Boo Hiss
When I was a little girl, I dreamed of the day I would grow up to protest for police industrial rights and fair pay.
I dreamed of arresting children for slapping each other in the schoolyard, of filling out five-page reports about a five minute conversation. I longed for the time I would be allowed to generate reams of paperwork covering a 13-year-old boy's "disappearance" to go out drinking with his mates. I aspired to achieve the highest detection rates for my force, to tick the greatest number of victim satisfaction check-boxes, to attend community meetings about dog mess and to prevent children playing on every street corner. I also hoped very much to learn lots of new legislation to make illegal stuff even more illegal.
Somehow, in the last ten years, somebody has persuaded the British public that police officers grew up aspiring to all this. That we didn't join the job just hoping to catch baddies and lock them up. That we somehow agree with the mass of legislation, policies and Home Office targets that has been inflicted on us over the years.
Do our Chiefs and senior officers take some responsibility for that - for silently accepting the burden and casting it downwards? Do frontline officers take some responsibility, for not speaking out loudly enough for what we believe in?
Well now the Federation is butting heads with the Home Secretary over pay. Since it has failed to bother over legislation, policies and targets, I doubt the public will have much sympathy with this particular fight, however justified it is (and it is).
When I grow up, I hope I don't stop standing up for things, and not just when they affect my pay packet.
I dreamed of arresting children for slapping each other in the schoolyard, of filling out five-page reports about a five minute conversation. I longed for the time I would be allowed to generate reams of paperwork covering a 13-year-old boy's "disappearance" to go out drinking with his mates. I aspired to achieve the highest detection rates for my force, to tick the greatest number of victim satisfaction check-boxes, to attend community meetings about dog mess and to prevent children playing on every street corner. I also hoped very much to learn lots of new legislation to make illegal stuff even more illegal.
Somehow, in the last ten years, somebody has persuaded the British public that police officers grew up aspiring to all this. That we didn't join the job just hoping to catch baddies and lock them up. That we somehow agree with the mass of legislation, policies and Home Office targets that has been inflicted on us over the years.
Do our Chiefs and senior officers take some responsibility for that - for silently accepting the burden and casting it downwards? Do frontline officers take some responsibility, for not speaking out loudly enough for what we believe in?
Well now the Federation is butting heads with the Home Secretary over pay. Since it has failed to bother over legislation, policies and targets, I doubt the public will have much sympathy with this particular fight, however justified it is (and it is).
When I grow up, I hope I don't stop standing up for things, and not just when they affect my pay packet.
Quote of the week
Jan Berry: "Home Secretary, what is it Mr Balls has but you do not?"
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'Diary of an On-Call Girl' is available in all good bookstores and online.
posted by PC Bloggs at 14:05
28 Comments:
I'm one member of the public, and I support your campaign for a decent wage and working conditions. If they treat you the way they treat other public sector workers you should have the right to strike. And I know, from personal experience, that there are good coppers out there who do want to make a difference. People, and I suppose that includes Daily Mail reporters, should place the blame where it belongs, with the politicians. And, of course, with those who elect them.
21 May, 2008 15:13
As you rightly said, had the Fed kicked and screamed about NCRS and sanctioned detections as well as the other 3000 new criminal offences created by labour since 1997, that we all knew and said would cause nothing but problems then I think we would have had a chance winning the majority of people over. I have no idea how many times people have said in the media to stop whinging about paperwork and just get on with it, the problem is we did, and it's come back to bite everyone - especially the public - in the arse.
21 May, 2008 18:20
I dreamed of being a grim faced murder squad detective....but I get your point. The Fed really are a toothless tiger. We know it and the government know it.
Still it was nice to hear Jan venting. For me the most telling quote from her was
"I feel let down, too often the door has been slammed in my face and only opened when the decision has been made"
I think that accurately sums up the way we have been allowed to participate in consultation.
21 May, 2008 21:55
What to do?
There is plenty to do, and not just strict work to rule. The Federation could advise its members to claim from their Police Authority every expense they can, it is a fact that members used their own mobiles/cars for work related practices, failed to claim for mileage allowances travelling to and from courses etc.
Claim the 4 hours @ double time for every off duty arrest /detention regardless of whether it goes to disposal. Multiply that little baby x however many x 43 forces.
Kerching, oh dear there go the budget.
Also remember you can not be forced to accept time off for casual OT you can claim real money.
There needs to be no embarrassment about this ,we are seen as a priced commodity , so charge for your labour, goodwill used to stop time served bobbies from squeezing their justifiable rights ,but that trust has been trashed by a the worst group of come day go day clerks in Government I have ever seen.
Face it, we are not special anymore, Jan knows, we know it, slip into the slip stream of the working masses and claim your bit.
Or may be not?
22 May, 2008 09:43
"I doubt the public will have much sympathy with this particular fight".
You're absolutely right on that count. If you strike over pay you will get little sympathy from the public. However, if you were to strike over silly targets, unnecessary paper-work/bureaucrary, obstructive working practices, low visibilty, low numbers, etc then every right minded citizen would be firmly on your side and possibly letting their MP know all about it. As things stand you're in a pretty lonely place. No matter who put you there.
Mind you it was great fun watching Ms Jaqui Smith squirm. Daft cow. Utterly useless.
22 May, 2008 12:00
I do like Jan Berry's style!
It's not just the Police who are being shafted. Most of the public sector are too. I'm not very union minded (all a bit right on and lefty for my tastes) but i am a union member, i view my subscription as insurance. The union that i belong to are also balloting to strike. Can't help wondering if the rise we achive (if we did) would be any more than lost pay for striking.
Mind you, all those public sector strikes not too far away from a General Election. Could that sign Browns eviction papers? Maybe the lost pay would be worth it after all!
Anway, i hope the police do get the fair pay they deserve. This country would be a much more dangerous place if it weren't for our police.
22 May, 2008 13:31
uniform: "Claim the 4 hours @ double time for every off duty arrest /detention regardless of whether it goes to disposal. Multiply that little baby x however many x 43 forces."
I can't say I've ever arrested anyone off-duty. There are some people who seem to do it all the time, but I'm not that's a compliment...
22 May, 2008 14:49
"I doubt the public will have much sympathy with this particular fight"
Pc Bloggs,
I think there is a fair bit of sympathy, but a practical awareness that it probably won't happen.
Its perfectly clear to me, however that the Labour party have little sympathy, and I suspect we're getting to one of those times in history where the force will vote very Tory.
Talking of protest, I don't think there's a great deal of good headlines in the city of London cops nicking a kid on a peaceful protest for holding up a banner calling the Scientology cult, a cult.
brendan
22 May, 2008 15:41
What everybody needs is an Inspector Gadget T Shirt to cheer them up.
(blatant plug)
22 May, 2008 16:54
Ah, coppers for coppers!
Most are overpaid with more disposable income than the average working guy. Only got to look at their car parks to see that.
Whining and moaning when enforced work attendance comes around, and bleeding hearts for yet another 2.x percent backdated to the last date that was another kick in the taxpayers purse. Council tax comes easy to most forces, for overtime, Special Pay, gratuities like double time for working another day longer than you think is best.
It is time for centralization, one law for all coppers, centralized rules and pay, so the copper in Abersoch gets the same for the same hours as the guy in darkest Swindon.
How about you all having the same police car with the same markings so that there is not 49 different purses buying cars, but one purse getting a huge discount to the satisfaction of the pissed on and abused MOPs that pay their taxes.
How about one uniform so that half of you don't look like some American Swat Team, while the rest look like washed up car parking attendants on their day off. One single uniform supplier for all officers would generate a hell of a savings for the public purse. Wait, let’s have fuel cards from one supplier, the government so that you get fuel for police cars at base rate saving the tax payer an effing mint. How about centralised crime reporting and data sharing so that puddlewick's data can be shared with lowlifes and avert another Holly and Jessica scenario, or another 7/7, now, the public would love that idea. No wait, it gets better, how about so called overpaid fat gutted, self infatuated detectives detecting crimes?? Oh My God, what a Brill Idea, Nah, it’s easier to gather a few boot prints, gobs of spit and fragments of glass and spend £1,000-£5,000 on a rush DNA hook to get a possible conviction that still might not stand up in court… Its easier by and large to spend isn’t it, than to actually detect and use skills we invested in training you at the public’s expense. It’s called riding the gravy train, and gods, you are good at it for the most part. Pay Rise? You gotta be pulling it mate.
We don’t want you filling out loads of forms for a five minute rant with a MOP, we don’t want you hanging around schools, we don’t want you hiding behind hedges with your speed guns making an easy morning work of FP’s. We do want you to use common sense and put criminals away, get em off the streets, give the housing estates back to the residents, make the roads an unsafe place for the career criminals, gets the yobs inside till they learn some respect for the authorities we elect to provide a safe and secure world to live in. We do want you doing that thing you were once famously good at, nicking local criminals and giving a feeling of safety and pride to the people who pay your bleeding wages, instead of bleeding us dry. The Federation is doing one thing and one thing only, earning easy money from your subscriptions, it’s a remnant of a bygone era when Trade Unions pulled strings and politicians danced to the tune. Maggie didn’t turn and since then unions have lost their Derrick, including the federation, You pay they play.
I for one support a fair wage for a fair job, and it’s time that you starting doing yours as it best suits the public, not the papers and princes in their ivory towers. Start earning your coppers mate and the MOPS will back you all the way, show us your riding the gravy train, and we will offer you no support at all.
22 May, 2008 17:37
oooh Ahmet , I had a swift erudite rebutal lined up , but you knows what ? your not half wrong .
Centralised spending IS a good idea , there IS no good reason why we can't all wear the same police badge , and cars can all be the same . I vote for Mercedes 270 cdi's.
Your right , there is loads of duplicate , triplicate and even diplicate ? forms to fill in .
your INSIDE knowledge is insanely good , hang on are you a home office plant ? are you trying the double speak trick .
I due draw the line at being paid the same as those sheep movers in Abersoch though .
one last tip, write all you just wrote and send it to your local MP , Door to door canavas your neighbours and send the petion to 10 Downing st.
see how far you get .
22 May, 2008 19:58
Ahmet - you seem to have ignored the fact that our prisons are full.
22 May, 2008 22:02
Ahmet,
You are partly right. Centralised purchasing could keep the costs down. Maybe a vehicle manufacturer could make a Police version of edition of a popular car.(Ithink something like that happens in the USA)
You probably know all this but it is worth saying. So far as the pay goes, it used to be quite simple before Special priority payments and competancy related payments. Every Officer from Blackpool to Brighton and Cromer to Crediton got the same basic pay(except London had an extra allowance), then the pay was locally adjusted to fit in with the cost of living in the area by a housing allowance which was calculated on the rateable value of the homes in the area.It worked quite well.
The 2.5% rise was agreed. The problem is that has not been paid. One might ask what is the point of having pay negotiations if the agreements are not kept. 2.5%, 15% or 0.3%. The amount is not important, it is the principle that the Home Sec thinks she and the Govt can ignore the agreement and do their own thing.
Police overtime pay is fixed by the government. It was successive Govts that changed the compensation for rest day working. It used to be time and a half pay and another day off if the notification for the working was less than 28 days, then it changed to double pay and no replacement day off if it was less than 8 days, then the 8 days became 5 days. (I think. It has changed so many times and I have been out for three years)
Centralised crime reporting happens in the sense that all conviction are recorded nationally at Scotland Yard, and there is or was a facility for recording the more serious crimes on a separate index, which could be accessed nationally. I don't want to start another Soham debate, but I think the problem was the interpretation of the Data Protection Act which says that records have to be current and relevant etc. I know of at least one Force that pretty much disposed of their intelligence records and started a fresh sheet. Huntley of course was a suspect for indecent assault etc on young girls but he was never convicted, so no criminal record at Scotland Yard.
You are right about the paperwork, political correctness and detection chasing. It all comes from the Govt with the warning 'do it or else'. The Chiefs know how easily the Govt can get rid of them and the fear travels down the ranks to the frontline. The 'practitioners' who do the job on the ground do the bidding of those that supervise them and they the bidding of those that supervise them.
There is no room for free thought or originality and the Officer who decides not to complete the pointless paperwork, collect detections or bag speeders would be sacked.
The change must come from the Govt or more likely a change of Govt.
22 May, 2008 23:26
Metcounty 18:20 - your post makes very little sense.
What is it that you are trying to say?
22 May, 2008 23:36
"We don’t want you filling out loads of forms for a five minute rant with a MOP, we don’t want you hanging around schools, we don’t want you hiding behind hedges with your speed guns making an easy morning work of FP’s."
Nor do we, Ahmet!
23 May, 2008 02:40
Ahmet,
Great post there.
Apart from the bit about fat gutted detectives - that hurt, you beast! *sniffles*
23 May, 2008 07:02
I sympathise with you but I haven't seen a pay rise for 11 years now, while inflation has been eating away at my earnings.
I suspect there are a lot of folk in the same situation.
Good Luck.
23 May, 2008 14:00
There is a fair amount of public sympathy for the police, particularly over being shafted by the Home Secretary. The problem is that you are your own worst enemies, every time you are rude or unnecessarily aggressive or authoritarian to a MOP you lose support.
Pointless arrests such as the sixteen year old with the sign really don’t help either. I do not know the circumstances, but before condemning me just remember the cartoon protests and the decision to allow the protest, and then month’s latter arrest and charge. I am not saying that this was a bad decision but it does you image no good and lessens your authority.
23 May, 2008 14:41
Ahmet - likewise, I thought "Here we go" but you do, as acknowledged, make some good points.
There's very few of us (the fat, useless, uniform-carriers who sit in the back of "Safety Partnership" vans excepted) who want to do the things you mentioned. Honestly! I've said for years (as have lots of others) that we should centrally purchase. I've really no idea why we don't but it must have something to do with metaphorical fivers in pockets.
If we all bought the same cars, which shouldn't be too hard, we'd save a fortune wouldn't we?
P.S. If the Met bod responsible for buying those 3.0 diesel Vectras is reading this, for God's sake would you please stop buying them?!!! They're in the dockyard every 200 miles.
Rant over
23 May, 2008 15:13
Investigate this
ftp://goldmine.bz
24 May, 2008 02:22
The EU wants to divide the Public from their Police,
the EU is a GULAG
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/865
http://www.eutruth.org.uk
24 May, 2008 02:25
I agree with you about the Federation. I want to see my subs going on the Federation intervening on Targets/Statistics/Intrusive Supervision/The general lack of trust Management has for front liners/Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, Detection rates when we all know Detections are a way to fool the Public and make Politicians look good. Oh i'm beginning to rant, but you get my point.
24 May, 2008 09:42
Sorry to hijack the thread:
Posted on http://virtualsupply.blogspot.com/
But, some interesting points have been raised here: It’s one thing to bleat and moan, and god knows, we are good at that for the most part, but with the collective experience we have here should be ample seed for a new concept, movement, truth, call it whatever you like.
We can all list the things we don’t like, and don’t the new papers love that, but what can we name that we do like, and the can we decide those things we should focus on, even if the toothless Federation can’t even get a simple request for a promised pay raise be paid as promised.
One of the reasons the Federation is given audience is the simple number of members they claim to have and because they sing the songs those in power like to hear. The number of serving officers in the system, if joined together could command a much stronger power base and if we can’t learn the words needed from our ACPO and Divisional Heads then we have no right to ask for more.
If we gain the public’s vote, we can make a change. Picking on some MOP for something, that though detectable and required by the system, does not endear us to that ‘customer’ and we all know that bad customer service travels fast. Before you know where you are, apple core is in the press and some poor soul looks like a total pratt.
We are professional people. We understand the laws, thanks to Blackstones, god awful judges, prick of solicitors, not to mention long nights and decent Bobbies that laid the ground before us. We know three things.
1) When a committed crime is socially worth picking up.
2) When a serious crime is being committed.
3) Our very presence changes things.
I feel, the above three points are points among many others, but they do endear us to the members of the public whim whom we interact. We need to let the public know we want to do these things, then when we have the strength and support and a base to work with as more and more officers come on line, then, we would be in a position to start making demands.
I am confident that many of the Supers and Chief Supers understand these concepts, and are playing the role of senior administrator because, if for no other reason, its putting pension into the bank, and if we are going to prove to the public we can do the kind of policing they want, we will get the support for the upper echelons.
It is time the social workers voice was heard, but in concept with the greater good for that which the public know is right. Its time for burglary, breakin’s, minor assaults, missing kids, auto-crime and a dozen others were put back into perspective. I don’t really care, sadly, if some kid wipes himself out doing 110 after leaving the pub with a skinfull, the gene pool can do without anyway, but some wiper trashing a family at the bus stop needs a effing good hiding, a long time inside, and a trashed life for as long as it survives.
We need to be seen using our brains for the greater good of the public. They have seen the bad press and most think that’s for real and that all Bobbies will stand and watch rather than pile in. There is a MOP who knows the toe rag who dragged one of us along the road for 100 yards, in a decent society, they would be all to ready to tell us who it was, if they trusted us, if they had the faith in us for protection, and if, they could see we put the bastards away for a long time.
We have the opportunity, we have the ability, or are we actually happy to just let it all wash over and pick up the bits, again and again and again…
24 May, 2008 16:07
In my humble opinion, it is Gordo Brown who is the shit stiring treacherous betrayer of the police force. [and the rest of this country] It seems pretty clear to me that he just set Jacqui Smith up for all the flack over pay, and the reclassification of cannabis, and the row over the 42 day detention of terror suspects.
Gordon "allowed" the teachers their pay rise BECAUSE Ed Balls is his little pet lap dog who loves his master Gordo. When this row first kicked off over police pay, it was CLEARLY stated by Gordon himself in the media, that HE would not allow it to be backdated. I suspect that is Gordo's petty minded revenge over the cash for honours investigation, and because Gordon wants to create an "army" of HMRC snoops who are loyal to the government, not the Queen. Oh what a wicked web he has weaved. Naughty boy Gordon.
Secret Special
25 May, 2008 02:55
P.S. It was reported in the Mail that Jan Berry had demanded that all the PCSO's be properly trained and made into police officers and that the historical way the police have worked, be restored. So Jan Berry didn't just rant about the shafting and betrayal over pay. I got the impression that she fought for the police "service" to be restored to its original way of operating.
25 May, 2008 03:01
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15 April, 2009 10:30
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