We asked for YOUR views on Police Cuts . . .

Here’s just one!

“I feel ambivalent about the police much of the time. I’ve found myself

(Undeservedly) on their wrong side nearly as often as on their right side through my life. I’ve blogged about these concerns elsewhere (ItsMothersWorkBlog)  But that isn’t what this is about. This is about whether the police are generally a force for good – even if they don’t manage to always be so – and how to support them in becoming so, or remaining so, or developing in other positive ways.

I don’t for one second believe that there shouldn’t be a police force.

I’ll bet you don’t either. I turned to them when someone crashed into my car, then drove off and when someone tried to defraud my credit card. They were first at the scene when I was calming the hysterical toddler whose mother had been knocked down crossing the road. They were swift and efficient at collecting my witness statement when an inattentive driver knocked a cyclist off his bike in front of me. They diligently (though fruitlessly) dusted for fingerprints when my house was burgled, even though the dog-in-residence had chased the miscreants away before they snagged anything. They took a full and proper record when I accompanied a friend who went to report a flasher in her garden (trying not to laugh because her indignant account included a description of her jumping out of the window and chasing him with a hunting knife); rightly they didn’t arrest her for brandishing a weapon.

I need good policing to keep my world safe – at the station when the drunk football supporters are on the train; at the crazy roundabout, keeping the traffic moving when the phasing of the lights goes nutty.

I need to be able to say to my bigger children – “if you get lost, ask a policeman” and sound like I mean it. And I can.

Personally I know our local PCSO, who is a regular at the children’s school and who stops by the park on her bike to check they are OK; two of the school dads are in our local force; one of the volunteers in my breastfeeding support group is a serving constable too. Professionally I work with the Area Commander and his Deputy, and with the Safer Schools Liaison Officer as well. These are great, dedicated public servants one and all, working hard, often in difficult situations and with very little thanks or praise. At the moment I recognise in them what I recognise in myself – a sense of disbelief at the policy-mischief swirling round them, a feeling of being unjustly under attack from a government that does not know – and does not care – what good policing looks like and is more interested in penny-pinching than in ensuring we have a good, reliable, trustworthy, resilient police service that meets the nation’s needs for safe communities and individual liberties.

So, I am firmly against the proposed 20% cuts in police service funding. As a public sector worker trying to deal with cuts of that magnitude in my own service, I know that we – and police colleagues – already run fairly lean machines in most areas.

I am firmly against elected police commissioners – further politicising an already over-politicised service and making justice subject to local whimsy and the priorities of those who shout loudest.

I don’t know enough about the pay and conditions of police to know whether there is some “fat cattery” at some levels (there often is, in both public and private organisations), but I do know that ordinary officers are not overpaid, nor are their T&Cs over-generous given the risks they face and the expectations on them.

I also know that false distinctions between “frontline” and “back office” are nonsense – essential civilian staff free up officer time to do the things they are trained for, and the majority of tasks for all roles are necessary, even vital. Those that we sometimes question as over-bureaucratic are usually imposed by government – often in the interests of equality, justice, or simply good management information.

Do I believe that policing should never be subjected to scrutiny? Not required to change or improve? Not held to account for expenditure of taxpayers’ money? No!

But I do believe that this random, Ill-considered meddling has the same hallmarks of the reforms being peddled in other services: more about cuts than improvements; more about political window-dressing than real reductions in crime; and coming from a place of ignorance rather than knowledge.

Despite my ambivalence towards the police, on this, I stand with them against the government reforms.

Solidarity!”

Thanks for your views which serve to highlight whatever your views on the Police you will undoubtedly turn to them at some point in your life. It maybe a uniformed officer or indeed a Detective, Scenes of Crime Officer, a Police Staff Call Taker the list is endless but its the Service to you that matter!

Please get involved and speak up against these cuts to YOUR service. YOU never know when you might need to use it!!!

‘ItsMothersWork’ frequently tweets and you can find her comments by following @itsmotherswork.

We asked why she remains hidden behind ‘itsmotherswork’ and here’s what she had to say: -

“If my identity were known my blogging and tweeting remarks could be linked to me professionally and then my job would be at risk. I am entitled to my opinions and to express them but not to enable a link that might be considered to bring my employer into disrepute. My boss is aware of my blog and is clear that it doesn’t breach the terms of my employment as long as that link isn’t made. For the same reason, when I comment on others’ blogs, I comment as itsmotherswork”

Many people up and down the Country and indeed internationally blog and tweet under a pseudo name to protect their identity, especially Police Officers in the current climate.

Thank you Its Mothers Work for your input into the Police Cuts Debate.

What’s YOUR view?

We are as always interested in YOUR views.

Please DO contact us and leave YOUR comments on today’s vote or any other Conference observations from the week in Bournemouth.

Use the Comments Tab at the top right of this article or the Contact Us page to tell us what YOU think.

YOU can also email us at: Admin@protectourpolice.co.uk

Our thanks to ItsMothersWork