The Policeman's Blog

""If I was in the government, at the first sniff of Federation action I would come out with the usual statistics:
The average officer makes only 10 arrests a year
The average officer is fat
The average officer doesn’t do much
The average officer is a waste of space
PCSOs are on patrol more and cost less""
(1) I'd make more arrests without Government bureaucracy
(2) Alright I'm a bit on the large size - but it is reasssuring to the public to have a large Police Officer attending to their troubles - anyway the Government should persecute me because I'm big
(3) I do quite a bit of work - and would do more without Government bureaucracy and beancounting.
(4) I'm not a waste of space - and definately less of one than most MP's...
Can I have my pay rise now Reidy and Brownie...
 

I've been trying to make my own 'efficiency savings' since the September Pay Rise went on ice. Basically this means doing at least 3% less work. I no longer turn up 40 minutes early and stay late, I don't bother doing anything proactive and I spend most of my day reading internet blog. So far this has resulted in me avoiding any complaints from the public (no longer have much contact with them!) and my paperwork has decreased as I'm not picking any up. All I need to do now is cock something up and I might end up getting promoted like Cressida Dick!
 

Also, as a 5 year PC, and firearms officer, our PCSO's with one month experience....earn approx £30 less a month than me........Go figure????
 

Use the federations pro forma letter to your local MP calling for action in Parliament. A payrise is not just a yearly formality, its a necessity that we justly deserve.
 

Excellent post DC. And spot on!Unfortunately (for the purposes of a pay rise), police officers today aren't in the position they were in 1977, where demonstrations by police and a real fear that we'd go on strike - led to the announcement of the Edmund-Davies commission by the then LABOUR govt, and the subsequent pay rise and pay formula implemented by the CONSERVATIVE govt. that followed. We have no bargaining power now, we are too fragmented, at inspector level the ambitions of many have allowed the position they find themselves in to develop - earning way less than those they supervise whilst working ridiculously long hours and 'on call'. Poor Federation Leaders, self satisfied senior officers, and determined govts. both CONSERVATIVE and LABOUR have got us here? there's nothing any of us can do! Take the money, keep your head down and try and do your 30 or 35 years. Or RESIGN! That would show them - but none of us are going to do that are we? What would we do, where would we earn anything like what we do out there? I'll take the 2.2%, 'cos next year it'll be less.
 

"...The nightmare would be that we all go on strike and those who actually pay our wages don’t even notice..."

It is actually a point of great interest when an actual real live police officer is actually spotted on the streets of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire... Crowds gather to view the highly unusual event... Children excitedly clamour to know who or what the stranger is... I think the local 'nick' is now open on a Tuesday morning between 9am and 10am once a fortnight except when there is an 'R' and / or an 'E' in the month...
 

Why don't you just refuse to go on diversity courses? That'd bring the govt to its knees in double quick time. Then again they might just sack you for inappropriateness or undiversity or offending the community.
 

We have to stand firm and not accept the less than minimum of 3% that we are entitled to.
What would happen if we all threatened to quit. I think that would do it.
 

We had a moral boosting input for senior command this week, all rounded up to the conference room for powerpoint graphs and a 'motivational' speech by the superintendant.

Looked around the room, and saw our relief in it's entirity, all 20 of us, including 4 sgts and an Insp. Looking after one of the forces busiest divisions (and one in 2001 that had lots of, lets say public order issues!)

We were then treated to lots of graphs drawn by a 25yr cop sat behind his laptop, pointing out how we are the poorest performing division in the force and one of the worst in the country.

After being told to 'eat sleep breath burglary and robbery' we were asked if any of us had issues.

Nobody said anything. Last time this moral booster took place we moaned about having just 29 officers. In 10 weeks we lost a further 9. It would appear it's too dangerous to broadcast how strong our establishment is to command.

Ah well, it's been fun policing 70,000 alone for the last month.

Not worth a pay rise apparently.(and I'm not fat, do work hard and have arrested 60 so far this year.)
 

Well I'll be surprised if we get ANY rise this year as our ace management sum up to us almost daily ' IF YOU DONT LIKE IT HERE YOU CAN F**K OFF THEN' and I'm not joking, that is a quote, personally as a AFO and on the tactical teams I feel a bit luckier than most as I can steer clear of a lot of the scum, but as I've only got 9 years to go I'm afraid I will be like the majority of us and just 'take' it as its dished out to us. In our force open your mouth in a management meeting and you may as well stick a sword in your stomach at the same time. Bullying???? I dont think there will be any sort of action taken by any bobbies, 1. the fed couldn't / dont have the balls to organise anything and 2. We will all be divided and conquered.
Example-- when on call allowance was scrapped and management told us we would be doing on call for no payment anyway, all the on call team stated they would not be doing on call anymore. Every single one of us were dragged in individually and were in no uncertain terms told to toe the line or we would be walking around with a 'big' hat before we know whats hit us. now you tell me when you are stood there in front of 3 inspectors 1 chief inspector and 1 super, on your own that you are going to gobb off, no chance, like the sheep we were we buckled. Well we will probably be replaced by Armed CSO's soon anyway!!!!! God help new recruits coming into this job now!!!!!
 

Is anyone else as surprised as me to hear that we have voluntary roles? Such as carrying a gun? I am sure they cannot force ARVs to carry them, just as they cannot force me to pick up the phone and let my victim know that I have made no progress whatsoever on their case, but the first is covered by dereliction of duty if someone is killed due to no armed officers being available, and the second by the Victim Charter which makes it a breach and therefore a disciplinary offence not to update your victims. Just what tasks are exactly voluntary? Does anyone spend any of their time at work on non-essential tasks? And I'm talking about shift officers of course... the CIMU bods need not answer.
 

I think the vast majority of our roles/tasks could be termed voluntary, eg Can we be forced to drive a Police car, what if all the parade said 'I'm here on duty but I do not wish to drive a Police car' ? Same as my carrying a firearm is voluntary but the second I say 'Heres my ticket I'm not carrying' the bosses would be all over me , vieled threats etc. Unless I stated domestic upheaval etc, but if I dared say, 'well I havent got my pay rise, I'm not carrying until I do' then quite frankly I think I would be well and truly targeted!!!! The flip side is if someone, especially a colleague got hurt because a number of us refused to 'carry' ie be armed I dont think I could live with myself. But then again thats what our spineless bosses/government depend on , us being the people we are!!!!!
 

My force are moving to neighbourhood policing in the new year.

This means closing 3 out of 6 police stations in my division. We're loosing 2 of our 6 IRV's.
Minimum cover for the area is changing e.g at the moment cover should be no less than 5 to cover a large town with 70,000 people. With the closure and movement o staff cover will be 8, to cover approx 180 square miles of towns, villages and countryside.

Still at least the PBO's get their SPP.... and don't do nights.

Think you don't see a cop now? Wait till next year....

I'm thinking of becoming a PCSO.
 

Good post DC. I hope such breakdowns of how your time is wasted are littered throughtout your book. Maybe someone in authority will then realise "christ, this is crazy". Or is that wishful thinking?!
 

The central point is this, the pay formula exists because we do not have the same rights as other workers. If they wish to dismantle the formula, I'll have my rights back thank you.
 

I worked for a prviate company that doesn't automatically give any cost of living out at all, let alone an "automatic" 3%. Especially the year that they were on the ropes. There are no guarantees in this life. While I appriciate the job you do is difficult and dangerous, if you aren't happy with the pay, find another job. If this country was ran like a private company it would go bust. Should council tax continue to rise at 5% to sustain automatic payrises, and generous goverment and public sector pensions ? I hope not !
 

In all honesty I don't really care if We get a payrise or not.
My reasons are as follows:
-A 3% rise would be about £700.
-If you are canny and know where to look for it, cancelled weekely leave overtime especially can account for this £700 just for x2 12 hours shifts. And I mean sitting duties or call handling! Easy.
-Now they are setting on PCSO's and moving bobbies to specialised dept's - there will be more of this double bubble o/t for people like me.
-I am a P.C and I earned more than my inspector last year. Although he won't admit it this really did cheese him off.

So, i won't be going on strike or rocking the boat because I wouldn't get another job as easy or as well paid as this in the big horrible wide world!
 

in the past a policeman would tell you long he had been in the force .now he tell,s you how long he has left he can not wait to leave.
 

I assume the person above who thinks his job is a piece of cake is a lazy copper who takes overtime to hide in the shadows or be the last person to take a job when it comes over the radio. I love my job and work hard, but I know it aint easy, unless you are lazy
 

Why do 'all' police officers deserve a pay rise of any kind, when the majority of the public now view the police, with good reason, as a waste of time and money for the majority of cases in which they may actually need them? Surely a pay rise should be linked in some way with the service provided actually improving.
PCs may argue that there are legitimate reasons why they can't do the job in a way that they would like, but thats no consolation to the public.

AC
 

AC you have obviously not been keeping up to date with press releases detailng the reduced crime and increased detections in various places.
 

AC Maybe we deserve our poxy 3% because if you broke down our job into all our roles and responsibilities and skills plus our shift work and danger element AND then factor in our lack of rights to take ANY form of industrial action AND take into account we are under a double jeopardy discipline system and the fact that we pay a LOT of money out of our pay for our so called 'free' golden pension, we should by civilian employment standards be getting paid at least double what we get now!!!!! Its very easy to just say 'the police are useless' in some cases myself I agree , but we have got here because of government policies and poor senior management who are convinced that they are actually running a business and not a public service were we should be out on the streets. instead the government and ACPO seem to have an almost pathological interest in recording every single thing each officer does. This obviously means a lot of staff stuck in offices recording these stats for bosses to produce and more endless meetings!!! I kid you not when I say I have to fill a sheet in every day recording what i have done for each 15 minute segment of my working day, thats besides the numerous other forms and databases I have to keep up to date every day. Crazy, AC come and try it and then see how much we should be paid. Compare that to the glorious gov experiment of PCSO's who are paid £27,000 per year!!! I know I've seen the payslip and that was a flat month. Meaning that a PCSO picks up a month more than most bobbies and they can't even detain anyone for the most basic of offences. Don't say you havent been warned when in ten years time there are literally NO Police officers around but scores of undertrained/under skilled CSO's walking about with no idea what they are doing but walk about with a yellow jacket. The rot has already set in , CSO's in our force have already started asking when they can have driving courses to drive Police cars. If you want to have an effective Police service that meets your needs start supporting your bobbies on the street and start lobbying your MP / government. If you stay quiet you will end up with the service you deserve!!!!!!!!!
 

"I kid you not when I say I have to fill a sheet in every day recording what i have done for each 15 minute segment of my working day"

You do know that the rest of the world has to do those sorts of things as well?

Usually on their own time, because you're not allowed to claim "filling in timesheet" as one of your bits of a day.

That kind of aggravation is why the nation has a net productive growth which is practically negative...
 

Well Katie dont you think that instead of filling out reams of useless forms for no other reasons than to present statistics (which can be twisted anyway the presenter of them wants to) the Police officers time could be better fullfilled out on the streets doing what they actually want to do, ie protect the public and catch the criminals/ scum. The Police is NOT some 'Multi-national' productive growth/neg growth company. It is a PUBLIC SERVICE and a service that is gradually being ground down by the weight of needless forms and policies...
 

Lets just agree across the country to go sick on one specific day and see how they cope?
 

I invite any of the people who have suggested we don't deserve the 3% to request to go out of shift with their local bobbies. Only then do they have a right to commment.
 

Too right I suggest we all go 'sick' on 24th September, oh hang on the Labour Party conference starts that day!!! What a shame we might disrupt it!!!!!
 

Anonymous 10.23 - we have a right to comment because we pay your wages through our taxes and its still a relatively free country. More and more people are finding the police to be useless when they actually need them. The perception is that the police choose easy targets and shy away from those who won't play nice. As I said, there may be systemic reasons for this, but that's no help to the general public. But at least all those soft touch crimes give the police nice statistics with which politicians can tell us that things are getting better!

AC
 

OOOOH you pay my wages do you!! And I suppose you will tell me I should be out catching burglars and muggers when I pull you in your car for doing over 40mph past the primary school at 3.30pm. How little you know or understand about Policing. If only it was as easy as you make out. Tell you what get in touch with your local Neighbourhood Inspector and ask if you can accompany a patrol on an afternoon shift (preferably Fri or Sat). Then come back and Gobb off.
 

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

Can I just mention here, as no else seems to have noticed, that the prisons are full of people. Not only are they full, but apparently overcrowded. This government have hinted that they might even build more prisons. In this country we have more people in prison per head of population than just about every other country in europe.
This is despite the Home Orifice, judges, magistrates, lawyers, CPS and Old Uncle Tom Cobbly and all doing their utmost to keep people out of prison. To all those who think the police do not deserve a 3% rise because the police are rubbish, then how the hell did the prisons get so full? Did all those prisoners get in there accidently?
Did PCSO's put them there?
Catching criminals is a relatively small part of what the police do, and if we are so crap at putting criminals away, maybe we should let someone else do it.
I suggest we leave the streets to chavs, and we just get on with NP meetings, beancounting and form filling.
 

'I suggest we leave the streets to chavs, and we just get on with NP meetings, beancounting and form filling.'

I suggest you already do ...

AC
 

What a load of crap, wont be long and there will be no police officers left just PCSO's. I would love to have the right to strike
 

"I suggest you already do"
I suggest AC that you are a coward and have obviously been 'wronged' by the the police lately, don't blame us, we didn't make it illegal to be a rent boy.
 

"I suggest you already do"
I suggest AC that you are a coward and have obviously been 'wronged' by the the police lately, don't blame us, we didn't make it illegal to be a rent boy.

3:17 PM

HEAR HEAR, AC you keep making your snide comments I have made various observations/ points to you but you refuse to answer/discuss them I suggest you sod off back to your chav estate and little mind and continue with you r sad little life. Quite obviously you have been 'done' for some minor matter recentley, let me guess!! Using your mobile whilst driving, loser.
 

anonymous 4.15 pm - If this is the quality of detective work from our police then no wonder the crimes solved rate is so low. I don't live on a chav estate, I haven't been done by the police and I have never been a rent boy (homophobia still alive and kicking amongst the plod I see). Feel free to throw in a few more insults though.
I posted here to have my say, not to debate with such an intelligent chappie as you.

AC
 

HA ha quick pass me the gaff I've got a 'big one'.!!!!!!!!!
 

what everyone is trying to say AC, is that you don't know what it's like to be a cop, so don't tar us all with the same stinking brush.

The divide between street cops and senior management (those are the ones that make all the decisions with regard to what we do), is huge. Most if not all, have no idea how to be a cop on the street these days.

If we got left to get on with the bloody job, we would all be better off.
 

Where money is involved there will always be anger.
I thin AC's comments are very short sighted and abviously made by someone who is anti Police. We all deal with small people like them on the streets every day and we don't let them wind us up like this, so lets just relax in the knowledge that, they will always come again another day.
 

I agree but have to mention that AC - your taxes go to pay our wages - where do you think our taxes go?
 

The last joker that said he paid my wages turned out to be on benefit, so I said to him "it's me that pays your wages you mean". What a tosser. He was in a rear stack at the time, in the back of our car.
 

PC South West - I am not anti-police. I am just fed up of being asked to pay for the ever increasing wages of public servants without seeing a corresponding increase in the quality of service I and those close to me receive. And also, yes I grew up in the 'chav' estates so charmingly mentioned by your fellow officers here, and I did spend a couple of my years in a children's home, but I have worked hard to get an (very high level - PhD, in a science) education and for the first time in my life my pay-slip yesterday was over £2k after taxes, pension etc, and that's in the North.

Go on, strike over pay - you will find that many of those who would traditionally support you no longer do so. The mindset of the public has shifted, even since the time I was a child. It is now commonly accepted that other than for insurance purposes there is little point, unless you are the victim of a politically favoured crime, in calling the police for anything short of murder.

AC
 

You AC are one very sad man and I say man in the loosest terms, if you are so educated how come you have never bothered to actually go and find out , 1. exactly what are the crime stats/clear up rates and 2. what actual changes are going on in the Police service. I suppose you read this blog because you think the author is some subversive anarchic dis-gruntled cop who is trying to undermine the Police. Well you could'nt be more wrong he is voicing the frustrations of the vast majority of Bobbies who just want to be able to provide the service the public needs. I also notice how you seem to speak in 'general' terms, I waver that you have had very little contact with the cops apart from being told of for some minor matter!! and what you have read in some left wing rag eg Guardian / Sun. You obviously have very little idea of Policing or even public service delivery. I suggest you use that so called ace education, I'm so impressed (not), to find out some real facts and when you have researched the subject and experienced what some of us have to face EVERY day, then come back and perhaps your points may hold some substance. PS it really is vulgar/childish to brag about how much you make.
As one of the officers has pointed out we come across people like you all the time you are 'small' and of no consequence to any of us. I notice how through very limited response just one officer managed to identify your background, thats exactly the type of skills we posess!!!!!!! Good aint we!!!!!!!!!
 

Get this through your thick skull, yet another anonymous copper. You guessed nothing of me - I am not some chav as was guessed, and I am not bragging about my earnings - only making a point that I grew up on a shit estate and have dragged myself out of it and so should be a natural supporter of the police, but I am not because of the uselessness you have been to me and those I hold dear.
As to me reading a left wing rag like the 'Guardian or the Sun' - I can only assume this was a joke. Making your corrections for you; no I am not a left-winger, I am considered centre-right by most of my acquaintances. Yet again, a member of another naturally supporting constituency of the police.
Let me say again, more clearly, the police in this country are f*cking useless to us. Go ahead, and strike - will we notice?

AC
 

Everyone is getting aggravated on this topic and I can understand why.

AC, as the voice of the great british public I just wanted to raise a point that you have either missed or were unaware of.

As a PC you start on a basic salary which rises every other year or so in set increments until, after 14 years, you hit top rate ( although I think it might have changed to 12 now). From that point on, and until you reach the end of your 30 or 35 years of service you dont get another pay rise. Thats potentially 23 years in the same job without any more pay regardless of what you do, how hard you do it or what your job involves ( anyone fancy interviewing 7 year old sexual abuse victims ?).

This 3 percent business arose out of a report referred to by a previous contributor. An agreement was struck by a former governemnt that, in return for us relinquishing the right to strike, we would receive an index linked annual pay rise. I stress the issue of it being index linked. It was never intended to be a nice healthy boost to our wage but specifically an increase that was linked to inflation that simply means that year on year, we are no worse off than before as a result of 'cost of living' increases.

Someone else calculated it at £700pa which sounds about right. Thats £58 a month before deductions, around £43 after. Does £43 a month offset the difference in increased mortgage, petrol & insurance costs over last year ? probably not quite but it still helps keep my head above water.

In your first post (before things got personal and unpleasant) you asked the question 'why do all police officers get a pay rise' and continued by suggesting that frontline policing is ineffectual and flawed. All I suggest is that, it is not for the public to choose who does or does not deserve financial stability in a police force. Its is not for the public to say that only the road death investigation team or child protection teams should get the cash as they do something worthwhile. The specialist departments can only exist to continue their important work because the rest of us are there to filter the daily dross and shite and feed the appropriate work their way.

Can I argue about my working conditions if they deteriorate, Yes. Can I exercise any of the usual liberties that the public enjoy when they feel wronged by their employer (ie: any kind of industrial action) no. Indeed it is illegal for me to do so....My predecessors signed it away for £43 !

Regards, wristy_mcgrew
 

I have to agree with wristy.
Its a difficult situation. You have to be a bobby to know what its like.
Wouldn't it be rather amusing if AC actually turned out to be Asst Chief const!?!
As a bobby, I too have also been treated crap as an aggrieved. I had poor service after reporting a theft. However, you get that in all walks of life in every job imaginable. Basically what i'm saying is, is that its the individual that makes the job. I now some lazy cops, and hardworking ones. I work in a busy city centre (you might know me from such films as Dispatch and....)and last month arrested 17 criminals, submitted 9 sanctioned detections and 26 intel logs. I've been told GDO's or whatever we are called now aren't entitled to SPP's!

Scuba-Cop
 

AC you seem convinced that all police officers are incompetent and homophobic etc. What does this say about you? You are merely displaying your own prejudices by ranting on about it. By saying such things you must have known that you'd offend a lot of people. (did you notice?)
Its easy to write your bigoted views on a blog but have you considered doing anything more constructive? like writing letters to you MP and lobbying for change? By the way I studied for a degree and could have gone in for the big bucks if I wanted to but I decided to try and make a difference to our society (might not be working but at least I'm trying) I'm not just talking about police officers, I'm talking about Nurses, Teachers, Firefighters, AMBO staff, Social Workers, I could go on. These people all have one thing in common, they wish to serve their communities and help others. They are not greedy just because they become disgruntled when a 3% pay increase they are promised is not honoured. This is more a matter of principle than money. If someone monkeyed about with your private pension plan or employment package than you know you too would be annoyed.
 

AC you are right. Not all police officers are nice, cuddly, friendly people without prejudice and will not always be able to help you and your family.
It is with regret that I have to inform you of some other home truths;
1, There is no tooth fairy
2, Santa Claus does not exist

Sorry my friend, here have a tissue.
 

AC you are a tosser and I earn loads more than you.
 

I wish those speedcam cops would go on strike. Though that'd hurt the bosses business, so they'd cave immediately to protect their revenue flow.
Cheers; Trebles and FPNs all round.
 

Yep gotta agree there Speed cam cops please go out/sick. I'm not bothered if I get sent out to bag a few more motorists!! Oh yeah AC u R most definitley a class 1 W***ker!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

I notice AC said 'aquaintances' and not friends. Obviuosly he hasn't got any and he sits in his sad little bedsit, 'bigging' it up on the computer about how great he is. (just thought I say that, you know keep the nasty theme going!!!). Well thats when he 's not subscribing to 'pavement panty pissers .com'
 

Many long years ago, I was a policeman in New Mexico and the force in the state's largest city went on strike. The violent crime rate dropped dramatically during the strike.

A follow-up study found that the citizen carry rate had gone way up during the strike and the perps knew it.

Will wonders never cease?
 

i think all have missed the point of working to rule.its not about carrying firearms or driving police cars on response runs.its simply doing what we are told to do.
how many rules are we supposed to obey?how many of us jump into our vehicles just after coming on shift and respond to an incident before checking it ? are the tyre pressuers right.is the oil ok,is there screen wash? and if we have an accident due to an under-inflated tyre?
we have been instructed to carry out these checks therefore if we haven't,its our fault regardless of the fact that we may have been slightly more influenced by the fact that the job we had just been sent to may have involved someones safety.
so............20 mins to check a vehicle prior to responding to a violent domestic? this is one example of thousands of how officers "bend" the rules in order to make the job work while opening themselves upto discipline/criminal procedings.do you still begrudge us 3%??
 

AC,
I want to give a better service than I am allowed to. My biggest frustration is that I am not allowed to do my job effectively due to the government and my management basically not having a bloody clue. I've worked with a large number of officers since I joined. I can say one hundred percent that they all share my frustration. I've been assaulted on duty, had threats made against myself regularly, been told they will kill my family, rape my partner, "find out where I live", had malicious complaints and false allegations made about myself and colleagues, been given an ever increasing workload yet no time to deal with it, I go home and worry about how I'm ever going to keep up to speed with the amount of work I have, regularly work days off for the good of the job and not for overtime, I work easter, christmas day, new years eve, new years day, told I cannot book annual leave due to staff shortages (despite giving 3 months notice), missed celebrations with friends and family, abandoned plans time and again when finishing late, finished late and been back at work only a few hours later, constantly finish work late but with no overtime, work a shift pattern designed by people who do not work it and is despised by every front line officer I know, get given inadequate equipment and uniform that is ripped or damaged as it is the cheapest garbage available, I walk in houses most people would not dare where a threat exists, I walk in homes similar to landfill sites in scenary and smell, I deal with people who do not deserve the use of the Police for their false or shoddy allegations of crime and smile politely though they have created the bad situation they face, I've seen dead children and adults, I've gone out of my way several times to assist people in my own time, I've locked up burglars, rapists, violent partners, drug dealers, persons in possession of weapons, persons committing (real) anti social behaviour, robbers, even a couple of murderers, I try my upmost to provide a good service and assist people despite the ridiculous rules and guidelines our uncaring government impose...
Yet all the above I can tolerate apart from not being able to deliver the service I should be able to. I want more time to patrol. I want to be able to stop these idiots who cause residents so much annoyance in their own homes, I want to lock up people who cause harm. I want to be able to keep that statement appointment I made with you. I want to be able to use discretion where it is clearly the best way to proceed, I want to be able to investigate as efficiently but also as quickly as I can...
Its not going to happen.
I object to your comments because if you have a problem with the Police, I'm pointing you in the correct direction - senior management and the government. Pointing the finger at myself and my colleagues is so unbelievably misguided. You don't know what we actually do and you're not qualified to comment. Sure, a proportion of your money is spent on the Police and you would have a point by saying we don't provide the service you would expect. However pointing the finger and making an unqualified comment when you have no idea how it is ran or what we actually deal with belies your PHD education. I'm not impressed with the insults given out to you and feel I would be correct in saying these people are angry and frustrated with - for lack of a better expression - being shit on.
If at all possible, go out with response team officers on different shifts over the course of the week and ask questions. I guarantee you would change your mind if you were out with myself and/or my colleagues. I chose this career and knew what to expect with much of it. Don't let me fool you either, I love my job and so do the majority of my colleagues. I'm just unfortunately disillusioned with the interference from above preventing quality service from being delivered. Having been on both sides of the fence, I know what service you would like to receive and it makes me angry I cannot deliver it. If you're to post an opinion on why we don't deserve this small increase in pay, research first and then come back with the evidence to support.
 

I think AC has an incorrect idea of what being a Police officer is about. I have just retired after 30 years asa front line officer. In that time, I WAS NOT allowed to be part of a union. I WAS NOT allowed to take part in any indistrial action about any part of my job I disagreed with. I WAS allowed to work 7 days on the trot, sometimes being REQUIRED, not requested, to stay on duty. I WAS given the responsibility of being alone yet dealing with a crowd of drunks intent on causing damage. I WAS required to deal with dead bodies at the scene of road traffic collisions, the youngest being 5 years old. I WAS required to call at a house and tell a young mother that her 5 year old son would not be coming home because some drunken tw*t had driven into her husband's car and put her husband in hospital and the son into the morgue. I WAS required to tell my wife that, despite it being our wedding anniversary/her birthday/children's birthday, I would not be coming home when I thought I was as I had to stay on duty. I WAS NOT able to recover the cost of theatre/cinema tickets or the minimum fee paybable to exclusive restaurants (to make up for many other cancelled occasions) for cancelling bookins at the last moment. I WAS required to face down, on numerous occasions, burglars, muggers, thieves and other local scum. I WAS required to go into burning buildings because there was someone trapped and the fire service were still on their way. I HAVE experienced several broken bones, smashed teeth, damaged joints (I now have arthritis in my right knee, shoulder and wrist and a back injury) from injuries in dealing with said scumbags. I HAVE faced down someone with a (loaded) firearm - and wished the Police uniform included brown trousers. On top of this, I KNEW that I was no one special, just an ordinary bloke whose job REQUIRED me to,sometimes do things which were out of the ordinary,justlike several hundred of my colleagues who would doing similar things at any time of the day or night. The only reason that people sleep well in their beds at night is because there are those who are willing to do what no other member of society is willing to do. You may consider that the Police are a waste of time and not worthy of any pay rise, and that is your right. But just think of what the alternative would be. We don't always get it right but there are many things we do, that you never get to hear about, that justifies a pay increase.
 

I've got to admit I'm resigned to taking whatever is thrown at me in this job, as I've become tired of the uselessness of fighting things that come from high. Does this make me lazy? Possibly.

And I've got to admit, reading through these comments, I truly hope some of the anonymous commenters above engaging in the pathetic slanging match (a class one w*nker.... I expect to hear that when I'm on attachment to a schools team) are not officers, because frankly I am embarrassed
 

HMG don't want to pay 3%, so now it eventually goes to an arbitration panel made up of people appointed by HMG.
What else sucks?
If the Federation accept anything less than 3% I'm going to cease my subscription. This pay deal is supposed to keep up with inflation. If HMG have decided after nearly 30 years this formula is finished, then I for one agree it's finished and I want my right to strike back.
I don't care what AC thinks, I am sure most right thinking folk will be able to tell when we're not there.
Thank you.
 

Come on West Mercia, just how difficult can it be to arrest golliwogs for political incorrectness? Or drunken students for making dumbass remarks about horse's sexuality, Oxford?
 

I think it's time we "front line" cops realised something - we are a minority and indeed the public are right in thinking that the police in general are useless. Tipping up days late to record a crime that will sit unactioned for 6 months alongside the countless thousands of others. Hmmm, value for money or what.... The only reason there is room for PCSOs is that all our offices are full of the sick lame and lazy coppers leaving the lion's share of the work for the stupid few who have yet to realise that sitting drinking tea in an office talking about how it was in their day before nipping home at 3pm is a far more attractive prospect that working for a living. The "police" don't deserve 3%. Front line cops do, but that tosser in minorities who keeps sending me stupid emails doesn't. And that particular person gets housing allowance. We are our own worst enemies and always have been. Strike and we lose the few public who still respect us. We need to get our own house in order first. But for that we need decent senior managers not the "yes men" who are getting through. And for that we need a decent government. Hang on a minute, we are actually doomed aren't we? If you can't beat them, join them. Where's that PCSO application form... PSCO, could you? Happily.
 

..all our offices are full of the sick lame and lazy coppers leaving the lion's share of the work for the stupid few...

That's me you're talking about. I work in an office. I work early and late shifts including weekends, but as the department is shut at night I don't think even the most dedicated cop would work at night unless he/she had to. I have had to suffer unbearable physical pain to get 'awarded' an office job. I would gladly swop my pain for your fitness and I'd do your job instead of you. Look up 5mg doses of Diazepam and you'll be able to see why I appear to be laid back.
I prefer to work sooner than give in to pain, and my sickness record is better than most.
What do I do?
Mainly, I deal with all those stupid 'crimes' that should never be booked on in the first place, that we have to record no matter how meaningless. If I didn't deal with all this rubbish, then just guess who would be left with it. I didn't invent this work, nor did I volunteer for it.
Sorry, I didn't mean this to be a rant at you personally, I'm well aware that I am despised by my colleagues as well as everyone outside the police 'family'.

The point I meant to make is that 3% is not a pay rise. It is a cost of living increase that was calculated using an agreed formula that has been imposed for the last 27 odd years. A pay rise would be more than 3%, and I would maybe then agree that only those working hard enough should get a rise.
 

Duly noted. of course there are those of us who have been injured / become sick and been forced into jobs they never wanted and I apologise for any offence caused. My rather clumsily worded rant was not directed at people like you, rather the lazy portion of the sick lame and lazy I mentioned. There are many who should be on the streets and it is only their attituded and golf club subscription that keeps them from the coal face.