Talent,Tapping up and Team Met
Loads of stuff in the papers recently regarding remuneration for the very senior ranks in the job. Retention packages, security, even subsidised fees for the CC's kids.Probably not hard for this to come to light since the Trough on the Thames gave Her Majesties press a feeding frenzy with the Telegraphs drip feeding of revelation by revelation.
These extras apparently are about TALENT. Its Recruitment, its Retention and the ability to Renegotiate' should other 'offers' be made. If they had agents I am sure the three R's would be the basis for negotiation at the top table.
The MET appear to be up front in seeking out such possible stars.
This notion of Talent in the senior ranks is what drove me to write this post.
A recent internal Met post indicates we are actively requesting referrals for 'graduates' from staff.
So what is talent in a senior officer who aspires to that rank?
Talent sought by Police Authorities bears NOTHING in relation to what I consider to be the fundamentals of police work.
You do NOT get to be a 'High flyer' (Accelerated promotion scheme for Graduates ) by spending any length of time, in any unit,grinding out enquiries.
Anything (realistically past Inspector/Chief Inspector) in this job is a manager.Actual police work is secondary.Politics and figures are everything and it is driven top down. Common sense and discretion, the old bywords of day to day policing are gone
There are some who fight and try and maintain that old equilibrium. They do not progress.
We do NOT need any more bright young things with degrees in Anthropology and Politics from the University of Somewhere to be fast tracked and merely graze briefly on the lush green fields of criminality before finding themselves sitting in an office and deciding that for the next rank they will ignore that age old adage 'if it 'ain't broke don't fix it'.
We need bright young keen recruits willing to spend some serious time shoveling sh*t before they move on.
That doesn't sound good as a soundbite though.
The basic test for me is 'what if'
What if ?.... the senior officer and all his deputies and assistants decided en- masse to take a year Sabbatical. What would happen?
In regard to basic day to day policing............sod all. It would just go on as normal.
What if ?....Response,SNT,CID decided to take a years Sabbatical.What would happen.....Chaos and Anarchy.
I think the point I am trying to make is this. The higher up the slippery pole you are the less 'essential' value you become to the organisation which pays your wage.
Talent?................
These extras apparently are about TALENT. Its Recruitment, its Retention and the ability to Renegotiate' should other 'offers' be made. If they had agents I am sure the three R's would be the basis for negotiation at the top table.
The MET appear to be up front in seeking out such possible stars.
This notion of Talent in the senior ranks is what drove me to write this post.
A recent internal Met post indicates we are actively requesting referrals for 'graduates' from staff.
So what is talent in a senior officer who aspires to that rank?
Talent sought by Police Authorities bears NOTHING in relation to what I consider to be the fundamentals of police work.
You do NOT get to be a 'High flyer' (Accelerated promotion scheme for Graduates ) by spending any length of time, in any unit,grinding out enquiries.
Anything (realistically past Inspector/Chief Inspector) in this job is a manager.Actual police work is secondary.Politics and figures are everything and it is driven top down. Common sense and discretion, the old bywords of day to day policing are gone
There are some who fight and try and maintain that old equilibrium. They do not progress.
We do NOT need any more bright young things with degrees in Anthropology and Politics from the University of Somewhere to be fast tracked and merely graze briefly on the lush green fields of criminality before finding themselves sitting in an office and deciding that for the next rank they will ignore that age old adage 'if it 'ain't broke don't fix it'.
We need bright young keen recruits willing to spend some serious time shoveling sh*t before they move on.
That doesn't sound good as a soundbite though.
The basic test for me is 'what if'
What if ?.... the senior officer and all his deputies and assistants decided en- masse to take a year Sabbatical. What would happen?
In regard to basic day to day policing............sod all. It would just go on as normal.
What if ?....Response,SNT,CID decided to take a years Sabbatical.What would happen.....Chaos and Anarchy.
I think the point I am trying to make is this. The higher up the slippery pole you are the less 'essential' value you become to the organisation which pays your wage.
Talent?................
5 Comments:
My gut feeling is that the Police Forces are very hierarchial almost certainly by necessity. If you removed the top echelon the dynamics would mess up very quickly as these organisations depend on and work due to their hierarchal nature.
Anyway,that organisational psychology point is a bit besides the point really and I agree with you completely that the higher ranks need to have a very firm grasp of the realities of Policing.
Ian Blair didnt seem to have that and sold his soul to the corruptness that is the Labour Government.
However I think his predecessor Sir John Stevens was a decent guy who really did his time in the real world.
It's certainly a tough one. CCs don't earn a massive amount compared to, say, leaders of large companies or other professionals such as accountants or lawyers. Management is a totally different skill to being on the front line, of course, but how could a management expert manage a police service if he/she had never been on the front line??
I am wary of the high-flyer programmes. Surely all promotions should be on merit not educational background?
I work on an EAST LONDON BOROUGh and we had a borough ciommander about four bosses ago who had made one arrest in their whole career. The rest of the time had been spent in some office or other and posts as someone's bag person to see the inner workings of command! The current one's last job was on HMIC and he was the champion of single patrol to ensure what he did was worth it. It was susspended when the radio proved their worth!!!!! an rank above ch/inspector has sold their sole to the Devil apart from a few select ones who did it the hard way!!!
Bertie
I still reckon you can run a working police service covering most, if not all,that the public expects and wants without the top end of the hierarchial tree.
The top end of the triangle either puts into motion what the Home Office dictates anyway or try and reinvent the wheel to get the next rank. The middle and bottom of the pile just get on with the job.
SC
I think this started in some large part when someone decided to try and run this job as a business. We now have managers and supervisors and not senior ranks(which is far to militaristic and suggests people working their way up from squaddie to officer and not forgetting where they came from) .
Anon
I know what you mean
I have met and worked with some great senior officers. Some were genuine leaders of men/women. However quite a few I wouldnt trust to organise and run a car boot sale.
Thanks for your comments.
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