To think policing is pretty poor in this country?

[EasyPleasey]

I'm sure there are lots of excellent and well meaning individual police officers. However, my dealings with them in the past decade have been:

1. Reported a sexual assault. CCTV available, public area. Case closed not investigated.

2. Reported a burglary. Very likely suspect told to them, they didnt investigate, they didnt have time, case closed.

3. Spent ages writing to them about suspected fraud on a now deceased person. Never followed up by police.

4. Reported a fraudulent car sale/theft complete with names and addresses, nothing done.

5. Reported regular criminal damage to private property, some teenagers smashing outdoor lights and garden furniture in my road, £1000s of damage. Police said it's worse in other areas and did nothing.

But now I see police loitering round Tesco enforcing that one puts 'non essential' socks in their trolley, harassing people for using their front garden, I think where did they find all this time? Maybe a lot actually enjoy having the power to order people around, but solving crimes isnt a passion for many of them?

Good find Neville, problem is they only released that guidance to officers yesterday

@Fenellapitstop What problem is that?

Expecting Police Forces to actually look at the legislation enacted a few weeks ago and realising it did not include 'can't sit on a bench for a rest in a park' or 'must not buy an easter egg' or ' illegal to buy a newspaper everyday'.

Because it was clear to me that the legislation didn't say that and it's actually sad and deeply worrying that Police forces have had to have it spelled out to them.

People
Of
Little
Intelligence
Criminalising
Everything

You don't need to sleep in your car FFS. Follow basic advice

Why have i seen medical staff lauded for sleeping in tents in their garages and otherwise separating from their families in the media?

No one’s told them ffs have a shower.

Basic advice also includes not staying with at risk relatives Neville - which is what I normally do between shifts - so take your 'advice' and apply it where it is required . As for the rest ... thanks but I'm already practising what you preach

@GlummyMcGlummerson This article is a good one too.

www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2020/04/15/stop-shaming-this-crisis-calls-for-generosity-not-denunciati

No idea why they're being lauded for doing that Michah. They haven't been issued with any instructions to do that at all and the overwhelming majority are not.

People can follow the more stringent advice r.e those shielding if they like but it is a choice if people want to stay away from home, not a necessity or something they have to do.

And what's their plan? COVID isn't going away any time soon so..? Not go home for months or even more than a year potentially?

singingbird135

If you think our police service is bad you should look at other countries. You'd be shocked. We are sheltered on this island.

I am so sick of that bullshit argument, repeated so often it's a cliche.

I come from one of those "other countries".
Have a google of the "Roastbusters" rape gang if you want just one small example of that. One was the son of a police officer and they totally got away with it.

So I'm not "shocked" and I still find the English police wanting.

I don't think we should be proud to be better than hopeless, should we? How about aiming for competent and doing what's promised on the box - for women too?

If you think our police service is bad you should look at other countries.

Would that extend to putting up with a shit job by a builder on the basis that there are even more shit builders out there ?

No. So it's got nothing to do with the standard - or otherwise - of UK police.

Of course! And if you go to a restaurant and they bring you the wrong meal or a burnt one, you should eat and pay for it anyway AND be grateful because some people don't have enough to eat.

Is it the police that are shit, or the lack of police that is shit? Let’s not slag off an entire organisation because they are underfunded and understaffed.
How many of you so willingly to slag my colleagues off on an anonymous forum have been assaulted at work? Have had colleagues murdered at work? Have had to tell parents that their child has died? Have had to risk your own life to stop someone taking their own?
I’m not saying every single police officer in the UK are the very best they could be. Just like you can’t say every doctor, nurse, teacher, supermarket worker etc have no faults either but the majority of the police officer I work alongside are incredible people and I am proud that they’re apart of my family.
The police are not ‘overzealous’ when asking people to follow Covid-19 guidelines. Every time a police officer speaks with you they put their own health and family’s health at risk. There have been minimal fines issued because we’re actually not just power crazed people who get off on making people pay £30. We genuinely believe in supporting the NHS so would rather educate.
And the person who say WPC (most outdated term, well done 👍) are the worst - you can fuck right off.

I have experienced most of those things @PinkFlamingo888. Senior mental health nurse for years in criminal justice.

And I can say that having those experiences doesn't mean I get to dismiss the woeful treatment and service that many people experience.

I know numerous excellent nurses, probation officers, Police and prison staff. Doesn't mean there aren't a lot of shit, neglectful and abusive ones and that the services as a whole shouldn't be questioned.

So if someone says 'are MH services in this country pretty shit as a whole' or 'are prison MH services usually shit' i'll agree despite my experience of all the people who ARE receiving excellent care.

If someone says that and I come on a thread saying 'well you couldn't do it, we're busy and underfunded and I have PTSD from physically trying to hold someones skull together when it had been stamped on repeatedly in a prison yard' (which is true..) and the numerous other horrors i've been involved with..

That would make me a dick trying to shut down discussion by relating my personal experiences which actually have fuck all to do with someone complaining they were let down or treated badly by another MH worker or the system as a whole.

Its called being a professional and not seeing any critiscism of a service as a personal attack and childishly saying 'bet you couldn't do it' or 'but it's a hard job, we do this...'

Somebodysringingabell

Or we could say the exact opposite - your bad experience doesn’t make the police as a whole ‘poor’. I’m sorry for anyone who has had a bad experience and I don’t doubt that it has happened however what is the point of slagging off an entire service where the majority of officers would literally risk their lives for you?

If I was to generalise in this same way in my profession I would be held accountable for it, and quite rightly too. All I’m saying is it’s unhelpful to slag of someone just by the job they choose to do. And yes, I do take it personally. Sorry.

But the police are rarely held to account. They investigate their own misdemeanours. Officers leave on full pension rather than being dismissed. Awful things have happened but they are rarely held accountable. I never feel the service is a profession either. I wouldn’t say I have ever had any encounter with a police office I fully respect. I have been told it’s not their job, it’s too much work, and nothing is investigated. I’m a middle aged, middle class, well off woman and I get the impression I just have to suck up crime. I would like to respect the police but I don’t.

The experience I related had nothing to do with me the Police Pink. Where did you get that from? Are you a bit paranoid perhaps?

I didn't criticise the Police AT ALL in terms of my experiences.

But even if I did, as a grown up professional you need to not take it personally. It's childish, unprofessional and self-centred to do that.

It's not 'slagging off an entire service' in terms of the whole of this thread, its raising questions and concerns about a service which should be answered and not dismissed with pathetic 'but i've had a hard time' 'we're not all like that' 'I bet you couldn't do it' excuses.

It's not about YOU. Its about the shit service some people have endured and it's absolutely valid for them to say so without you refusing to acknowledge it and bringing your own sad experiences into it hoping to shut them down.

Public services SHOULD be questioned by the public.

I meant you as in anybody, I realised after I wrote it that it may not be clear but wasn’t actually meaning you personally, sorry for any confusion.

I’m not going to continue this discussion because I don’t want to say more than I should but my point really was just that we shouldn’t be tarring everyone with the same brush. I hope none of you ever need us but if you do hopefully you’ll get a better response in the future. Please don’t prejudge though as that’s unlikely to help the situation.

I think I’d rather have our police than those of many other countries tbh. It’s like when folk slag off the UK as being an place

We shouldn't be grateful because some countries have Police raping and shooting people in the streets or their own homes FFS.

@PicsInRed I come from the same country - and I didn't realise that one of those 'little gems' was the son of a police officer! Refresh my memory - was it Rotorua again?

Disagree - Overall and being realistic we should be grateful for our police. Why don’t those saying otherwise join and make your mark

I honestly believe that police officers that work without thinking a gun will solve everything and anything are doing good work. Some are arseholes. Elsewhere, they'd be arseholes with guns.

There are a lot of different issues mentioned on this thread but the ones in the OP all come down to one thing - lack of funding. There is a huge shortage of detectives in particular. The police officers I know are devastated when they have to keep closing cases because there aren’t enough officers to deal with them. They don’t enjoy doing it, they’d much rather actually solve crime! This government undervalues and underfunds public servants, whether that’s nurses or teachers or police officers.

The police make shed loads in overtime and many retire early on very good pensions. We pay for all public sector pensions to the time of £13 billion each year. Not really underpaid when everyone else gets £0 from the government towards their pensions.

Time ... tune

I’ve never met a devastated police officer. I’ve met some who make excuses and are not remotely interested.

I actually think that policing doesn’t attract the best brains because of the lack of fast track that’s respected. Existing police officers seem to think that the brighter grad recruits are dodging the slog. However so many crimes need brains as well as police expertise. A certain type of person joins the police but if high calibre grads can fly high somewhere else, they do.