Gobsmacked, disbelieving, dismayed, betrayed, saddened, incredulous.
These are all feelings that I have felt over the past few weeks
I’m not going to identify the cases, you’ll either know them or you won’t, so don’t bother asking me as a refusal often offends.
The first is a relatively simple disciplinary matter in the Metropolis that has grown into something much bigger and more complicated than it needs to be. I don’t pretend to know ALL of the details because I most certainly don’t, but the behaviour of some of the officers from Professional Standards appears to fall short of the accepted norm. A document circulated on Twitter this week makes me question the validity of this particular disciplinary process completely.
My personal opinion, and it is exactly that, is that the Met are rather hoping that the officer in question will simply resign. Not sure that’s going to happen.
One word that has been used by others to describe the actions of the DPS officers is ‘bullying’.
The second case I have been made aware of recently will have to remain under wraps. It’s a disciplinary case from a force outside of London and the officers concerned have been treated appallingly. As they haven’t given me the appropriate permission to ‘go public’ I’m afraid I shall have to ask you to take my word for it that this, again, has all the hallmarks of a Force hoping that it can ‘persuade’ its officers to quietly resign and go away.
Finally, on 19th March, a Parliamentary debate took place concerning the behaviour of the Metropolitan Police, specifically, officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards.
In this debate Tessa Munt MP outlines the treatment that 6 Met Territorial Support Officers have allegedly received at the hands of the Met DPS.
Unfortunately the video is approximately an hour and a half long, but a transcript also exists. As Tessa Munt is protected by Parliamentary Privilege, and the video and transcript are both in the public domain I would invite you to view/read them and form your own conclusions.
I have provided links to both below.
Here is the video
Here is the transcript.
Once you have viewed or read them, maybe you will understand the emotions at the beginning of this blog post. If what you have read today concerns you in any way please feel free to share this blog with your friends and followers.
What on earth is the problem with Professional Standards at the moment? I know they have a job to do, but why have they seemingly departed from the Professional’?
If there has been wrongdoing, by ANY Police Officer, then the officer(s) responsible should be dealt with appropriately, but Police and Public alike rely on Professional Standards to do their job properly. Neither Police nor Public can have confidence in the system if SOME DPS officers are going to dig up the goalposts and start running off the pitch with them, for that is what is rumoured to be happening.
I am getting quite sick of saying it but all I want to see and hear is the TRUTH. Is that really too much to expect from a supposedly professional organisation?
I have only watched the first 11 minutes, but it reminded me of the treatment I personally received from the DPS during my police service. They are unscrupulous liars who use the law and regulations when it suits them and when it doesn’t they ignore it, safe in the knowledge no-one holds them to account.
In my last year in the met I found myself under investigation as a result of allegations I made against my corrupt and dishonest management team. DPS did nothing about my allegations (apart from threaten me with action if I kept on making allegations) but when my managers fabricated allegations against me they went right in to bat on their side. On the day of my interview they eventually disclosed 130 pages of evidence expecting me to flick through it in no time at all. They ignored medical evidence from my own GP and the MPS psychiatrist about my fitness to be interviewed, and called in a tame FME who after a few minutes of questions deemed me fit to be interviewed.
They were very surprised when I totally lost it in the interview and they had to terminate it forthwith!
There is lots more, such as investigating allegations of harassment, bullying and other conduct issues fabricated by my managers and only coming up with 2 e-mails that they deemed unacceptable from all this mass of evidence. But when the case went to a hearing DPS tried to write up the facts as I having conducted a campaign of harassment against my managers. Funny that they tried to claim that when their own investigation showed the managers who made the allegation had made it up. But they still tried to mislead the hearing with perjured facts.
I could tell much much more about the DPS, but that should be enough to give a taste of what they are like and their usual MO. I would happily name certain guilty parties with great pleasure but that wouldn’t be fair on Alan’s blog.
But one thing I can tell you………………………..my story is not isolated, a rare event. No, it is being repeated all over the MPS with lots of officers having to go through the stress of being investigated by a unit who are not fit to shovel shit in the local shithouse.
Your last paragraph sums it up nicely. The DPS are not fit for purpose.
I have only watched the first 11 minutes, but it reminded me of the treatment I personally received from the DPS during my police service. They are unscrupulous liars who use the law and regulations when it suits them and when it doesn’t they ignore it, safe in the knowledge no-one holds them to account.
In my last year in the met I found myself under investigation as a result of allegations I made against my corrupt and dishonest management team. DPS did nothing about my allegations (apart from threaten me with action if I kept on making allegations) but when my managers fabricated allegations against me they went right in to bat on their side. On the day of my interview they eventually disclosed 130 pages of evidence expecting me to flick through it in no time at all. They ignored medical evidence from my own GP and the MPS psychiatrist about my fitness to be interviewed, and called in a tame FME who after a few minutes of questions deemed me fit to be interviewed.
They were very surprised when I totally lost it in the interview and they had to terminate it forthwith!
There is lots more, such as investigating allegations of harassment, bullying and other conduct issues fabricated by my managers and only coming up with 2 e-mails that they deemed unacceptable from all this mass of evidence. But when the case went to a hearing DPS tried to write up the facts as I having conducted a campaign of harassment against my managers. Funny that they tried to claim that when their own investigation showed the managers who made the allegation had made it up. But they still tried to mislead the hearing with perjured facts.
I could tell much much more about the DPS, but that should be enough to give a taste of what they are like and their usual MO. I would happily name certain guilty parties with great pleasure but that wouldn’t be fair on Alan’s blog.
But one thing I can tell you………………………..my story is not isolated, a rare event. No, it is being repeated all over the MPS with lots of officers having to go through the stress of being investigated by a unit who are not fit to shovel shit in the local shithouse.
Your last paragraph sums it up nicely. The DPS are not fit for purpose.
The parliamentary debate was incredible and amazing about MPS PSD. The response from MPS leadership was nothing short of pathetic, with reputation management first – on the basis that the “storm would blow over” and not attract public attention.
I’d have to agree that the debate showed MPS DPS in the worst light possible. Time for them to face reality and sort themselves out?
The parliamentary debate was incredible and amazing about MPS PSD. The response from MPS leadership was nothing short of pathetic, with reputation management first – on the basis that the “storm would blow over” and not attract public attention.
I’d have to agree that the debate showed MPS DPS in the worst light possible. Time for them to face reality and sort themselves out?
DPS ‘complaints’ data breakdown, Feb ’14:
http://www.met.police.uk/foi/pdfs/priorities_and_how_we_are_doing/corporate/dps_bsmi_february2014.pdf
+ FOI snippets..
“For the period from February 2013 to January 2014 the MPS has received a total of 1,745 internal complaints, known as ‘Conduct Matters’.
Conduct Matter –
Any matter which is not and has not been the subject of a complaint but in the case of which there is an indication (whether from the circumstances or otherwise) that a person serving with the police may have
(a) committed a criminal offence
(b) behaved in a manner which would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings
Our internal Complaints and Discipline System only began to record reports of ‘Wrongdoing’ within the last year but we cannot guarantee that they have been accurately recorded in the correct format as complaints are received through various channels, line managers or through the ‘Rightline’ system where the informant does not need to identify themselves.”
[Hope you can make more sense of this than I can – if it’s of interest..]
Yes – come on you Met/DPS guys ‘n gals!
Why do we need to rely more and more for the truth on whistleblowers or FOI requests or revelations issued under Parliamentary privilege?
Isn’t it time we all put the truth first and blew our own whistles?
Don’t only let those ogres above – who it seems more & more should be swept away in a cleaning frenzy – speak on your behalf.
As in the NHS, your organisation is yours too. It really ought to be far more yours than those collecting often-bogus bonuses atop the pyramid tip.
No-one on high should abrogate to themselves any proprietary right to speak bland Yes’s as if from you.
Your experience must be represented in discussions of policy and improvements.
All we’ll ever hear from the high echelons is “all is best in the best of all possible worlds”.
Yet it’s obvious that “all is not best on the front line of all affordable worlds”.
If the NHS has been ‘given permission’ to encourage whistleblowers, call the Governments bluff – there’s never been a better time.
The floodgates now just need a nudge.
If many bands (of top brass) make lies work, far more (grass root) hands will make lies ‘shirk’..
Thank you
Those employed within Professional Standards have no excuses if they do something wrong, they are employed in that role to ‘get it right’ and there is no place in a modern world for trying to gild lilies. We are supposed to have progressed beyond that. Wrongdoers need to be dealt with regardless of the department they work in. Simple really.