For the attention of Tom Winsor, Nick Herbert, Theresa April and David Cameron.
Much has been said by certain sections of the press and public, as well as by politicians, about the sustainability of the current system of policing in the UK. The most spectacularly cynical and inaccurate article appeared in the Telegraph. You can read it here if your stomach can stand it. It is crammed full with fallacies ranging from straw men to question begging. Sadly, it's exactly this type of thinking that the police service is up against. I could write an entire blog posting on the flawed logic and bias of Palmer's article, but I won't do that here. Another time, perhaps.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I was a Special Constable for a period of about 8 years before I left, mainly due to the introduction of PCSOs. Demoralizing and undermining police officers is not the exclusive position of the Tories. Labour have also put the boot in over the years.
I usually don't care much for war stories, but I'm going to give you one of my own now. It seems a fitting time to do so, as Policing Minister Nick Herbert MP is currently at the Police Federation Annual Conference, and Theresa April, Government Office of Incompetence, is due tomorrow. That's if she gets the date correct.
It was 2002. I had gone out for the evening to Milton Keynes with my wife, and another couple who were friends of ours. John (not his real name) was a "regular" Constable and "Rachel" was another Special Constable.
We'd arrived a little early so were standing outside our venue waiting to get in. We stood chatting for a while, when I became aware of an argument breaking out behind us. I turned around and saw that this was a row between a male and a female. As the row escalated, the female drew a knife and said to the male in no uncertain terms that if he didn't go away, she would attack him with the knife.
I nudged John. Rachel had already been watching events unfold and the three of us made our way over towards the female, while my wife went to fetch the venue security officers, so that they could call the police. We could not afford to make a call and stand back as we could not be sure how the situation would develop. If we had remained where we were, and someone had been stabbed, then we would have been investigated for not doing our duty. As it turned out, the female surrendered the weapon without any argument, as no force was required to detain her until the local officers arrived.
Not exactly dramatic, I know. My point is that there is NO OTHER JOB in the UK where someone who is off duty would be morally and legally obliged to step into such a situation of potential danger. That situation could easily have become life threatening to any of us, and we'd have had no protective equipment (e.g. baton or CS spray) or radios to summon assistance.
Nor do I claim that this was a special case. Any officer you choose to speak to will have some such story to tell. Most will have several.
Of course doctors, nurses, fire officers and other workers will have encountered situations where they have had to unexpectedly get involved in a situation when not at work. What make this different, for me, is that nearly all the scenarios we deal with are, or have the potential to be, confrontational and pose a significant - sometime life threatening - risk to the individual. Myself and Rachel weren't even paid for the responsibility that we held.
The office of Constable is a special, unique institution. Turning officers into mere employees erodes that position. Short-sighted ideological changes, which contribute NOTHING to eliminating the UK debt, destroy it totally. The Police Service in the UK has operated on the goodwill of its rank and file officers for too long. This government is going to irreparably damage the service. People and communities will suffer.
The Government stopped respecting and appreciating the police many years ago, at some time in the 1990s. However, this current Government is the straw that broke the camel's back.
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