Buzzword writers wanted...now hiring

It seems to me that attempts at furthering recruitment in the MET may not be hitting targets.

And we live in a world of hitting targets.

Maybe I am mistaken but rumour has it they are having to put out more media to try and up the enquiries than they originally anticipated.

The flood of would be PC's have not massed at the gates waiting to enter the brave new world of policing.

Where you

a. pay for your own training
b. face a longer working life on a less and less attractive wage  to earn a smaller pension that you pay more and more for
c. work for a government that despises you and a media happy to drip feed negativity about everyday work

My cynicism is attracted to two full page  advertisements in the Recruitment section of two London freebie papers.... the Metro for your morning commuter and the Evening Standard for the evening commuter.

I doubt the officers wrote the accompanying copy , but if they came up with some of the quotes I can guarantee they will soar in this organisation.

My favourite word bite has to be ' being a police officer is about meaningful engagement...it is about learning to talk to people and really understanding them and adapting to their needs'

I may a bit of a throw back, a knuckle dragging neanderthal,but to me the basic concept of policing is in itself very simple.

We patrol the streets, we enforce the law , we act to detect and prevent crime, we try and maintain the the queens peace and act to prevent loss of life or damage to property.

Lets go through actual possible reality of a coppers day to day life based on some of my observations of customer base interaction.

'meaningful engagement' 

' your drunk and becoming offensive, walk away now or you will get nicked'

'learning to talk to people'

 'No you dont pay my wages and I dont care if your dad knows the Superintendent'

'really understanding them'

 'I am not and never will be your mate or your friend ..and the reason you have been nicked is that you punched your girlfriend'

'adapting to their needs' 

'what the handcuffs are too tight?, stop headbutting and kicking the van door and we will see what we can do'

The vast majority of the law abiding public do not want talk of  

'engagement...talking...understanding ....needs'

They want police to be police.The rest follows from that.

The government should put out 'Citizens wanted' ads in the freebies aimed at our client/customer base extolling the virtues of just trying the best to live together, to obey the law, see others point of view and be tolerant of those around them.

The vast majority of the METs population just get along and never cross our radar. That is as it should be.

Myself and my colleagues are in a job because a minority cannot live by the above rules.

Full page advertisements are fine but are written by HR not by practitioners

Police are becoming the point of last resort for those who cannot or are not capable of living within set boundaries.

As other agencies withdraw we are the last man/woman standing to pick up the pieces.

HR just dont get it.

Results now in...

Well after all the months of the bile driven foment of Her Majesties media we finally have a decision  

CPS

“Taking it all into account, including the accounts of the officer at the gate of Downing Street and that of Andrew Mitchell MP before, during and after the incident, we have found that there is insufficient evidence to show that the officer at the gate lied in his account," she said.

"The CPS has also found that there is insufficient evidence to show that Mr Mitchell was the victim of a conspiracy of misinformation."

Interestingly CPS also mentioned

Following the row, the Daily Telegraph published what it called a police log of the incident - but a Channel 4 investigation appeared to cast doubt on the officers' account when it revealed CCTV footage showed there was not a large group of tourists outside the main gate at the time as had originally been claimed.

However the CPS statement on Tuesday said the programme "showed edited footage that was less than clear in a number of regards".

Well I never… the media…  putting a spin on something?

I recall papers quoting an alleged ‘whistleblower’ on the whole affair.

Ms Saunders apparently has said the details of said whistleblower had been requested from Mr Mitchell and fellow politician David Davis but both had declined to assist the police in naming them’

Protecting a source?…..or did they actually exist?

Mr Mitchell is upset at the result ….

Anyway

One to be charged and a number for discipline proceedings…

I am sure the media will allow due process to take its course and not unduly comment in the interim……HA!

Notice the dry journalistic observance as fellow hacks are being  tried currently?

More TOTAL stuff

TOTAL POLICING rolls on...

We are at the issuing of laminated cards stage in the MET at the moment. Unfortunately the design is a basic 14.5 x 10.5 cm sheet in hard laminate and not the usual, designed to fold and fit into the warrant card holder.

Perhaps they are thinking if it is not capable of being tucked away  we will leave it out as  constant aide memoir.

This was clearly not researched. Like myself, many officers used to while away the journey home by re reading the previous warrant card library to remind us of what we do for a living!

Some great tips however on basic questions we should be asking victims of crime.

eg...is the suspects ID known?

On the reverse are our objectives. Pretty basic stuff although I am not sure about the 'Cut costs and improve policing capability' but I suppose its flavour of the month at the Home Office.

However this achievement will be with

Integrity Courage Compassion and Professionalism

If Sir BHH and his staff looked beyond the spread sheets and the wordbites its what the vast majority of his troops  are doing anyway.

Staff as ever adapt, improvise and overcome. The cards are being utilised as tea mug place mats , mouse mats and (in a great pooling of material) stopping the wobbly leg  on the corner table,

TOTAL Resourcefulness

As an afterthought......

I am not one for conspiracy theories but aren't the initials of our above CORE values the same as the IPCC

Sir BHH  changes at the end of his day...takes off a latex mask and its Deborah GLASS

......aaaarrrrrrgh    !!!!!   .....aaaarrrrrgh    !!!!!!   .....aaaarrrrrrgh     !!!!

Is that it ?....

Today, if you believe the  Daily Bile and associated media, was the day the  post Plebgate 'two' were  'held to account'

Two Federation representatives have apologised to a parliamentary committee over evidence they gave before it previously, regarding the Plebgate affair.
Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton, of Warwickshire Police, apologised for the “inadvertent error” he made by failing to recognise he had referred to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, as “this woman that the Conservative Party have”.
He had made the comment during a meeting with Andrew Mitchell MP last year but denied saying it during a hearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee on October 23.

Meanwhile Sergeant Chris Jones, of West Midlands Police, said he did not believe he had misled the committee over his disciplinary record – where he failed to mention that he had had 13 investigations into his conduct during his career. This was because the two cases that resulted in action were not misconduct sanctions - and only advice was given, he told the committee on November 5.

Sgt Jones said he would apologise however, for misunderstanding the question put to him by MPs.

The two Fed officers appeared before the committee - following its own critical report - which claimed they may have misled members at the October hearing into Plebgate.

Chairman Keith Vaz had warned them that they risked being in contempt of parliament if their answers were not satisfactory.
Det Sgt Hinton said he had not remembered referring to the Home Secretary in such a way when it was put to him on October 23 – but he had since reread the transcript and acknowledged his “inadvertent error”.

He said his explanation was no excuse for referring to Mrs May as “this woman” and he had since written an apology to her.
“I would like to apologise to the Home Secretary for using those words,” he said.

Both officers reiterated however that their position in relation to the Mitchell meeting itself had “not changed”. They had previously denied giving a misleading account to the media after meeting Mr Mitchell over allegations that he had called officers “plebs” in Downing Street.

During the meeting, the three Fed representatives appeared to clear the air with Mr Mitchell, according to a transcript. But they later appeared to call his integrity into question in front of a waiting media scrum.

Both officers told the Committee on November 5 that they “cannot apologise for something we haven’t done” – but they did “recognise the disproportionate distress” caused to Mr Mitchell and his family.

Concerning his failure to disclose his disciplinary record, Sgt Jones added: “It was not my intention to mislead the committee. If I have misled the committee because I misunderstood the question then I apologise for that.”


I am not sure whether Chairman Vaz and committee members have had their pound of flesh or not.

Is calling Ms May  “this woman that the Conservative Party have” an offence?  Terse perhaps, but in essence basically factual.

In relation to the disciplinary record there were NO disciplinary issues of note. NEVER subject to discipline on record

Its like the occasional question you get at trial by Defence when they are struggling

'Officer has anyone ever complained about your behaviour in the office of Constable'

Any active officer has. It comes with the job if you do it 'without fear or favour'

This is /was in effect a public 'de facto' trial with the IPCC ( independent ...HAH) hovering in the background  and the CPS still chewing over what went on on the day.

I suppose MP's can go home and have a warm glow in their hearts on their days work..or is that due to the taxpayer subsidised energy bills we are now hearing about.