What Can Be Done About The Police?

[Untitled]

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/an-inspection-of-vetting-misconduct-and-misogyny-in-the-police-service/

report by constabulary inspectorate has found serious failings in vetting police officers... including hiring officers with previous sexual offences and officers with links to organised crime...

the report also found a culture of misogyny and predatory behaviour toward women - including against female officers.

summary here if you don't fancy the full report...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63478011.amp

is there a case for disestablishing them and starting again?

[emmie]

no to disestablishing them, but the rogues have to be weeded out and sacked with no pension. The vetting process has to be more often than happens now, suggest every 5 years.

[emmie]

i have been watching and following this news, and find that criminals being allowed to join the force totally reprehensible.

[Untitled]

it doesn't seem to be a few bad apples though... i am not sure if reform is going to be enough...

as it stands the public in general have very little reason to trust the police... if i were a woman i would not want anything at all to do with them.

[emmie]

but the many good officers outweigh the bad apples.

[emmie]

they are still our first defence again total anarchy. Think what would happen to society if we didn't have them.

[Untitled]

do they? it doesn't seem like that

[Untitled]

i agree we need a police force... but i wonder if it's worth starting again

[emmie]

how many police do we have, 180 thousand or more, then surely a few hundred who should be able to be weeded out and sacked.

[emmie]

no it wouldn't work.

[Untitled]

the trouble is that the other 180 thousand keep closing ranks to protect their corrupt or predatory colleagues

[emmie]

that is in the nature of all organisations, I doubt the armed forces is any different.

[davebro]

What do you mean by "starting again"? I find that a rather fatuous comment.
We have tens of thousands of police officers - many with decades of experience - doing a vital job day in day out. In what sense can such an organisation "start again"?

[Peter Pedant]

// In what sense can such an organisation "start again"?//
in the sense of you discharge them and start again

Tried with the Iraqi Army after Bush occupied Iraq - and his VP ( cheney) replaced what he had ordered to be bombed flat with his own construction firm but I digree

Or Prison Medical Service - BMJ ed - so bad time to start again
( they didnt)

or the Connaught rangers 1922
It was disbanded following the establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, along with the other five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state.[2]-wiki

the story I had 50 y ago, is that they declined to obey and order from King George, and he said ( civil and military servants in between, Off you go! - - and then thanked them for their loyal service - hem hem, God the Brits preferred form over fact in those days -
they had a civil war - but NOT froo that

so yes you cd
but having done it before the results ar enot good

Emmie too sleepy and doesnt understand quotas and samples
They found up to a third of the sample shouldna.
and so....... if we have 180 000 ( do we?) p'licemen that is 60 000 not up to scratch - oo-er emmie!
very technical and if you were to say, " sozza, not mimsy enough for 7 am" I wd understand

time to start again anyone

Arena Pt 2 out today - are they trying to bury bad news?

[Ken4155]

One of the first things that ought to happen is that 'whistleblowers' be guaranteed absolute anonymity. As it stands now, they are not, and anyone reporting wrong doings by their colleagues is often ostracised by the rest of their fellow officers. Their careers are often blighted and they are made to feel as if it is they who have done wrong.
Wouldn't solve the problem overnight but it would be a step in the right direction.

[emmie]

that too has been in the news about the Ariana Grande concert bombing. Looks like it was a failure of the emergency services all round.

[youngmafbog]

How on earth could you disband the whole police force, over 220K in England and Wales + Scotland and NI and expect to replace the experience and knowledge of those on the beat and detectives in particular? I assume you are on of those BLM disband the police lefties?

There have always been bad apples in the Police as in any force. Although it is possible to weed out (and it should be with the NPVV2) the real registered undesirables it is impossible to stop those that have not offended yet.

Ken has a good point, whistleblowers do need more protection and that goes right across all Government departments including the NHS.

We also need to drop the tick box culture that lets idiots like Dick get into totally inappropriate jobs, should be best person for the job and only that.

[vulcan42]

We can also change the recruiting system to improve the education standard of potential police officers. I came across a book explaining what is necessary to join the police and it gave examples of the written tests. I couldn't believe some of the maths and English questions, they were similar to the ones I did for my 11 plus!

[Untitled]

"I assume you are on of those BLM disband the police lefties?"

blm as i understand it believe in "defunding" the american police... i.e. diverting funds that are spent on heavy weaponry and the like into social services in order to prevent problems like abuse/addiction etc. from being handed to the police to deal with...

sounds very sensible to me but to answer your question i do not think it would work here... our police forces are not federalised in the same way and do not actually have a huge amount of money spent on them in the first place...

as to "how" it obviously isn't an overnight project... but between this and the post-stephen lawrence reforms and all the other times the police have been caught lying or being corrupt or incompetent or cruel i am beginning to think the existing service is unreformable....

[10ClarionSt]

On the beat!? On the beat!? Are you joking? When did you last see a police officer on the beat?

Anyway, when the police were transferring criminal records over to the main database they lost all records prior to 1992, in one part of the country. Just, like, sayin'. Yer know.

[Paul22118]

My whole working life from sixteen to fifty was as a police officer in a variety of ranks and positions. This is my personal solution.
1. Demand a very good standard of education.
2. Permit a newly formed and increased department to ferret anywhere they chose to into the character and background of applicants.
3. Revise totally the inadequate method of appraisals. Annually is good but it should be scrutinised more closely and being judged by mates avoided - that will prove difficult.
4. Starting over is a non runner. Too many officers with huge experience cannot be re-shuffled.
5. The promotion methods today are a farce. All officers who are from within their own ranks, with clear and obvious leadership material should be considered at least up to sergeant rank. Why was it that useless senior officers were well known to be so and none of their contemporaries ever whistle blew them.
6. In that vein, whistle blowers should be given absolute anonymity and what is more, encouraged to be sensibly pro active. A very senior and retired officer once told me in conversation that he was clearly and blissfully unaware of tic toc, twitter or any other medium.
7. The sergeants are the glue that hold most front line officers together. They must be encouraged more, to advise and steer newer and/or younger recruits in the right direction.
8. Pay peanuts and you'll get monkeys.

Here endeth my rant.