To think the police are useless?

[RainbowsAndCrystals]

In my 20s I've been around many people that have had bad experiences with them and say how useless they are.

Something happened to me a month ago and it was caught on cctv.

Firstly the police said I had to get the evidence myself. So I had to ask around for cctv ... very difficult when people don't want to be involved and you're someone with zero authority.

Now a month later and they still haven't bothered to look at the footage.

It's so disheartening and almost like they have sided with the criminals.

I think they also end up dealing with so much pointless shit all the time which takes them away from their core role. People calling 999 coz kids are playing football. People calling 999 to report a party. People calling 999 over and over again because there are no mental health services to help them. If anyone watched ambulance last week and the pointless shit they have to deal with, the police ain't that different.
people expect the police to deal with things coz they can't sort their own bloody lives out. If they were just used for true crime then things would be better.
Oh and whilst ranting, a lot of this has to be blamed on the media who report every little mistake which the public latch onto and authorities have to bow to the pressure and put in some more paperwork/ legislation/bullshit which takes even more people away from the day job.
Oh and they get paid peanuts. Seriously I earn several times more that a police officer and just behind a desk sending emails all day. Crazy!

Yet we're in a time of austerity and can't afford them

TORY AUSTERITY IS NOT TRUE.

Oh and they get paid peanuts.

Not true - as the post earlier in the thread states, average experienced police officers are very well paid, far more than national average wages, not to mention the pension scheme and early retirement.

I think they also end up dealing with so much pointless shit all the time which takes them away from their core role. People calling 999 coz kids are playing football. People calling 999 to report a party.

Calls aren't actually handled by serving police officers, you know....

Oh yes they are .......

*We as a nation, voted Tory. We knew that meant cuts - even more cuts - to public services. That's police, the fire service, the nhs, teachers, all those things we want to work well, and about which we complain when they're not up to snuff.

We did this.*

I didn't vote Tory. But broadly agree with this in many ways. I watch social media and see people frothing about foreigners, or believing wholly in those benefits programmes made by chinless upper middle class wonders whose mummy & daddy had the money to support them through their year's internship

We are so encouraged to hate that many people will vote to cut off their nose to spite their faces. ie being working class yet voting for a party that doesn't give a fuck about the working classes, doesn't have to live with the consequences of not giving a fuck after all they're not affected by cuts to services we use. & so, here we are.

Even a police chief spoke out about the disgraceful cuts to police services by Teresa May, and her ignoring the clear dangers that represents

If the Torys are thought to be the lesser of 2 evils, backed by a heavily biased right wing media machie that seem to be believed in almost wholesale, then here we are.I t seems we cannot have it both ways so we shouldn't expect to

Cuts have effects

They are call handlers but they don't also go out on the beat was my point. Those calls may well be a pain in the arse but constables aren't not solving crime or not going out to see someone whose been attacked because they are sat at the desk picking up a 999 call about a party.

We are so encouraged to hate that many people will vote to cut off their nose to spite their faces

Truth spoken!!!!

Today's so-called austerity is just a handy excuse for a minority of crap staff/management in lots of areas of public sector to continue being crap

Sadly I have to agree. Nobody with sense denies that "cuts" have an effect, but they can so easily become an excuse for what's actually downright incompetence - the same incompetence we saw during the years when money was thrown at public services (but unfortunately without any real accountability put in place)

All that extra money didn't produce better managers/systems then and I've seen nothing to convince me it would do so now

The police pension scheme is totally self funded as far as I am aware, and the pay shed loads each month. Inspectors and above get zero overtime, so no financial recompense for being called out and working all hours.

Dumbo - not sure where you are in the UK (Humberside?) but no force has lost 50% of their budget.

They spend 80% on pay so losing 50% ( particularly in one year) would be unsustainable as cops can't be made redundant. I'll find a link to the figures but average reductions since 2010 are approx 20% cash (25% real).

Inspectors and above get zero overtime, so no financial recompense for being called out and working all hours.

That's standard for management. In any industry. You are paid to get the job done, irrespective of the hours put in.

PURITS Actually no, it isn’t normal to work 112 hours a week.

Kazzy what you posted about your colleugue not wanting to attend an incident at a council estate rings bells with me.

Two years ago in the summer a snake got into my flat Neither the RSPCA or the police wanted to attend. It was crawling up my kitchen wall. Police told me "not our job" I had a thread on here at the time and there was no shortage of MNers lining up to tell me it wasnt the polices job either. (i had called 101 not 999) Not the polices job...........ok fine.

Except it suddenly did become their job when someone in a Hampstead suburb found the same snake in their garden. Instant attendance.

stillvicar i think you do a great job. Im not criticizing individual officers but do think there is a classist undercurrent in police culture.

Do you actually have any idea how few police officers are on duty at any one time?

I was in McDonald's at the weekend with a police officer friend who was saying that they had more staff on duty at that branch than in the entire county area she works on a weekend evening/night shift.

Instead of complaining about the police on here how about you go and join as a special constable and give them a hand.

PURITS Actually no, it isn’t normal to work 112 hours a week.

If they worked every second of the day, 7 days a week that would total 168 hours. As a response to a major incident, I can believe, but i refuse to believe that it is a week in, week out reality. Like any job with management responsibilities you have to stay until the job is done and to expect overtime when you're tanning the arse off the thick end of 50k is a bit of a cheek

If you can provide evidence to back up a pattern of those hours sustained over months and years, I'll gladly reconsider my view.

Please if anyone feels they can do any better than be my guest. I manage a team of (supposed to be 20, and that's after the cuts) we have 15 on paper, there are always people off, courses, leave court etc. So on average have about 10 officers. Last night we worked out that we were responsible for about 26,000 people each.
Each and every one of my officers work tirelessly to do the very best they can day in and day out. We literally NEVER have the breaks we are entitled to and quite frankly you are doing well if you get to go to the loo!
Over the weekend we have dealt with some truly terrible stuff.
It's not an excuse but it is a reason. Everyone is working as hard as they can (plenty off sick because they worked harder than they can). Please don't blame the officers.
I've been up for about 36 hours (I actually can't count) because my child care let me down and I had to stay up after nights so feeling particularly techy. I usually let these things ride.

In Scotland serving officers are answering calls because they can't afford civilians. Fact.

But why have none of the police on this thread addressed the fact that many of the experiences posters have had on this thread happened yrs ago under labour, before the cuts?

I am grateful for the police but that doesn't mean I can't criticise certain practices.

I have worked with the police on a professional basis and have been surprised to find that approx 1/10 tell actual lies and are all round bad eggs. A further 1 or 2 out of 10 are excellent and really care. The ones in the middle mainly just cba.

On a personal level, on the 2 occasions I have needed assistance in my 34 years on this planet, I got the cba ones.

So has anyone on this thread who works for the police ever witnesses corruption, incompetence, laziness, power tripping amongst colleagues?

Wasn't there a survey in 2015 that showed almost half off those (from the sample) who witnessed corruption wouldn't report it?

witnessed 🤦🏻‍♀️

It depends what happened to you and how serious the crime was.

But why have none of the police on this thread addressed the fact that many of the experiences posters have had on this thread happened yrs ago under labour, before the cuts?

I don't know many officers that were in the police when Labour were running up massive debt in power.

The average police service length is 7 years. In some forces they barely make it out of training and the worst retention areas find 30% of people leave before completing their training so less than 2 years.

I can't believe that so many people just think police officers just swan around and choose which jobs they pursue when they feel like it.

Sometimes theres just 2 officers policing my town of 50,000 people. If they get 3 fights called in and a burglary plus a vulnerable missing person which job do you think is the most important? Roll on 2 hours and while still on 1 missing person search they get another fight and a domestic. Should they just stop looking for that vulnerable young person and go to the domestic?

You are being ignorant as to how the police work and what they deal with. As I said previously If you really think it's an easy job go and join yourself. Oh and my friend despite having more than 7 years service in has clocked up over 6 months worth of unpaid time off that she is not allowed to take due to staff shortages and cannot be paid for because theres no extra money available. And she lost most of that time off owed to her because you cant carry more than a few days over to next year.

And she pays 14% of her salary into her pension so dont bother with that shit that she doesn't pay for her pension either

I have close friends in the Met & have worked in the legal
profession so yep ignorant.

When did I state they didn't pay for their pension?

Ok so because you don't know any police from that time peoples experiences are not valid?

Let's try it another way why do you think so many people are mistrustful/have an issue with the police?