Sep 17 2009

On The Other Hand…

Category: In The Media — ChrisM @ 7:33 pm

I’ve written a few times about Special Constables (back in Britain) on this blog, and not been entirely complimentary to the profession as a whole. Overall, they do not get a lot of respect in the UK, and sometimes this is understandable. However, I wanted to post a quick link to a forum post that I found to be an interesting read – What I Did On Duty over at the PoliceSpecials.com forum. Whilst I still believe that there are some specials who do their service no honour, it was interesting to find out what the average (or at least average internet dwelling) special’s shift was like.

Tags: , , , , , ,

3 Responses to “On The Other Hand…”

  1. John says:
    September 18th, 2009 5:50 pm

    I still find their target orientated philosophy very worrying. It bears no reflection on the problems they are there to resolve, and only benefits the politicians. The other element is the ridiculous amount of time the police have to spend in custody suites instead of being out on the streets. I have personally witnessed this farce many times while working with Social Services. There is room for huge improvement – and cost savings- in this part of police work. If only they could get some input from some dynamic leaders of industry in oredr to streamline the process there would be benefits for all concerned. Maybe this is the blueprint for a TV series?

  2. ChrisM says:
    September 19th, 2009 2:16 am

    I guess one problem with skipping layers and layers of paperwork (assuming that would be one thing to look at) is the lack of accountability and traceability this could return to their actions.
    Obviously endless/meritless target achieving is a bad thing, but at the same time, do you not want to know if your force is utterly useless at solving vehicle theft related crimes, for example?
    I guess I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, as we’ve talked about this a little before, and we don’t really have massively differing opinions. I think there was a drama based on specials (rather than ‘real’ cops) a few years back, or at least it heavily featured them. It may have had Joe off the shouty program (EastEnders to everyone else) on it.

  3. John says:
    September 19th, 2009 4:39 am

    Chris, there is a real problem with mega-bureaucracy which people at grass roots levels could help sort out with a courageous management. Agreed, there has to be enough accurate information for the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) to work with in this increasing litigious world. But it really is over-the-top. How about putting the judiciary out on patrol on the streets for a few months. The politicians can’t be there – as I would send them out to the front line in Afghanistan !