Is Policing Perfect?

Last updated on October 13th, 2023 at 08:19 pm

Last updated on October 13th, 2023 at 08:19 pm

Is Policing Perfect?

No.

Has Policing ever been perfect?

No

Will Policing ever be perfect?

Probably not, BUT…..

The demise of Policing is a reasonably complex problem, far more so than would have us believe.

I don’t intend to repeat too much of what I have already said before, but prior to the intervention of David Cameron, Theresa May and Thomas Winsor, Policing was in a position where it could more or less get the job done.  I’m not naive enough to try and convince you that everything always got done, but the Service was in a condition where it could cope with almost everything that was thrown at it.

Allegations of Burglary were almost always visited, the reporting officer would/should have carried out an initial investigation and then the allegation would be passed to an experienced detective, or member of a dedicated Burglary Squad for further investigation and forensic examination if appropriate.

The reason that, in the main, does not happen, is that Policing was violently assaulted and ravaged by the Party of Law and Order.  David Cameron, Theresa May and others emasculated and handicapped a service that was once the best in the world.  Assisted by Thomas Winsor who was later to become Head Fred at HMIC/HMICFRS.

Almost all, if not all, of the performance deficiencies in the world of Policing can be traced back to the era of the now very much discredited #Austerity.

Neither am I naive enough to think that this only affects Policing.  The Conservatives attacked and defunded almost all of the Public Services and Armed Forces.  It is no wonder that Local Authorities are struggling, as their budgets were also slashed.

Getting back to Policing however, which is the topic of this post after all, in the case of Policing ACPO, succeeded by NPCC did bugger all squared to oppose these cuts, except to encourage everybody to ‘work smarter’.  Yes there were performance issues that could have been improved, but nothing that could compensate for the damage caused by a rampant Conservative Government.

To rub salt into the wounds, once the QPMs had been accepted, and the Chief Officers safely moved on to whatever they did next, they suddenly had an epiphany and spoke out, about 10 years too late.

As predicted, Boris’ Vanity Project, or Police Uplift Programme. has been made to work and has achieved the objective of replacing the majority of officers shed during the reign of previous Administrations, BUT the population has increased in size, which has gone completely unaddressed. Crime has risen, but the response to that from the Home Office has been to virtually ignore Fraud and Cyber C rime, to make the books look a bit better.

Something in the order of 650 Police Stations and other buildings have been sold off.  Let’s be honest they will never be replaced for decades, if ever.  The Tories can;t even honour their promise to build 40 new hospitals, let alone 650 Police Stations.

DeadBadgerShire has an area of 1,346 square miles, with a population bordering on half a million.  We are left with just TWO charging stations to process prisoners, and the closest to Angry Towers is about 20 miles away. Wales is closer.  However, that is only part of the story.  My local Police Force covers, in total, almost 3,000 square miles with a population of 1.2 million.  If I left home and drove to the southern edge of the Constabulary area, it would take me almost 2 hours.  To service this area and population there are but FIVE Custody Suites.

Make of that what you will, but my opinion is that the Police cannot Police anywhere near as efficiently as gthey did before 2010.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and that is mine.

Finally.  It hasn’t escaped my notice, some of the horror stories that have hit the press recently, involving Murders, Rapists and Perverts.  I’m not even going to attempt to justify or explain any of it, I am as shocked and disgusted as anybody else, and none of those people deserve to be a member of the Service.

However, as I finally come close to finishing, there are just a few points that I would urge you to at least consider.  What your opinion is after that is, of course, up to you.

1. The Police Service that I read about today is not a Police Service that I recognise.  As I said at the beginning, Policing has never been perfect, but whilst I was serving we never even heard any rumours of officers murdering, raping or pillaging, and as far as I am aware no such allegations were made at that time.
2. The Police are the Public and the Public are the Police.  Vetting failures have led to some very high-profile wrong-uns getting into the Police.  Certainly this should never have happened and the practice of vetting will have to be revisited, but there are substantially more murderers, rapists and perverts in the Community as a whole than there were 100 years ago, and that appears to be being reflected in the Police Service (and other professions).
3. As I stated above, Policing is not the only profession/occupation affected by this.  Nursing, Doctors, Fire & Rescue Service, Paramedics, Teachers, Local Counsellors and even Members of Parliament have been affected by this, to one extent or another.  However, the only profession that is absolutely vilified is Policing.  Again, I’m not trying to justify anything, merely pointing out that there are many more guilty parties than just Police Officers.  Where is the Public Outcry when a doctor or teacher gets arrested?  Where are the instant demands to have their phones and computers seized and forensically examined? Where are the public demands that all teachers or politicians should hand their phones over so that their Whassapp Messages can be scrutinised?

In conclusion, Policing is not, nor ever has been perfect, but there seems to be an agenda afoot for Central Government, aided and abetted by the Mainstream Media, to vilify them at every possible opportunity. Even to the extend of having bold, but totally inaccurate and misleading headlines, enforcing the idea that Policing is rotten to the core.   I can’t imagine the state that Policing etc would be in if Cameron, May and Winsor had just stayed at home, but I will dare to say that it would healthier than it is currently.