If You Want To Know The Time....

[Philtaz]

DO NOT ask a Policeman, certainly not in Greater London!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...gland-london-16616790

Surely Met Officer's wear wrist watches and their stations are equipped with clocks? What a waste of taxpayer's money.

[DrFilth]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DfejOBYLjY

[emmie]

perhaps they haven't heard of that great invention, the wristwatch, strange that they should be chucking money away like this.

[Ankou]

i wonder how much they spent calling news internaitonal.

[Nibble]

Perhaps they have to check every time they start taking a statement - you know, "this interview begins at 0920"

[emmie]

in every drama set in a police station interview room there is a clock on the wall, if the batteries run out can see why they might they might need to ring up the speaking clock, but mobile phones have clocks on them, so what clot thought it a good idea to use a service that can be had for free.

[chrissa1]

Computers and laptops show the correct time too. Ridiculous.

[exdc]

There are several circumstances when officers use BT's speaking clock for evidential purposes such as comparing the time displayed on CCTV against the BT speaking clock etc.

[Davethedog]

And the reason is:

To verify the time of an interview, On one track they record the interview, and on another they record the speaking clock on speakerphone. When any recording is played back in its entirety, the time track shows no changes have been made.

[exdc]

Dave, the tape machines have their own built in timers for that reason

[Philtaz]

Dunno about that Davethedog, when I did tape recorded interviews under PACE neither of the two tapes had to be verified by the speaking clock.

The interviewer stated the time, date and persons present at the commencement of the interview and indicated the time at the conclusion of it.

[Davethedog]

Peeps I don't know just having a punt :-) If it had been the Daily Mail rather than the BBC I might have persisted.

[Postdog]

Fools! It's not the time they want, it's the appearance of dialling a number and looking busy to others.

[ludwig]

I didn't even know the speaking clock was still going. I haven't needed to call it in about 20 years, and I don't even wear a watch.
The time is on everything - mobiles, computers, radios, in the car. you can't get away from it.

[Gromit]

Every computer, laptop or smartphone has a built in clock, but if they don't believe that, they have access to the World Clock

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

[sp1814]

Perhaps its police who aren't in stations who need to have the EXACT time because it needs to be recorded for evidencial purposes.

For instance, say if an officer arrests someone and records the time of arrest at 17:05 by looking at their wristwatch that then turns out to be running five minutes fast.

In court, the defence could launch into:

"How could the accused have possibly gone from point a to point b in less than two minutes? It's physically impossible even for an Olympic sprinter!"

Case dismissed, tax-payer's money wasted, scrote back out on the street.

Possible?

[Gromit]

If the policemen I know are anything to go by, they a checking the time to see how long before the pubs open.

[emmie]

gromit, best answer, and so true