Profound statement from Chief Constable

[Walker570]

New recruits to the force lack life experience.  Unfortunately they cannot get a degree in life experience and they cannot find an app on their mobiles. I joined at 22 years and must admit I learned very quickly in 13 weeks at training college in 1962 with a great bunch of ex military lads. Kept my head down, eyes and ears open.  Out on the streets we had hard nosed Sergeants with a lifetimes experience in the job to help and guide us. Today they expect to be Inspectors in four or five years.  

I wrote a letter back in 1974 outlining how the police force would decline and I have been proved right in every respect.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Unfortunately it is the way things are done these days. It will not change.

 

The British Police are a shadow of their former self.

[bruno22rf]

With social media and people like Alex Belfield willing to expose the criminal side of our Police Force the popularity and, dare I say, the reliance, of the Police is no longer acceptable. From respecting the force 25 years ago I now detest them.

[twenty]

As Above, Respect has turned to Contempt, especially amongst the younger generations.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, my relative joined the force about the same time and went up through the ranks from bobby on the beat to a top ranking officer and from what was the way of policing then it seems a different era from today, 

[lakeside1000]

1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

With social media and people like Alex Belfield willing to expose the criminal side of our Police Force the popularity and, dare I say, the reliance, of the Police is no longer acceptable. From respecting the force 25 years ago I now detest them.

I cannot believe the lengths the police go to to offend the general public , the people who pay their wages, from coffee on a park bench, persecuting presenters on you tube, taking the knee to extremist movements, plus many more disgusting occurrences, many filmed by bystanders in full view of the public, my wife and I are in our 70's but would defend ourselves and our home rather than rely on a police force that cannot be trusted and would probably not even turn up if you called them. 

If I ever get stopped or questioned by them I am in total fear of being arrested on trumped up charges with little hope of proving innocence, even when I am not actually doing anything wrong.

As a lad growing up in Wiltshire we knew all the local 'bobbies' some by name , almost all would stop for a chat , even when we were hanging around in groups, they were friendly , helpful and always willing to give good advice without prejudice, I personally respected anyone in a uniform, both my parents were ex RAF and also taught us to respect authority, 

My boys both mistrusted the police , growing up in the 80's and 90's only seeing police in cars hunting the local area for a chance to bang a ticket on someone, now thankfully we never see any police , in cars or otherwise , My grandchildren would run a mile if approached by police and distrust all of them, regarding them as the enemy and something to be feared. in my opinion a very sad state to be in, 

[Centrepin]

1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

New recruits to the force lack life experience.  Unfortunately they cannot get a degree in life experience and they cannot find an app on their mobiles. I joined at 22 years and must admit I learned very quickly in 13 weeks at training college in 1962 with a great bunch of ex military lads. Kept my head down, eyes and ears open.  Out on the streets we had hard nosed Sergeants with a lifetimes experience in the job to help and guide us. Today they expect to be Inspectors in four or five years.  

I wrote a letter back in 1974 outlining how the police force would decline and I have been proved right in every respect.

I think it went to pot when they stopped hiring "big chaps" and wanted college and university degrees and let them ride round in cars.

Growing up I remember the school Bobby and the local foot patrol bobbies. Always around, always ready with a joke always offering advice on the mad projects we built, carts and trolleys down the hill. No traffic or parked cars then. Very strict but also fair. Never remember the clip round the ear, don't think it ever happened but I do remember being "asked" do you really want me to take you home and tell your dad? Enough said there.

After I joined the Army and came home again everything seemed to have changed, bobbies were never seen and when you did see them they always seemed to be antagonist, certainly too busy to pass the time of day.

Bobbies became coppers, not the friendly folk they used to be. Someone to avoid not speak to.

Move on a few decades and look now. Short fat, totally unfit, useless, couldn't stop a runny nose. Arrogant and rude. Travel generally two up in cars. Ignore anything that may happen like known criminals hanging about but shout at children for cycling on the pavement or just playing loudly.

The whole force needs a shake up, plus I think after the shake up it needs increasing by at least 200%. 150% of them being permanent beat bobbies not potential chief superintendents. 

Bring back the height and fitness requirements.

[clangerman]

entire system is broke five star prison accommodation judges with no idea of the real world police priority speeders over drug dealers cps dropping prosecutions over cost all madness 

[oldypigeonpopper]

32 minutes ago, clangerman said:

entire system is broke five star prison accommodation judges with no idea of the real world police priority speeders over drug dealers cps dropping prosecutions over cost all madness 

Hello, drugs have been the bain of our country for years, I don't mean waccy baccy in the 1960s , those that import, make, sell,  should be fed with their own drugs until they die, 1000s of lives and family life have been ruined, now drug gangs rule the streets in many areas of UK, and the consequences of that are stabbings and houses, cars, and people, smashed up frequently 

Edited May 19, 2021 by oldypigeonpopper

[oowee]

 Having read the above i am mostly lost for words. Without the rose tinted specs the force is so much better for being more open and transparent than it was in days past. We now have a far better idea of what they do and what they should do. We might moan about the lack of resources but as with other public resources no one wants to vote for a tax rise. 

Go abroad and experience other police forces to see how much better are service is.  

[bottletopbill]

Those were the day's when you turned around  a copper was there  on push bikes or the old grey Velo  .  No radios but they knew what was going on in there area  and had there ear's to the ground .  But they were respected now a Joke .Form filling and kept indoors unless you visit a BP garage in Sidcup at least two there every time i pass

[ditchman]

my god................a new virus..........an outbreak of common sense...............govt' must get on top of it.......

side effects...................thinking for your self

 

we are all doomed

[Lloyd90]

The problem is when you complain about modern society and compare it to the ‘good old days’ your living in fantasy land. 
 

in the 70’s and 80’s we also had nurse training schools, we didn’t need to put nurses through Degree’s to do the work then do... 

We had apprentices ... they didn’t need to do degrees to learn about Engineering and other specialisms ... 

 

 

In the MODERN future, the reason they need these things is because practically every single (professional) job I can think of has been wo up skilled that the level of skill and expertise has gone up 10x . 
 

Nurses now carry out care and procedures that in the past only a doctor would do. 
 

Engineering work these days makes engineering feats in the past look like children’s play. 
 

Police these days are dealing with crime and criminal organisations which is significantly more complicated and organised than we have ever seen before. 
 

Police resources are low, and as much as people would like to see a Bobby walking around on the beat, chatting to kids and helping old ladies cross the street, that is not reflective of the requirement of modern Police work. 
 

 

We have those who likes to boast about their attendance of the ‘University of life’ and say how they left school at age 7 and didn’t do too badly ... well try that today in this modern world, it’s not comparable... 

 

The starting pay of a Police constable is £21,402. 
 

I now after many years of work in employment and going to university as a mature student have what I’d consider significant ‘life experience’ in a field that works alongside the Police on very complex issues, and degree qualifications. 
 

I wouldn’t get out of bed for £21k these days! 
 

 

The vast majority of people going to university are 18-21 years old, most straight from A levels, so 18... they do 3 year degree and then straight into the Police. They get them before they have any other sort of real employment. 
 

Why would anyone who’s got a degree that has found any sort of real employment, and then gained significant life experience (say 5+ years), Jack it all in to join the Police for £21k, just to experience the attitudes shown in this thread? 
 

Being treated with contempt  and abuse from the public. 

 

[JTaylor91]

21k for a starting PC is ridiculous considering the **** hours and the people you’d have to deal with. 17k less than the National average salary for full time employment. 

[Lloyd90]

1 hour ago, JTaylor91 said:

21k for a starting PC is ridiculous considering the **** hours and the people you’d have to deal with. 17k less than the National average salary for full time employment. 

Exactly. 
 

Job requirements: 

- Must have significant life experience.

- Must be able to work all hours, day or night, weekends and public holidays. 
- Must be willing to work on high risk situations, taking abuse from criminals, receive limited public support and if you make any mistakes be slated on social media and the news. 
- Must be educated to higher education (mostly degree) level ... must also be willing to sit multiple exams, do courses and training. 
- Must be willing to work with child abuse, domestic violence, serious assaults, drug dealers, and all

other forms of horrible goings on. 
 

Starting pay ... £21,402... 

 

Wonder how many would be willing to do the job, rather than just complain about it as per the norm... 

[Westward]

Back in the mid 19th Century there was much debate in parliament about whether or not to establish a permanent police service. The fear amongst MPs was that in a society which still valued and clung on to it's traditional freedoms, there was risk that the police would become difficult or even impossible to control. In the event, when the police service was setup it was regulated by the Police Charter. Today, having sleepwalked into the loss, curtailment or limitation of so many of our historical freedoms, we now have a police force which is exactly what those parliamentarians most feared. Today's police force is a self determining, propaganda driven para military response force that keeps as clear as possible of contact with the law abiding public and which pays only lip service to the Home Office. Anyone who still believes that we have policing by consent and that the police are answerable to the elected government via the Home Office is living in fantasyland.

Ask anyone over the age of 50 what they want the police to prioritise and it's 10:1 the answer will be the maintenance of law and order. Then ask a police chief officer what their priority is... Oh and don't believe the propaganda about officer numbers; there are approximately twice as many warranted officers today as in 1960, before the police decided to abolish foot patrols, and around 10 times as many non uniform staff. The ones the police quaintly refer to as "Civilian" staff.

[Walker570]

Spent 28 years at the sharp end. made it quite clear from day one I did not need promotion as I joined to be out on the streets serving the public and not drive a desk and tick boxes and believe me there where some of the upper echelon who did not like that one little bit. I worked nights on my last shift and had  a busy night looking after my beat. 

My job entailed everyhting you could imagine from putting and arm around an old lady who had fallen in the shopping centre to going into a situation where we as a team had been warned we where in danger of being shot .... remember the Black Panther enquiry ?  Well I carried a firearm for twelve months during that period.  I also had to do things no human should be asked to, like knocking on parents door at 1 am to inform them their daughter was laying in the morgue with a broken neck. 

Half the forsce is now tied up either pushing paper or doing jobs the local council should be doing .... how often do we hear the vistims are being cared for by specially trained police officers...  we used to do that without special training. Call in to see if that old lady who had fallen was ok and was back on her feet ETC ETC ETC ETC

Doesn't happen today.    We had a 4x4 Police pickup in the village last week and my wife approach the officer and found out that his job that day was going aroiund villages pushing leaflets through doors .... see what I mean.

oowee ... your living in lah lah land I'm afraid.  

[old man]

Sadly , generally, I avoid them like the plague too where possible.

This includes the so called PCSO's. Proper Policing can't be done on the cheap? Have seen some previously, dressed like storm troopers.

Trust has to be earned in my book and I don't see much about. I do however know a few I would trust.

My personal view, that the politicians have caused most of the distrust, they appear above the law and have consistently weakened our personal status? Our cars now a public place and to defend oneself would  result in arrest so that it gives a lever over you if required in future?

The police and judiciary have also been weakened to the point of being unfit for purpose?

Very sad!

[clangerman]

if you want to see how broke the system is watch c5 now 

[AULD YIN]

When the police are allowed to wear defaced union flag on their uniform (or what is supposed to be  a uniform) it shows their contempt for the flag/country ,it seems they wear whatever they want and as POLICE they are supposed to uphold the law and assume  they are always right. Sorry but to me they are just another gang with legal weapons.

Edited May 20, 2021 by AULD YIN

[henry d]

On 19/05/2021 at 07:13, Walker570 said:

I wrote a letter back in 1974 outlining how the police force would decline and I have been proved right in every respect.

Would it not have been better to have tried to change the system, or could you not do that from your position?

[oowee]

15 hours ago, Walker570 said:

 

oowee ... your living in lah lah land I'm afraid.  

UK 2021 last time i looked. 

[Gordon R]

Whilst I accept the Police are underfunded, they are still the same mix of society as they were many years ago - a mix of excellent, with a few I wouldn't give the time of day.

I will admit to being shocked at the regard with which they are held on this forum. 

oowee is one of the few sticking up for the Police and I am with him on that. I see idiots on TV and out and about with no respect for the Police, but didn't expect to find it on here.

Aside from manpower, I believe the biggest problems are poor leadership and too much paperwork. It needs to be streamlined, so that they can be out and about, rather than tied to a desk. The Philips principle has a lot to answer for.

[amateur]

I, too, don't recognise the police officer descriptions given on here.

Perhaps I have led a sheltered life, but in my very few encounters with the law, I have found them to be courteous and professional. Equally, I am always courteous.

Our daughter and son in law, both graduate serving officers, also behave courteously and professionally. Our inspector SIL does admit to having to reign in some of his less professional team, but that is what good management is all about.

Edited May 20, 2021 by amateur

[clangerman]

anyone in doubt need only watch last nights c5 prog on the murder of bihan ebrahimi a catalogue of police lies laziness and failure none of the officers fired even had the guts to claim their shame how low can you go