A price worth paying?

Like the vast majority of us, PC Geoff King joined West Midlands Police “to reduce crime and disorder and make our communities feel safer”

PC King was patrolling an area of Wolverhampton that had been hit by a spate of car thefts. He was doing his duty and being the diligent officer that he is, he approached a man who he believed was acting suspiciously.

This man, not wanting to be troubled by an officer doing what the public expects of its police force, pulled out a handgun and shot PC King twice at point blank range. PC King lost over six pints of blood. He was minutes from death. He still hasn’t returned to full duties.

The man responsible for attempting to murder PC King was found, tried, convicted and sentenced.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has put a price on this traumatic incident, which has left PC King with permanent scars and ongoing psychological problems.

The value of having a couple of bullets pumped into you while doing your duty? £4,000. I’ll put that in words, in case you think some zeros might have dropped off. That’s Four Thousand Pounds.

Let’s put that into perspective. If you watch the ads for those ambulance chasing compensation grabbing legal firms, you will have seen the woman who can’t walk over a slightly damp floor without crashing to the ground. She got £4,000. Some bloke who was too busy eyeing up schoolgirls at a bus stop to notice a car pulling out of a drive got several thousand pounds. Another woman who wasn’t looking where she was going tripped up over some parcel binding and gets a huge payout.

These people, who are apparently genuine, get paid out despite the fact that their own lack of attention contributed to their downfall. PC King was doing his job and probably had no expectation or anticipation that he would be shot at, yet he receives less compensation than people who were victims of their own lack of awareness.

There is a limit to how much the CICA can pay out. After all, it’s funded by tax-payers. PC King is one of those tax-payers.  It does not appear that there is any limit to how much comfort and how many perks his attacker will get in prison. The man responsible for putting PC King in this position will never have to pay a penny in compensation.

I don’t know PC King personally, but I do know officers like him who have been injured in the course of their duty. Each one of them will say that they were doing the job they love and would do the same again in the circumstances. None of them demand or expect financial compensation for injuries received, but they deserve some recognition for the unique nature of the job that they do.

I don’t think the price that PC King has paid has been anywhere near reimbursed.

Be careful what you wish for…

Sir Ronnie Flanagan has published a review on policing. In his considered opinion, only 10% of the stuff we do needs a police officer’s training to do it.

The solution to this dilemma is apparently quite simple. Get more civvies in to do the jobs that don’t require a police officer.

So statements will be taken by a member of police staff. Prisoner interviews will be done by police staff. Collection of CCTV from the petrol station who have had their fifteenth drive off of the week would be done by police staff.

This is all very well, until the time comes when industrial relations break down and all those civvies put down their pens and walk out. Who will be left to take the statements? Oh yes - all those police officers who have never been trained to do the job and have no idea how to gather the evidence needed. Who will be told to interview Billy Burglar? The probationer who has never even seen a tape machine, let alone used one or interviewed anybody.

It’s all very well saying that police officers shouldn’t be doing this stuff, but one of the reasons we should be getting a decent pay settlement is that we can’t go on strike.  As Jan Berry has quite rightly pointed out, if the Home Office take away all the personal interactive stuff from us, all that will be left is the door kicking, drunk lifting and brick catching. Some might like the idea, but it isn’t what policing in this country is about.

I think Sir Ronnie might have missed the point.

 

Paul Routledge and the truth - never the twain shall meet

Either Mr Routledge is extremely ill-informed, or he is being deliberately provocative? Either way, it’s a classic example of a journalist who won’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.

I’ve had enough of police whining

Paul Routledge 25/01/2008

Wednesday was Burglars’ Holiday, courtesy of the massed ranks of police officers who took the day off to invade Westminster.

More than 20,000 coppers wearing silly white baseball caps deserted the thick blue line to protest about being given a pay rise.

I wonder who was protecting us while they exercised their unlawful right to hold a one-day strike in the capital. Their law-abiding mates, I suppose.

This work stoppage must have been illegal because it can’t be true that every one of the 25,000 protesters took a legitimate day off.

And they are forbidden by statute to strike. The Manchester force alone sent 950 officers to London. Yet police chiefs are always moaning they are undermanned.

The opposite is plainly true. I suppose the protesters will make up any lost dosh in overtime. The average copper makes £2,900 a year that way, at an annual cost to the nation of £440million.

That’s on top of their salaries, which go up by around a thousand quid every year, on top of the 2.5 per cent rise that upset them so much. There comes a point when we have to say “enough is enough”, and they should calm down and accept they cannot have everything they want.

That point has now been reached. Most workers would envy the policeman’s salary, his fat, index-linked pension, his early retirement and his generous sick pay and his immunity from prosecution when he shoots dead a mildly inebriated Scotsman for the crime of carrying a chair leg in a public place.

The same police who demand the right to lock up people for 42 days without charge, and possibly without even saying what they are supposed to have done. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the politician who says cops can’t have their cash, is still willing to believe police chiefs need SIX WEEKS to interview suspects.

This business of unelected police bosses telling the elected government what its policies should be has to stop. And the place to stop it is the House of Commons, where MPs are being asked - no, told - to back new detention laws.

Aside from the merits of the case, it’s good for governments to be defeated occasionally. Taking ministers down a peg or two does wonders for their egos. But this time it would be sound policy too.

Tony Blair tried to keep suspects detained for 90 days, and had to settle for 28. MPs should keep it at that - if only to put the impertinent police in their place.

Keep the blue flag flying.

For those of you marching tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Behave yourself (like you need to be told)

Make them listen.

Duties prevent me from being there - I wish I could be there and support all of my colleagues.

I hope we can get the shortsighted Home Secretary to put her bifocals on.

Those who live by the sword…

Perhaps the people on trial went a little bit too far with their summary justice, but how much would crime reduce if more burglars ended up like this?

Burglar died after beating

A burglar was stabbed and beaten to death by a gang of neighbours after they caught him raiding one of their flats in a Wolverhampton tower block, a court heard this afternoon.Drug addict Alan Harris, pictured, was attacked by five men after he was caught “red handed” stealing a TV, DVD player and DVDs, it was alleged.

Mr Christopher Hotten QC, prosecuting, said: “It was a low and despicable crime to burgle a neighbour in such a way. He was to pay the ultimate price.”

Lee Gannon, Wayne Buchanan, Michael Joyce, Patrick Summers and Dale Francis all deny murdering Mr Harris, aged 37, in Wodensfield Tower, Wednesfield, early on March 11.

The court heard his killers beat Mr Harris up and dragged him to the 15th floor where he was dumped in a lift and had bleach poured over him in an attempt to clean the scene.

He died later in New Cross Hospital from multiple injuries including skull fractures and a stab wound. The victim lived alone in Flat 17 on the third floor of the flats in Plym Close. Cocaine, amphetamines and Ecstasy were found in his body.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court was told that on the night he died Mr Harris broke into Flat 85 at Wodensfield Tower, the home of Gannon, 25.

He took the electronic equipment along with a Burberry cap and even the bed to exchange for drugs and returned to Flat 85.

Mr Hotten said Gannon returned home with Buchanan, 27, of Rushall Road, Northwood Park, and Summers, 23, of Dudley Road, Wolverhampton.

Meanwhile a party was taking place at the nearby flat of Joyce, a friend of Gannon. Joyce and Francis, who was at the party and lived in Wodensfield Tower, both aged 19, joined in the attack, it was alleged.

The trial continues.

(First posted on Police Oracle forum 1746 21/01/08 )

Please - if you find a grenade, leave it where it is!!

This story from the Express and Star in Wolverhampton has prompted me to publish a Public Service Announcement.

Every now and again - someone finds a grenade, mortar shell or unexploded bomb in their garden, garage or attic.

Naturally, they get very concerned and want the bloody thing away from the house as soon as possible.

Thinking they are doing the right thing, they bring it to a Police Station. This is not a good idea*

The officer on that there front desk is even less keen to have it in the Police Station.

You see, if you ring us and tell us that there is a grenade, mortar or bomb in the house, we will send a team of very nice people round to make you feel valued. These highly trained operatives will then kick you and your neighbours out of your houses, into the local pub (if it’s still open), where you can all reminisce about the war and when beer was thruppence ha’penny a gallon. If you’re unlucky, you’ll end up in the church hall, with bingo and the smell of Mrs Johnson’s embrocation and colostomy bag.

If you bring it to the station, we have to kick you out into the High Street, where there is nowhere for you to have a cup of tea. Unless you fancy a Starbucks? We then have to kick everybody out of the Police Station, in case this device has become viable and spontaneously explodes. The easy bit is getting the PCs out of the nick - they’ll jump in a panda and get as far away as possible in case a statement is required or some standing outside has to be done. The prisoners are quite happy to be escorted away from the nick - it gives them chance to conjure up a plan to escape with a couple of their new mates.

The difficult ones to extract are the bosses and the support staff, who are doggedly determined not to leave the comfort of their offices. Would you stand in a cold, draughty yard when the central heating is cranked up to maximum? Some of these senior officers haven’t taken their uniform out in the streets for years and the material might not be able to take the strain. Not to mention the risk to passing motorists due to stray reflections off some of the shiny arsed trousers, polished by years of driving a desk.

No, all in all, it’s best if you leave your wartime relic where you found it and call us just before you are planning to go out for the day anyway. We’ll do our best to make sure that the controlled explosion doesn’t disturb the dog, or rip up your rose beds.

*For those of you who are lucky enough to reside in Ruralshire, you can take your finds to Inspector Gadget . Even if he’s not on duty, he can be called out at any time to deal with whatever explosive device you may have found. He doesn’t charge you anything and best of all, because he gets no overtime, it doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny more.

Man shot by Taser injures self and dies

Much too early to speculate on how he died, but I have no doubt that there will be calls for Taser to be banned!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7198742.stm

(First posted on Police Oracle forum 1121 20/01/0

Metal detectors in schools

The latest plan from the funny farm!

The Home Secretary, in an attempt to divert attention away from all the other stupid decisions she has made, has publicised plans to install metal detectors in hundreds of schools to combat knife crime.

So Mrs Smith, how will this be managed?

Will there be several hundred police officers on duty every morning at schools, staffing the detectors, to seize any weapons found and to deal with the carriers? I don’t think so.

Will private security guards, with no powers of search, be used? Possibly - more money that will have to be found out of school budgets?

How about using the teachers, who do have delegated powers to search? Hang on - isn’t their job to teach kids, not to frisk them before they get into lessons?

What a complete and utter waste of time and money this will be. It is a complete non-starter. Kids have been smuggling fags, booze and porn into school for years and will find a way to get knives past the detector. In fact, they don’t need to, as there will be plenty of knives and other sharp objects in the Design department, so why bother bringing their own?

Somebody somewhere will make a fortune out of supplying these detectors and somebody else will get shafted with the responsibility of staffing the doors. It’s a recipe for disaster!

(First posted on Police Oracle forum 1048 20/01/0

Thug given ASBO and quad bike lessons

A story in today’s Shropshire Star.

Why is he being “offered treats”?

Why can’t he earn them like the rest of us?

With a bit of luck, he’ll go too fast and break his neck, thus taking himself out of the gene pool.

(First posted on Police Oracle forum 1407 19/01/0

Compare and contrast!

Here is a post I have just submitted to the Police Oracle forum.

 OK - try this for size. I’ve found this on a government web site. so it must be true!

In May 1997, the basic salary for a commons minister was £43,860 - considerably more than a PC was getting in those days - and I should know!

In April 2007, the basic salary for a commons minister was £60,675.

This means that their salary has increased by £16,815 in that ten year period.

Now bear in mind that the government tell us that our pay has increased by 39% in this period.

Funnily enough, £16,815 is 38.3% of £43,860, so the BASIC salary of an MP has increased by about the same rate as our pay!!

How do they justify this then?

What these figures DON’T include are the expenses that MPs can claim.

This is when it starts to get interesting!

Read this document if there is nothing on telly!

To cut to the chase, read Table 9, which gives a summary of MP’s expenses and allowances over the last ten years.

To simplify matters - In 1997, MPs received an office allowance, additional cost allowance and London weighting allowance totalling £61,213.

Now, they are allowed Staffing Allowance, Additional Costs, Incidental Expenses and London Weighting Allowance, totalling £132,538.

This is an increase in allowances of £71,325 or 116%

In 1994, police recruits lost Housing Allowance. We have since lost plain clothes allowance, refreshment and subsistence allowance and numerous other little bits, as well as giving up the first half hour of unplanned overtime.

Check my figures and tell me if I’m wrong, then read about some of the other allowances I haven’t included, like 20 odd pence a mile for riding a bike!! These are the BASIC salaries of bog standard MPs - there are little extras for more “senior” figures.

What really gets my goat is the severance allowance. If their constituents vote them out, they get three months salary as a little handshake!

I would suggest you include these little gems in any correspondence with your MP!