What do the Police do?

[Cemesis]

I know this may annoy some but I read thread after thread here were people say that the Police havn't helped a situation at all and sometimes seem almost bored to have been called out.

So has anyone had a situation where the Police have either been of actual assistance or been useless?

[BDZ]

Read "Wasting Police Time" by David Copperfield. The truest book about policing that's ever been written.

[nottyash]

I dont think its the Police fault, its the law thats an arse.
I wouldnt want to do their job.

[aka_kerrly]

It is a good question and no doubt there will be some coppers along any minute now and say they work hard and try their best. That i can believe as i have met some very good ones as much as i have met some who should be sacked ASAP, what I don’t believe is that coppers especially those that are meant to be on the streets are fully utilised.

Now in simple terms id like to see far more coppers out in patrol cars, more walking around on foot and them attending crimes and actually doing something constructive. The issue as i see it is that there is far too much form filling in, far too many bullst excuses for why something cannot be done, far too many attempts to deliberately avoid acknowledging a crime occurred in order to continuously fudge up government statistics and as a result the police are becoming less and less effective.

This is NOT the fault of the PC, but the top end police + the CPS and magistrates who clearly live in a fantasy world where paperwork is given priority over actually preventing as much as dealing with crime. Like many organisations I see the police as being loaded with excessive number of management positions and too many office people and not enough real policemen. Every time you hear of cuts its cuts not to the bloated management hierarchy but to the basic level that we the public rely on most.

dave

[WeirdNeville]

Eat donuts.
Go Drinking.
Shine our shoes.
Speed everywhere because we can.
Leave the station if it floods.
Build our pensions....


I've lost count of the number of times in the past months when I've been thanked personally for my work, by victims and those I've met. I've had a couple of letters sent in to my superintendent this month which means a lot.

I can't think of any other job that would be as rewarding, or as challenging at times. I love my job to bits and I hope that that rubs off on suspects, victims and everyone else.

In short, we do fk all.

[The Flying Ox]

We got burgled when I was at uni. The police came round and put some aluminium powder on the windowsills so as to collect fingerprints should they come back again.

Cue second break-in.

Police called, but decided that taking prints would be not much use as there would probably be some of our fingerprints on the sills as well.

[Papa Hotel]

What a fking st thread.

[aka_kerrly]

Papa Hotel said:

What a fking st thread.

What a useful reply, you must be 100% satisfied with the policing in this country then?

[MGJohn]

Cemesis said:

I know this may annoy some but I read thread after thread here were people say that the Police havn't helped a situation at all and sometimes seem almost bored to have been called out.

So has anyone had a situation where the Police have either been of actual assistance or been useless?

Yes, I can clearly remember a fine instance of usefulness. It was in 1978.

Lost count of those since which were a waste of time ever since the bean counting 'management' was sent in.

Since then, crime progression has been rife. If minor crimes are given no priority, miscreants progress up the crime scales. failure to nip minor crimes in the bud may look like saving money, but the longer term cost is huge and affects all of us, some most severely.

Today's hub cap thief will progress to the pinnacle of crime... murder. For some it's simply a matter of time. If they took Knife crime as seriously as they do some plonker showing a gun...
..

[Papa Hotel]

aka_kerrly said:

What a useful reply, you must be 100% satisfied with the policing in this country then?

I'm satisfied that 99% of the people doing the job are doing it to the best of their ability and have entirely honourable reasons for joining up such as to make the country a better place. I find that most of the people I've ever heard bleat about how ste the police are tend to be the type who have neither the inclination or ability to do the job.

Being a cop is a ste job but someone has to do it and they are mostly dedicated and conscientious hard workers. So yes, I am satisfied with the standard of the people doing the policing in the UK, any gripes are with the policy makers and the people holding the purse-strings.

[AndrewW-G]

Like any occupation, there are people who are good at their job, some that are OK if not brilliant at it and some that should be doing something else where contact with other people isn’t required

[aka_kerrly]

Papa Hotel said:

aka_kerrly said:

What a useful reply, you must be 100% satisfied with the policing in this country then?

I'm satisfied that 99% of the people doing the job are doing it to the best of their ability and have entirely honourable reasons for joining up such as to make the country a better place. I find that most of the people I've ever heard bleat about how ste the police are tend to be the type who have neither the inclination or ability to do the job.

Being a cop is a ste job but someone has to do it and they are mostly dedicated and conscientious hard workers. So yes, I am satisfied with the standard of the people doing the policing in the UK, [b]any gripes are with the policy makers and the people holding the purse-strings.[b/]

Which is what I was suggesting its those that are letting the rest of you down, the PCs mostly do a fine job but are not properly utilised and are often restricted by red tape and paperwork, it is only a minority who give you all a bad reputation but that is the case in every industry.

I would never go as far as saying being a copper is a st job, my grandad was a policeman and was one of the most respected people in his area but that was over 50 years ago, a lot has changed and unfortunately the amount of respect the police get has dropped significantly.

Do you honestly believe that you are given the opportunity to police in the most effective way? It's not a dig I'm genuinely intrigued.

Dave

[XitUp]

Most po-po are ok.

Apart from the met, they're pretty much all scum.

Papa Hotel said:

Being a cop is a ste job but someone has to do it and they are mostly dedicated and conscientious hard workers. So yes, I am satisfied with the standard of the people doing the policing in the UK, any gripes are with the policy makers and the people holding the purse-strings.

How is it a ste job?

[carreauchompeur]

I convicted a bloke at Crown Court today of sexually abusing his stepdaughter between the ages of 8 and 13. Facing a substantial prison sentence. I think that constitutes useful.

[Papa Hotel]

aka_kerrly said:

Papa Hotel said:

aka_kerrly said:

What a useful reply, you must be 100% satisfied with the policing in this country then?

I'm satisfied that 99% of the people doing the job are doing it to the best of their ability and have entirely honourable reasons for joining up such as to make the country a better place. I find that most of the people I've ever heard bleat about how ste the police are tend to be the type who have neither the inclination or ability to do the job.

Being a cop is a ste job but someone has to do it and they are mostly dedicated and conscientious hard workers. So yes, I am satisfied with the standard of the people doing the policing in the UK, any gripes are with the policy makers and the people holding the purse-strings.

Which is what I was suggesting its those that are letting the rest of you down, the PCs mostly do a fine job but are not properly utilised and are often restricted by red tape and paperwork, it is only a minority who give you all a bad reputation but that is the case in every industry.

I would never go as far as saying being a copper is a st job, my grandad was a policeman and was one of the most respected people in his area but that was over 50 years ago, a lot has changed and unfortunately the amount of respect the police get has dropped significantly.

Do you honestly believe that you are given the opportunity to police in the most effective way? It's not a dig I'm genuinely intrigued.

Dave

Oh, I'm not a cop, I was an army cop a while ago but that was a bit different. In that job I did have a lot to do with various civilian forces and have continued to do so in civilian employment since. My experience of the police is that they (individual officers) want to do the very best they can but are continually frustrated at paperwork, red tape, cases getting dropped (by victims or my their bosses), time-wasting crap complaints, false complaints, trivial complaints... this list is not exhaustable, it's no wonder some people have a negative experience of them. It's not the fault of police officers though.

I can't answer your last question, but I suspect the answer would be "no" should a real cop come along.

Oh, I fixed your bold tags. Don't thank me. No, really. I wanted to help.

[Papa Hotel]

XitUp said:

How is it a ste job?

I'll give you 50 British Pounds if you can find a cop with 5 years service who hasn't been bled on, shat on, pissed on or vomited on. 100 quid for one that hasn't thought he was finished his shift, only to get off 5 hours later. You think it's fun standing in a stty town centre on a Friday night in late December at kicking-out time? Dealing with the aftermath of a fatal traffic accident or a father of two young kids hanging himself... does that sound fun?

[XitUp]

Papa Hotel said:

I'll give you 50 British Pounds if you can find a cop with 5 years service who hasn't been bled on, shat on, pissed on or vomited on. 100 quid for one that hasn't thought he was finished his shift, only to get off 5 hours later. You think it's fun standing in a stty town centre on a Friday night in late December at kicking-out time? Dealing with the aftermath of a fatal traffic accident or a father of two young kids hanging himself... does that sound fun?

Ah, so if a job is sometimes hard, and sometimes not fun, it must be st.

fk me, how depressing.

[Papa Hotel]

XitUp said:

Ah, so if a job is sometimes hard, and sometimes not fun, it must be st.

fk me, how depressing.

You do realise that "It's a st job but someone has to do it" is just a figure of speech? Sorry, my mistake, I realise this being the internet, everything must be taken literally.

If you think it sounds good why don't you get your arse out there and do it then? Too comfortable picking up crayons for teacher? Too comfortable in your 9-4, Mon-Fri job?

[Flintstone]

WeirdNeville said:

In short, we do fk all.

Well, you do

[Citizen09]

aka_kerrly said:

The issue as i see it is that there is far too much form filling in

A lot of the "paperwork" is as a result of demands made on us by the court system - both CPS and defence - I don't know how much you could trim back or get rid of before it began to affect the trial process.