.


You can't stop me, I know my rights.


Once again, my friend, you seem to be mistaking us from our cousins across the pond.  I have a reason to stop you, and I have grounds therefore I am detaining you for this search and or stopping your vehicle as I suspect you've committed an offence.


This shop won't give me a refund.  I want you to go in and arrest them.


I cannot help you I'm afraid.  However, I suggest you write to customer services.  They have their own internal department that can arrest any person found guilty of holding onto a dumb arse customers money who think that a policeman can help them get a refund for returning a worn pair of pants.


Haven't you got anything else better to do?


Actually I have better things to do, I'm just not doing them right now.


Enough to put you off your public service!

A Load Of Old Bails

As if the policing world wasn't mad enough with the cut backs, pensions and pay disputes, along comes the Justice System who are supposed to be working with us, not against us and sticks one on the police service just after it's been left reeling with blows from the government.

The short sighted, self interpreted and may I say, bigoted definition of The Bail Act and PACE by a Salford District Judge who took a perfectly good system and then threw it in the bin was then backed up by the High Court.

Today's ruling left yet another bitter pill to swallow when the Supreme Court dismissed an attempt by Police to suspend a legal ruling limiting Police Bail in England and Wales to a maximum of four days only.

MP's are voting on an emergency legislation this Thursday to attempt to put things right.

What this idiot of a DJ has done has taken the law and because he can, use his interpretation and change a piece of legislation.

What this has done to the police has caused utter chaos.

A colleague of mine who works on big fraud cases has said to me that they will find most of their cases collapsing due to constantly having to re-arrest someone.

For example.  What used to happen was, the person was arrested for fraud, then taken to the police station, interviewed.  Mean while their documents, computers, etc would be seized to be investigated into.  Then this person would be "freed" on police bail but their items kept for investigation.  This person would then return at a later date after more evidence has been gathered where they will either be charged or released without charge.

Now what happens is after the person has been interviewed they must be bailed to within 24hrs of their time of release.  This DJ has stated that the custody clock keeps running so you only have in the first instance 24 hours to deal and maybe with extensions up to 96 hours.

That's four days to look into a major fraud case

If after those four days nothing further is found then this person must be either charged or released with no further action.

Problem here,  is if someone has been effectively "NFA" as nothing has been found at this stage to charge, then technically all their property must be returned to them and with it, goes any possible evidence.  The police will have no right to hold onto it as they have been released without charge.

The second further evidence crops up, this person can be re-arrested.

However, how many times will someone need to be arrested to finally bring a charge?

How long will it take before some smart arse Barrister to suggest that their client was "stressed" "embarrassed" and "harassed" by the police and the officers dealing were in breach of process and or their clients Human Rights because they were arrested "too many times"?

How big will arrest rates soar yet charge rates for serious crimes fall drastically?

That's the big cases what about "simple" cases like a theft from a shop.  The person is brought in but is deemed unfit to interview as he is drunk.  The suspect when eventually sober has now asked for a solicitor who takes time to arrive due to heavy traffic and dealing with other clients.  The CCTV cannot be obtained then eventually when interviewed the suspect gives an alibi which cannot be chased up due to the person not answering their phone and your shift is drawing to a close and you need to hand over.

This person now needs to be bailed, but because of the new ruling, there may not be any time left on the clock as because, I stated above, the custody clock now continues to run.  So, if this person has been in custody overnight sleeping off the drink and has been in for 16 hours you can only bail them for 8 hours.

That's later that day and you still need to chase up that CCTV and the alibi statement.

What with every other job police officers have to do these days, how can they complete a thorough investigation within the given time slot?

A short time ago, Ken Clarke reversed his decision on halving prison sentences.

I think he got his wish in a roundabout way, as there will be no one charged to court any more to be sentenced to prison.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but it all seems too convenient to me.

Prove me wrong on Thursday, MP's when you vote against this stupid ruling and impose the emergency legislation.

Also I think the DJ needs to be shown how a night in custody works or out on patrol.

He may feel differently from our side of the fence.

.....Who am I kidding?!

In Sickness And In Health

I've not been a well Response Plod these past couple of days.  I won't disgust you with the exact details but needless to say Essex and Suffolk Water want to speak to me urgently.

I was sent home yesterday after feeling and looking like (apparently) "death warmed up" however, it took them half the shift to decide that I was no good to them and if I was in for half then it doesn't count as a sick day.

What annoys me most about that is I had spent since 4am not feeling at all well but decided to go in for many reasons:
1. I don't like calling in sick because
2. No one ever believes you so
3. You go in to prove you're ill but
4. Everyone moans at you for bringing it in and no one thanks you for actually making the effort but
5. You only went in so it wouldn't count as a sick day if you got sent home.

What angered me however, is today, I had to take a rest day in lieu rather than phone in sick.  Why is it that the job has made us so scared of phoning in sick when we are genuinely ill?  Why is it that I face the wrath of the part one sickness warnings if I dare have one day of sick then God forbid I'm ill at a later date?

I can understand the need for some sort of sickness monitoring.  There are many officers out there, some I know personally, took the piss out of the sickness policy and played it to their advantage on the old scheme.  However, people who are really ill are having to tread the lines carefully because if they have a 24 hour bug one day and then Lord help them, flu a couple of months later then the policy enforced could mean they can kiss good buy to that course they wanted or that vacancy they dreamed of.

We Officers face enough stress in our lives as it is.  Our long and hard shifts dealing with all kinds of incidents leaves the body weak and open to illness.  That's not including close contact with people who are also ill.

I also know that the stage one policy is discretionary but I also know that there are many Inspectors out there who have their power trips and like to bring down hard justice on their troops.

Troopers like me for instance. Some years ago, I injured my arm very badly in a fight during an arrest that went horribly wrong. My right arm was left hanging from its socket and the muscles and tendons severely damaged.  I was off for three months and returned on heavily restricted duties.  Months of physio and to this day, it's still not right.  This didn't stop my, then, Inspector collaring me on my first day back for a chat in his office.

There I was thinking he was bringing me in for an "how are you, great to have you back" chat, but no, on the desk was a stage one warning and he was putting me on it knowing this was going to severely damage my chances of the course I wanted to be on.  I point blank refused to sign the document and got the Federation involved who thankfully after many and some heated meetings it went away.

The policy was re-written soon after.

If you are ill, you are ill but why do we have to be frightened of someone who has no policing skills whatsoever who writes these policies and enforces them upon us?

The problem we now face, is that they are using any excuse to cut costs and if you are a sickly officer.

...be looking over your shoulder

Police Crime and 999

Written by John Donoghue, It’s a look at a year in his life as a front line response officer, comes with the warning:  CONTAINS HUMOUR AND TRACES OF NUTS and, amongst other things, answers those basic questions:

What REALLY happens behind the scenes in the police?

What bizarre 999 calls are made to the emergency services?

Why can wearing 2 pairs of socks make you a suspect?

What is the link between police and vampires?

Which Royal arrest never made news headlines?

What covert sign do officers make when they no longer wish to talk to you?

He's changed names and places to protect the guilty!

The book isn’t officially available until August, but it is available NOW for all readers of this blog via his website www.policecrime999.com  and John has kindly given us a  10% discount!

Quote: ResponsePlodBlog when ordering for your 10% Discount!

The Greasy Pole

When I joined the job all those years ago, I had ambitions that I would go far.

The two major problems I have that stopped me is that I failed the Part 1 Ospre, twice, although by a small margin but a miss is as good as a mile.

Secondly, I don't know when to shut up.  I will openly state to Senior Officers that something is not right when it blatantly is not right.

Putting it bluntly, I'm a coppers copper.  I don't take crap from anyone and I enjoy working on the factory floor getting my hands dirty.

However, I have massive respect for my Senior Officers.  I may not like some of them but I respect them nonetheless.  I know that they have made it through the ranks and have stood where I stood and have seen what I have seen.

This gives me faith in the people in charge that they, ultimately, know what they are doing.

They can safely make the big decisions at murder scenes, fatalities, major incidents etc. because they have been to these incidents themselves over the years and have built up a wealth of experience and knowledge as they progressed through the ranks.

Which amazes me that the "Flagship" police force of the country, The Metropolitan Police,  is toying with the idea of "Rank Skipping"

It amazes me that at a time of budget cuts and restraints that are going to affect every rank and file officer that they want to insult the officers even more.

How can anyone who has served from a recruit, only 12 months as a PC and given intense training then fast tracked to Inspector in another 12 months then expect to become a good copper earning the respect from others "below" ?

How can I trust an officer with only 2 years "police service" much of it class room based to come out as an Inspector then make the right decisions at incidents?

This officer would have had no experience in policing what so ever and just because they may have some fancy degree in policing or been a manager for a large company, why would that mean they would be good coppers?

If you or I were to go to a company like Hovis and apply to become "senior baker" (hypothetically) they would not even give your application a second glance if you have never baked a loaf of bread before!

I still cannot see you being taken seriously if you then went on to add that you spent 12 months reading cook books and occasionally kneaded some dough.

The bakers around them would lose respect for their immediate supervisor as they would expect, when a problem arose that the senior baker would know what to do, due to their valuable experience gained in the ranks below with years of bread making at their finger tips.

The person may know how to manage people effectively and may actually be great at managing budgets but dealing with the real stuff that comes to policing, well, it's not enough to just have read some books on it once.

I really hope that the Met decide against this little venture.  It's going to be a huge waste of money to train these officers to be Inspectors and have them fall at the first hurdle.

Some may crack under the strain of being thrown in charge of a murder scene as they have not built on the experience of same or similar incidents before.

It will be a shame to see these people ridiculed by their own and the public when they find out they only have a couple of years in and they are supposed to be in charge.

What about the officers who are making their way up the traditional way, only to see some whipper snapper who was in charge of DFS last year suddenly take the promotion over them?

What if, the Commissioner was suddenly ousted by someone who was once in charge of Lloyds TSB?

Would he like it?

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Sucking Eggs

After reading the excellent article in Police Review w/e 3rd June 2011 by Hollie Clemence entitled “Officers urged to ‘look and feel’ cheerful” she reports that ACPO is drafting an Olympic 'Look and Feel' strategy document which they claim will provide a 'consistent message' on how officers on mutual aid during the games are maintaining the 'highest of standards'.

Summarising, it is basically telling officers working during the Olympics how to dress, how to talk and even to remember to smile.

ACPO have also stated that every officer must be trained in the fine art of egg sucking and will be trained to NVQ level although cut backs mean that you will need to provide your own eggs during the 12 week course.

Alright, I made that last bit up, but really, are they serious?!

First of all, exactly how much money are they wasting on this ridiculous and quite frankly insulting report?

Secondly, just exactly who do ACPO think they are?

Not only are they insulting the very officers their thousands of pounds trained and the vast majority have years of experience but instead of backing us up with the ongoing dispute with the government they are basically telling us to just “grin and bear it”

What with the Winsor Report pay and conditions biting into its first year by the time the Olympics come along many officers working the long tiring hours are not going to be wanted to told to “smile and be nice”

What ACPO need to realise is that police officers will continue to do the job we were employed for. It's the job we joined for and want to do.

So please, don't insult our professionalism. We don't need to be told how to dress and how to smile. We do this every day and don't need expensive reports to be reminded how to do it.

What I will ask is for you to declare how much this farce of a report cost and why the money wasn't better used for something more worthwhile, or better still, saved.


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