Well no one saw that coming did they

Too true the above post............

Never mind a working knowledge, what about knowledge, they aren't police officers and can't replace them.
 

Radders - It's all well and good having more Officers on the beat and reducing response teams, but ultimately we are also an emergency service and our ability to respond to emergencies has been compromised under this latest fad.  Certainly where I work, Neighbourhood teams do not work full nights.  24/7 response teams have been reduced to meet the requirements of neighbourhood Policing and consequently, on nights at the very least, we are stretched even further.  It hasn't been put fully to the test yet - but god alone only knows how we'll manage the next time there is a critical incident during nights, or for instance the local night club kicks off and they're fighting six deep!  We're currently working well below what was once deemed to be minimum staffing levels.  That surely cannot be right.  Neighbourhood Policing may reassure some sections of our community, but I wonder at what cost in the long term.  Perhaps had the money spent on PCSOs been spent on more real Police Officers, there may have been sufficient Officers to deploy on foot patrol, whilst maintaining an essential emergency response to more immediate matters.  Instead, I personally don't think this new scheme can be fully maintained for any significant period of time and the Officers you see now patrolling your local area are likely to be replaced by PCSOs sooner than you may think... as they are clearly destined to be in Devon and Cornwall.

Edited by Morek54

I would strongly agree with Morek. Having been in the same situation myself. I was the only one on my team at my station for about 6 months collecting probationers on nights to double crew with from the nearest nick if anyone was available. I would often go out alone as I have never minded single patrol.............. however I digress.

Now a trainer I have been given the package of what we are going to roll out ' subject to approval from ACPO' for the PCSOs. I can't give secrets but their role will be very similar (on paper) to  anyone who was an officer who joined just after PACE was introduced in their first couple of years.

 

With due respect to the PCSOs and they have sorted nuisance kids in my area where nothing was done for years. They are going to stumble and fall with the paperwork side of things a pilot scheme for issuesing level 1 and 2 PNDs has been an utter disaster due to the evidential segment being woefully inedaquate for CPS if the PND isn't paid.

 

Unless the PCSOs are totaly restructured they will fail badly when their new powers are introduced.

 

So mote it be !

Could not agree more with morek54s' comments. it seems those responsible for the police service are determined to pigeon hole officers into little groups/teams, each one having their own command team with its own agenda, this leaves a few (usually the response teams) to pick up the pieces and sort out the jobs. As a controller here are some of the reasons I regularly here -

- incident did not occur on our beat, even though the aggrieved does live there, someone else to deal.

- not part of our remit, someone else to deal.

- there is nobody free to deal, because the officer whose beat it is; is busy with paperwork/commited at a borough council/local school pta meeting, someone else to deal. 

Now how about this as an extreme suggestion, get rid of all the neighbourhood police teams/ problem solving teams etc and just have a shift with a large number of officers that work 24/7. Put some of those officers double crewed in a car which could be called the "Area cars" who would deal only with the emergancy jobs, put others single crewed in "enquiry cars", these could deal with non emergancy jobs, other officers could also be sent out on foot patrol in the towns and housing estates. the officers could then be rotated around the different jobs ensuring that no one officer or group of officers get burried under a mountain of paperwork and enquiries, it would also mean that when the stuff hits the fan when the clubs and pubs kick out in the early hours of the morning officers would have some back up nearby. Stop wiping the backside of the local busy bodies,(there are far to many councillors who want their own pet police officer) only go to meetings if there is something relevent for the police and then leave once that item has been dealt with. This maybe against the local politically correct approach of todays police service, but from experience of speaking to the general public on a daily basis and friends and relatives who have nothing to do with the police, the general impressions given is they don't give a toss about the name of their local police officer all they want to know is that when they call the police, officers are going to attend within a reasonable time period, not next week.

 

 

Edited by LITTLE GIBBO

Watch out, things that are successful in the police force, usually get disgarded, especially if thought up by someone below the rank of Chief Supt.

Little Gibbo,

What you are suggesting is merely fire fighting policing, which won't solve any of the root causes/ persistant offenders as everyone is too busy running round answering calls to want to put the extra effort for a more long term policing answer.

How about this? The government stop wasting money sending troops abroad and employ more police and build more prisons... Oh and sort out the NHS (whose shortfall could probably be erased by removing the ministry of diversity and political correctness)

 

Sorry went off on one there

bluearsedfly -

you describe my suggestion as the fire fighting method, is that not what we do now ? if there were shifts with a large numbers of officers perhaps we could get back to proactive rather than reactive policing, because officers would be able to patrol their area, rather than (please excuse the pun) charge around from job to job like a blue arsed fly!!  this in itself would allow officers to give those persistent offenders a harder time, it would also reasure the public if they at least saw a police car patroling around from time to time.

Edited by LITTLE GIBBO