To think that Privatising the Police is a bad idea?

[NarkedPuffin]

Here.

The Tories have finally gone insane.

Quote from Guardian:

The breathtaking list of policing activities up for grabs includes investigating crimes, detaining suspects, developing cases, responding to and investigating incidents, supporting victims and witnesses, managing high-risk individuals, patrolling neighbourhoods, managing intelligence

Cutting the numbers of police on the streets and having fewer, unqualified people investigating crimes is bound to help.

Cutting police on the streets is a new thing then? Tories did it did they? Ummmmm I've not seen a bobby on the streets for far longer than that.

Think forms/red tape, unable to proform out there happened a bit longer ago.

20% cuts in Whitehall funding.

Whatever has happened in the past, is cutting funding to the police likely to help? Is allowing untrained people to investigate crimes going to help?

perform even

behind scenes Leg work will.

Not that I want this to happen but they are (all mainstream parties) paving the way for their own demise.

Exactly Fidakahlo. Sits here with head in hands

'Behind scenes leg work'? This isn't just about support staff. This is about allowing those employed by private companies to arrest people amongst other things!

Well as there's no alternative in England - unless you're a bigot or consider the Greens electable - you work with what you've got.

Oh so they're just going to shove anyone in there then? training happens whether it be privatised or public.

Bigot? wonder how long this would take

I can guess the next strong word to take place

I meant "wondered" of course

Oooh, private police? Pick me! Pick me! I've seen Sherlock.

It seems a bit Terry Pratchettan though. Giving people lots of money for solving crimes. Bonusses for solving more crimes... quotas, competition between rival police companies vying for contracts....

It doesn't strike me as an ideal environment for the fair application of the law.

???? I meant that the only other parties to get candidates elected at local government level are the BNP and the Green party AFAIK

Only if you've been trained psammead

Hello fascism.

Oh and the dreaded "R" word appears

Fuck it... throws in elf and safety for good measure

R word? Robocop?

dribbles at the thought of robocop What a hero

yay freelance police! i'm in

What do we need the government for if they're not going to even provide basic law and order?

Are the Tories anarchists now?

Tax really does start to seem like theft if money I earn is taken off me for the "government" to give to private firms.

If private firms are going to do the policing and there is no public service at all, then why can't I just hire my own bodyguard and opt out of general policing?

Nice post, tribpot

Can't link from my phone but should be something in the Lincolnshire echo about what's happening here

I work in the "supporting victims and witnesses" part of my local police. I have mixed feelings about the proposals. Our custody centres were farmed out to Reliance custody management when I joined in 2004 and it is very sucessful. There is no conflict of interest and it is generally considered more cost effective than it was when custody centres were manned by police officers/staff.
Just because a company is run for profit does not mean that they cannot offer decent services, i am musing a bit here, but there are so many political forces in play in our police service that I honestly do not think that commercialism will make a great deal of difference in the investigation of Mrs X's shed break. Indeed, a commercial element may stop a lot of investigations that were never going anywhere or involved petty disagreements. The amount of public money wasted in the police service investigating "malicious texts", "threats via facebook" and "harassment" where, 20 years ago, both parties would have been told to pull themselves together and grow up, is obscene. The police service as a whole is a very wasteful, inefficient machine.
Serious crimes like rape, GBH, death by dangerous driving etc will never be farmed out to the commercial sector.
You may wish to consider that the prosecutors that actually present the most serious cases in crown court are simply agents working for commercial criminal chambers.
That said, I can see potential effects of commercialism on the levels of service we would be able to offer vulnerable victims/witnesses which are currently quite expensive but don't necessarily result in a conviction or even in a trial going ahead. This relates specifically to my area of work/expertise where we are already beginning to notice the effects of cuts on domestic violence provisions, the cutbacks in CPS lawyers leading to more and more ineffective and cracked trials (costing thousands) because cases aren't being reviewed in time because there are no lawyers to do it, cuts in support services to victims and witnesses. Trials are often double and treble booked, leading to lots of trials being postponed again and again because there isn't time to hear them. This again costs a fortune in getting witnesses to court/officers spending the day sitting in a courthouse for a trial that doesn't happen.

If the Government are serious about saving money in the criminal justice system they need to start with the criminal trial process which is astoundingly inefficient and wasteful