OT and me....a personal view.

There is a bit of a furore in Thames Valley following the investigation into Op Overt. An E-mail by a skipper at TV has apparently surfaced and horror of horrors might suggest that the Old Bill do OT for reasons such as paying off bills, mortgage,helping towards savings,holidays..! other than a selfless all driven need to stand for hours and hours at a scene for the....hell of it.

I have done this job for a long time now. I work hard and still believe in what I do despite all the nonsense that surrounds policing these days. I am also one of those officers who will stay on a spare shift and top and tail a job and not put an OT request in.

However when a call comes in,be it ET or LT when I am going to incur(OT)
I expect that as a matter of fact.

I do not do this job for love.

I am professional and hardworking but if they want me to 'stay on' I expect to get paid for it.

I have heard all the talk over the years from those who say this 'this is the best job in the world and I would do it for free'....I have also not known any of these do any other than a straight eight hour without putting a claim in.

Similarly on our Rest Days (which shift working staff will see as the light at the end of that particular weeks tunnel)if I am cancelled then I expect payment. Sometimes we get 'stiffed' and the cancellation is 'plus 15 days notice' otherwise the Job 'incurs'

The Sgt in TV is (in my reading of this) trying to get volunteers to 'bite' at taking their precious leave at a premium rate.

He is being honest,creative. He has probably been given a list of dates to fill during this OP. This job has probably been running for a while and the wise and the weary are not taking the bait. He should be praised for this. He is speaking honestly.He is appealing to the 'market'.Are we not now a business driven 'model'

Why this 'leaked' memo should cause Ma'am TVP and Mr Hayman such indignation is beyond me

Unless of course this just a media taster for an onslaught on the notion of police OT generally.

The Govt have made clear that our yearly wage negotiations are in their hands..is OT on the endangered list?

The End is not Nigh.

It was in some way reassuring that my Wednesday shift had not been engulfed by a Cosmic Cataclysm when the Techs at CERN turned on the switch at 8am.Though I did harbour a vague hope that a small spin off 'black hole' might appear under my desk and devour the paperwork awaiting File on Division and Exhibits awaiting return to stores.

How's that for an excuse to the snotty E mail on property..'Sorry, a randomly generated black hole from CERN sucked it all up into a place as yet unknown'.

I have actually been quite interested in the build up to this CERN experiment.

It is clear that those in charge of overseeing the contracts for building this experiment have never employed any firm that the MET have given their hard tendered cash to.

I have never...ever.. ever.. known a construction /revamp job at a station be completed on time.For example there would be the usual 'Custody at XXXXX will be closed for a period of 5 weeks and re-open on the 23rd of XXXX. The old suite at XXXX will be re-opened and cover over this period.

This declaration would often lead to a 'Book' being formed and bets placed as to the ACTUAL date that the suite would open.The optimists would go for 2-3 weeks after the said deadline.The grizzled veterans would not put a date any earlier than 5-10 weeks. To make it interesting we would put a side bet on how long it would take AFTER the re-opening for it to be closed again because of 'unforeseen problems'

Usually worth at least a two or three week side bet.

The technology a CERN can send beams at near the speed of light.

I spent an evening recently awaiting an E mail with an MG3 attachment from CPS Direct. I was on the phone and the reviewing lawyer said 'I have sent it over now'
It took 25 minutes from sending to appear in my inbox.

He works in BRADFORD!!!

CERN are looking to unravel the innermost secrets of the Universe.

I would settle for knowing what Team, shift and place of work I am going to be working on over the next year.