Image Or Loyalty? Who Would Be A Whistleblower?

Last updated on March 14th, 2019 at 02:26 pm

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Who Would be a Whistleblower?  Not many, it takes a particular type of person.

Who would be a Whistleblower in the Met?  Not very many at all, and after the recent shenanigans I would be entirely surprised if anybody at all within the Met thought it it was worth the risk and aggravation.

After James Patrick’s stirling efforts in exposing the sham that is called Crime Statistics (amongst other things) the end result was that he felt that he had no other alternatives, so he resigned.  Baroness Jenny Jones asked Boris and The Met questions about their Whitsleblowing policies, all of which were met with wishy washy (if any) answers.  Requests to the Met under the Freedom of Information Act were either refused or responded to with confusing and contradictory answers.

Then Jenny Jones asked Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey if he could provide ONE single example of a Whistleblower in the Met feeling that it had been a ‘positive experience’.  Not one single person who exposed wrongdoing  does not feel their career was negatively impacted or that they were treated fairly despite 1,121 reports being made through its internal reporting system ‘Rightline’ in the last four years.  NOT ONE out of over 1,100 cases.

That is a damning indictment of the Met and its Management.

The Metropolitan Police is quite clearly more concerned about its image than it is with being loyal to its officers and staff, particularly those 1,121 people who put their heads above the parapet.

Craig Mackey, told the Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee that rewarding whistleblowers “is to effectively inculcate them and to provide some support around them in terms of the process around it.”  Well that all sounds a bit pink and fluffy to me.  Thick old me didn’t have a clue what ‘inculcate’ meant so I went away and looked it up.  The Oxford Dictionary defines it thus ;”Instil (an idea, attitude, or habit) by persistent instruction:“, so there you have it.

So, I ask you again, “Who would want to be a Whistleblower in the Met?”

Come to think of it, can anyone provide me with a single example where anyone in the Police Service ANYWHERE has had a ‘positive experience’ whistleblowing?

Can anyone provide me with a single experience of anybody in the Public Sector (NHS, Local Govt etc etc) that has had a ‘positive experience?

I’m here all week to take our replies, I thank you.

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21 thoughts on “Image Or Loyalty? Who Would Be A Whistleblower?”

  1. penseiveatpenseivat

    Was attached to a traffic department pending an interview to move to traffic permanently. Attended a 3 vehicle RTC with fatal injuries. The Traffic Inspector turned up, stood around and ‘supervised’ while everyone else did what they were supposed to do. The Inspector told a traffic officer to go to a certain address and tell the people there that their son had been killed in the RTC. The PC queried this as the identity was not confirmed. The Inspector, very loudly, told the PC not to question his orders and to do as he was told. The PC, and me, went to the address given and spoke to the couple who lived there. During the conversation, the sad news was passed, with the mother collapsing on the doorstep and an ambulance called. Then the son turned up, alive and well, wondering why the Police were at his home address. An enquiry exonerated the Inspector despite my evidence at hearing the orders given. The PC was later turned down at the next Sgts board while my career stagnated, despite passing both the Sgts and Inspectors exams, and I retired as a PC, as did the traffic officer. The Inspector eventually retired as a Chief Superintendent with the QPM. The fact the Inspector was married to the Chief Constable’s daughter, apparently, had very little to do with the outcome of the enquiry which was held to be extremely fair and impartial. Subsequent appeals only made it worse for both of us and we were both threatened with legal action if we attempted to make the details public. Even the Police Federation wre warned off by unknown persons. With a young family to support and a hefty mortgage to pay for, I regret that my principles were overtaken by financial necessities. My view is that no matter what the government of the day states, whistleblowers are subject to pressures put upon them by more powerful beings and it takes a very strong person, willing to risk everything they have, or wish to have, to fight these dark forces. I hang my head in shame every time I think back to that evening.

    1. Nothing really changes. Thank you for coming forward, you probably did the right thing as they would have found a way to get rid of you one way or another. Like you I passed all the relevant exams and did not set my sights too high looking to retire at DCI level rather than DS on an ill health pension where I ended up.

    2. Thank you for doing the right thing. Sadly this is not the only case I heard of this year where the Federation seems to have distanced itself for whatever reason. Not the Fed I remember.

  2. penseiveatpenseivat

    Was attached to a traffic department pending an interview to move to traffic permanently. Attended a 3 vehicle RTC with fatal injuries. The Traffic Inspector turned up, stood around and ‘supervised’ while everyone else did what they were supposed to do. The Inspector told a traffic officer to go to a certain address and tell the people there that their son had been killed in the RTC. The PC queried this as the identity was not confirmed. The Inspector, very loudly, told the PC not to question his orders and to do as he was told. The PC, and me, went to the address given and spoke to the couple who lived there. During the conversation, the sad news was passed, with the mother collapsing on the doorstep and an ambulance called. Then the son turned up, alive and well, wondering why the Police were at his home address. An enquiry exonerated the Inspector despite my evidence at hearing the orders given. The PC was later turned down at the next Sgts board while my career stagnated, despite passing both the Sgts and Inspectors exams, and I retired as a PC, as did the traffic officer. The Inspector eventually retired as a Chief Superintendent with the QPM. The fact the Inspector was married to the Chief Constable’s daughter, apparently, had very little to do with the outcome of the enquiry which was held to be extremely fair and impartial. Subsequent appeals only made it worse for both of us and we were both threatened with legal action if we attempted to make the details public. Even the Police Federation wre warned off by unknown persons. With a young family to support and a hefty mortgage to pay for, I regret that my principles were overtaken by financial necessities. My view is that no matter what the government of the day states, whistleblowers are subject to pressures put upon them by more powerful beings and it takes a very strong person, willing to risk everything they have, or wish to have, to fight these dark forces. I hang my head in shame every time I think back to that evening.

    1. Nothing really changes. Thank you for coming forward, you probably did the right thing as they would have found a way to get rid of you one way or another. Like you I passed all the relevant exams and did not set my sights too high looking to retire at DCI level rather than DS on an ill health pension where I ended up.

    2. Thank you for doing the right thing. Sadly this is not the only case I heard of this year where the Federation seems to have distanced itself for whatever reason. Not the Fed I remember.

  3. It’s surely utterly outrageous that anyone in power – be it this/prev. govt. or Boris as mayor or those in the judiciary – has allowed these injustices to remain unresolved for so many years.

    This has echoes of hidden Savillian injustice, allowed to thrive & fester unchallenged by perhaps no more than endless officialese whitewash, endless evaded questions, endless unanswered FOI requests or endlessly delayed responses..

    Injustices such as those experienced by Julian & @j_amesp and families, as well as the many more Steve (further above) must have raised via thinbluelineuk plus the hundreds represented by the utterly dissatisfied complainants Jenny Jones highlights – how can injustices on this scale repeatedly remain ignored for years except as absolute proof of systemic judicial & political negligence?

    Where injustice has been demonstrated – whether a bullied whistleblower has the truth of their complaint vindicated in a tribunal or is “dissuaded” from even bringing, or just from doggedly pursuing, their case – a society surely cannot be civilised if it doesn’t independently investigate, arbitrate and compensate with an absolute determination to show that honesty must be held – by the will of the electorate – as its inalienable bedrock, beneath which no victim is crushed.

  4. It’s surely utterly outrageous that anyone in power – be it this/prev. govt. or Boris as mayor or those in the judiciary – has allowed these injustices to remain unresolved for so many years.

    This has echoes of hidden Savillian injustice, allowed to thrive & fester unchallenged by perhaps no more than endless officialese whitewash, endless evaded questions, endless unanswered FOI requests or endlessly delayed responses..

    Injustices such as those experienced by Julian & @j_amesp and families, as well as the many more Steve (further above) must have raised via thinbluelineuk plus the hundreds represented by the utterly dissatisfied complainants Jenny Jones highlights – how can injustices on this scale repeatedly remain ignored for years except as absolute proof of systemic judicial & political negligence?

    Where injustice has been demonstrated – whether a bullied whistleblower has the truth of their complaint vindicated in a tribunal or is “dissuaded” from even bringing, or just from doggedly pursuing, their case – a society surely cannot be civilised if it doesn’t independently investigate, arbitrate and compensate with an absolute determination to show that honesty must be held – by the will of the electorate – as its inalienable bedrock, beneath which no victim is crushed.

  5. Julian above shows from his devastating experience how vital it is to sweep away this vast history of terrible injustices – injustices clearly left unchallenged and allowed to fester by politicians over many decades. It’s a sick state to be in & a sick state in which to live or work or try to be honest..

  6. Julian above shows from his devastating experience how vital it is to sweep away this vast history of terrible injustices – injustices clearly left unchallenged and allowed to fester by politicians over many decades. It’s a sick state to be in & a sick state in which to live or work or try to be honest..

  7. Yes, Jenny Jones’ brilliant exposure of the absolute ZERO grand total number of brave whistleblowers from such an enormous (100%) sample is an incredible and utterly complete demolition of all – every single one! – of the blathering incoherent mumbling PR hogwash emanating from the Met top pewter (already demoted from brass in the eyes of the public), from their pink fluffy Dr. Pangloss code of ‘ethics’, from this ex-fealty mayoralty & from this fork-tongued PR nudge-fudge wink-stink government..

  8. Yes, Jenny Jones’ brilliant exposure of the absolute ZERO grand total number of brave whistleblowers from such an enormous (100%) sample is an incredible and utterly complete demolition of all – every single one! – of the blathering incoherent mumbling PR hogwash emanating from the Met top pewter (already demoted from brass in the eyes of the public), from their pink fluffy Dr. Pangloss code of ‘ethics’, from this ex-fealty mayoralty & from this fork-tongued PR nudge-fudge wink-stink government..

  9. Yes, I agree that there should be something in place similar to crimestoppers however this would have to work alongside an organisation that is competent and capable of dealing with the disclosures.

    With regards to the police the IPCC is not the appropriate organisation, many police whistleblowers have been further victimised due to the conduct of the IPCC in either sending the disclosures back to the same departments complained of or have informed officers that as they are not members of the public they are unable to complain or apppeal against any decision made not to deal with the disclosure either by the police or the IPCC.

    I was a long serving DS and although no longer serving am still embroiled in trying to seek
    justice and still effectively being victimised 13 years down the line.

    I am telling my story gradually via my blog in the hope that others don’t make the same mistakes.

    I was let down at every level including by the judiciary.

    Commendations, long service medals and being an honest competent decent cop ultimately counted for nothing once I blew the whistle.

    Both my wife and I lost everything, were bankrupted, criminalised and targeted at the highest levels.

    Fortunately I do have my pension but did lose my lump sum due to the bankruptcy.

    My wife and I have had to start from scratch again and try and turn the negatives into positives, I now support police whistleblowers primarily to prevent police suicide which often goes unreported.

  10. Yes, I agree that there should be something in place similar to crimestoppers however this would have to work alongside an organisation that is competent and capable of dealing with the disclosures.

    With regards to the police the IPCC is not the appropriate organisation, many police whistleblowers have been further victimised due to the conduct of the IPCC in either sending the disclosures back to the same departments complained of or have informed officers that as they are not members of the public they are unable to complain or apppeal against any decision made not to deal with the disclosure either by the police or the IPCC.

    I was a long serving DS and although no longer serving am still embroiled in trying to seek
    justice and still effectively being victimised 13 years down the line.

    I am telling my story gradually via my blog in the hope that others don’t make the same mistakes.

    I was let down at every level including by the judiciary.

    Commendations, long service medals and being an honest competent decent cop ultimately counted for nothing once I blew the whistle.

    Both my wife and I lost everything, were bankrupted, criminalised and targeted at the highest levels.

    Fortunately I do have my pension but did lose my lump sum due to the bankruptcy.

    My wife and I have had to start from scratch again and try and turn the negatives into positives, I now support police whistleblowers primarily to prevent police suicide which often goes unreported.

  11. I was a whistleblower it nearly cost me my marriage do you want to hear of it?

    Denise Smith Sent from my iPad

    >

  12. I was a whistleblower it nearly cost me my marriage do you want to hear of it?

    Denise Smith Sent from my iPad

    >

  13. As a retired copper turned whistle-blower, having spent the last 6 years trying to penetrate the outer defences of the criminal justice system, sending my blog articles, supportive investigative research that mirrors James’ findings, to politicians, police federation officials and Home Office ministers, I totally agree that the service, along with the other public sectors, is venomously opposed to whistle blowing. Despite protestations to the contrary, we all know this to be true.

    Senior police officers do not want their strategies challenged. Politicians and civil servants want to hang on to the spiders web threads that allow them to continue with their lies that policing, crime reduction, detections and justice is working, when we all know full well, it has become a fairy tale of Hans Christian Anderson proportions.

    Over on LinkedIn, I am involved in a number of discussions debating whether or not Restorative Justice is working (whilst it was an admirable idea, it is fraught with danger as many 000’s of non-offences take up police resources). We are also discussing whether PCC’s should have an Independent Governing body to oversee their performance. Who that might be heaven knows, because even the Standards in Public Life Committee is a Govt department so there would be that political influence again.

    I do believe, that if it were possible, a whistleblowing authority should be set up, that acts as an intermediary between the whistle blower and the recipient body. The blower could remain anonymous and the authority should have the knowledge, experience and powers to liaise with the service, knowing when they are flannelling or dodging issues or more likely, lying to protect their position. Only when an independent body with teeth is set up, will we ever reach that glorious stage where the truth can be told without the messenger being shot for it.

    Kind regards
    Steve Bennett – Retired Police Officer
    http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com

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