Gotta dance

Published on September 6, 2010 in The Job - General. Closed

written by 200 from 200 Weeks

dancingcop

I love the old Gene Kelly movies. I think there is something in this old 6′3, eighteen stone monolith which wishes I could have had those dance moves somewhere in me, I know Mrs Weeks does.

So I’m impressed by NPYD cop Wilbert Castillo who has been directing traffic in New York for 10 years.

The 47 year old dances his way through an eight hour shift. Not as flamboyant as some of the dancing traffic cops I’ve seen over the years but one to brighten the day none-the-less.

Check out the video report over at the Daily Fail.

The original post can be found http://200weeks.police999.com/archives/3302

Principles over practicalities…….

Published on September 6, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?

                                           CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

'On Tuesday night I gave the order for British forces to take part in military action in Iraq.  Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.'

One quality you admire in a person and respect, is the ability to make a decision, a difficult decision, and then once made, despite criticism, hindsight and public protest, to stand by that decision, to brave the storm.  In 2003 Tony Blair was The Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, and therefore the responsibility, was laid squarely at his feet.  What some people forget, is that the decision was not his alone, the decision was brought before the UK Parliament and the issue was voted on, it returned a vote count of: 412 - 149 in favour.  

'I know this course of action has produced deep divisions of opinion in our country. But I know also the British people will now be united in sending our armed forces our thoughts and prayers. They are the finest in the world and their families and all of Britain can have great pride in them.'

Saddam Hussein was a dictator, a tyrant, a danger to those on the side of justice who would oppose him. By March 2003 he had ignored seventeen United Nation Resolutions, he was an outlaw in the international community, he had previously illegally invaded Kuwait in 1990 and had to be removed from that country by Operation Desert Storm, even after being defeated and being sanctioned by the United Nations, he still appeared on live television and claimed victory.

'My fear, deeply held, based in part on the intelligence that I see, is that these threats come together and deliver catastrophe to our country and world. These tyrannical states do not care for the sanctity of human life. The terrorists delight in destroying it.'

You know many people believe different things about whether nor not Military Intelligence was fabricated, whether or not Attorney General Goldsmith was pressurised to come to his conclusions, whether or not the situation in Kosovo should have been used as a precedent for the actions in 2003, or whether or not, and this is one of your favourite conspiracy theories, oil was the reason for the invasion of Iraq.

'So our choice is clear: back down and leave Saddam hugely strengthened; or proceed to disarm him by force. Retreat might give us a moment of respite but years of repentance at our weakness would I believe follow.'

What most 'Anti War Protesters' are to ignorant to see, to self righteous to take in, is that Tony Blair was willing to follow the principles, of morality and compassion. To look at what he believed, and to take action, to produce such a brilliant and passionate plea, that he brought about a 263 majority vote, the backing of the democratic parliament  of the United Kingdom.  Then when it all went sideways, when people turned against him, when he became the target of those who would use hindsight as a weapon, he stood by his decision, and that, for you, makes the man worthy of great respect.

'I hope the Iraqi people hear this message. We are with you. Our enemy is not you, but your barbarous rulers.'

You did not serve in Iraq, but you know a lot of people who did, be that in Basra, Baghdad, or other parts of the country.  You are only too aware that Service Police Officers died in that country, but Tony Blair, for all his faults, had one of the hardest jobs in the world, he knew the consequences that could ensue and he knew what had to be done.  The men and women of the British Armed Forces were ready to do the job they had trained for, and he bravely and morally made the decision to send them to do it, because he had faith in their abilities. Despite the odds against them, the equipment shortages and other obstacles, they did the job and they did it well.

'That is why I have asked our troops to go into action tonight. As so often before, on the courage and determination of British men and women, serving our country, the fate of many nations rests.'

The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/09/principles-over-practicalities_06.html

Principles over practicalities…..

Published on September 6, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Joe90 from You want to be a hero?





                                                                 CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES



'On Tuesday night I gave the order for British forces to take part in military action in Iraq.  Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.'

One quality you admire in a person and respect, is the ability to make a decision, a difficult decision, and then once made, despite criticism, hindsight and public protest, to stand by that decision, to brave the storm.  In 2003 Tony Blair was The Prime Minster of the United Kingdom, and therefore the responsibility, was laid squarely at his feet.  What some people forget, is that the decision was not his alone, the decision was brought before the UK Parliament and the issue was voted on, it returned a vote count of: 412 - 149 in favour.  

'I know this course of action has produced deep divisions of opinion in our country. But I know also the British people will now be united in sending our armed forces our thoughts and prayers. They are the finest in the world and their families and all of Britain can have great pride in them.'

Saddam Hussein was a dictator, a tyrant, a danger to those on the side of justice who would oppose him. By March 2003 he had ignored seventeen United Nation Resolutions, he was an outlaw in the international community, he had previously illegally invaded Kuwait in 1990 and had to be removed from that country by Operation Desert Storm, even after being defeated and being sanctioned by the United Nations, he still appeared on live television and claimed victory.

'My fear, deeply held, based in part on the intelligence that I see, is that these threats come together and deliver catastrophe to our country and world. These tyrannical states do not care for the sanctity of human life. The terrorists delight in destroying it.'

You know many people believe different things about whether nor not Military Intelligence was fabricated, whether or not Attorney General Goldsmith was pressurised to come to his conclusions, whether or not the situation in Kosovo should have been used as a precedent for the actions in 2003, or whether or not, and this is one of your favourite conspiracy theories, oil was the reason for the invasion of Iraq.

'So our choice is clear: back down and leave Saddam hugely strengthened; or proceed to disarm him by force. Retreat might give us a moment of respite but years of repentance at our weakness would I believe follow.'

What most 'Anti War Protesters' are to ignorant to see, to self righteous to take in, is that Tony Blair was willing to follow the principles, of morality and compassion. To look at what he believed, and to take action, to produce such a brilliant and passionate plea, that he brought about a 263 majority vote, the backing of the democratic parliament  of the United Kingdom.  Then when it all went sideways, when people turned against him, when he became the target of those who would use hindsight as a weapon, he stood by his decision, and that, for you, makes the man worthy of great respect.

'I hope the Iraqi people hear this message. We are with you. Our enemy is not you, but your barbarous rulers.'

You did not serve in Iraq, but you know a lot of people who did, be that in Basra, Baghdad, or other parts of the country.  You are only too aware that Service Police Officers died in that country, but Tony Blair, for all his faults, had one of the hardest jobs in the world, he knew the consequences that could ensue and he knew what had to be done.  The men and women of the British Armed Forces were ready to do the job they had trained for, and he bravely and morally made the decision to send them to do it, because he had faith in their abilities. Despite the odds against them, the equipment shortages and other obstacles, they did the job and they did it well.

'That is why I have asked our troops to go into action tonight. As so often before, on the courage and determination of British men and women, serving our country, the fate of many nations rests.'






The original post can be found http://hero90.blogspot.com/2010/09/principles-over-practicalities.html

Custody Sergeant’s Response

Published on September 5, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Sergeant Simon from Sergeant Simon

Sergeant Mark Andrews is in the news for the wrong reasons. I don't really need to provide a link judging by some of the newspaper headlines but just in case look here.

Firstly I don't condone what he did. No matter how drunk or annoying someone is we still have those three words which take precedence over everything: duty of care. He'll lose his job, and arguably deservedly so.

However, as a police sergeant who has spent a lot of time as a custody sergeant, I think I'm perhaps a bit more entitled to have something to say about all this.

I work in a relatively small police station. We only have the 10 cells. However, despite that we have generated nearly 4000 custody records this year alone. This is not even the only custody suite in our force area. 4000 custody records is just a drop in the ocean of what must be hundreds of thousands of custody records across the uk, each referring to an individual arrested and booked in at a police station. The vast, overwhelming majority of these cases pass off without incident, even with the really drunk, aggressive and dangerous people that we literally drag off the streets to keep you lot safe. The borderline psychopaths who will literally rip their arms open with their teeth to get attention (yes, I have really seen this happen). The drug addicts who start attacking the doctors when they won't give them the drugs they want. They all get treated properly and fairly. Certainly in my experience they do. Custody suites are dripping with these cameras for precisely this reason and to my knowledge they have fended off far more malicious allegations than they have found genuine ones.

So when you see the blaring headline of "BRUTALITY" and bruised faces splashed over pages in full close up just remember it refers to one, single, individual officer and his misjudgement. Not all of us.

The original post can be found http://policelockerroom.blogspot.com/2010/09/custody-sergeants-response.html

Whoops!

Published on September 5, 2010 in The Job - General. Closed

written by 200 from 200 Weeks

evortc

The above photo wasn’t the result of the usual kind of driving often associated with vehicles of the ilk of the Mitsubishi Evo.

Rather embarrassingly, it was the result of a couple of Greater Manchester Police officers who had recently stopped the driver on suspicion of drink-driving. It seems that the driver was taken away by traffic officers & the hapless officers were left with the Evo.

Why what happened next happened is explained differently depending which report you read. Some say the officers called a garage to take the vehicle away but decided to take it for a quick joy-ride, while others say the officers drove the vehicle themselves back to the police station, either way, they ended up in someone’s garden.

The local senior officers & Professional Standards Units are not impressed.

The original post can be found http://200weeks.police999.com/archives/3298

Wrong email Grommit

Published on September 5, 2010 in France, Illegal immigrants, Mutualaidgate, National Gendarmerie, PACE and water cannon. Closed

written by The Duty Sgt from The Duty Sgt

None of you will know but I have the same name as a senior officer in my force and occasionally get his emails. He gets emails meant for me asking for annual leave which he deletes and I get ones meant for him asking for multi million pound decisions on budgets which I sign off without reading.

Because of this I can exclusively reveal here what I am calling 'Mutualaidgate.'


Following on from the announcement in the media that the British and French Navies will share aircraft carriers I can reveal that my force has been in talks with the National Gendarmerie (French National Police) and has agreed that we will share resources. I think this is a brilliant idea, we can flood the streets with armed officers at the drop of a hat, it will save on translators and we will no longer have to deal with illegal immigrants. We can just dump them all near our ports and provide absolutely no security at all and hope they all make there way to the nearest country and claim asylum there. No more having to go hand to hand with drunken louts on a Saturday night, I can just ring Marcel my counterpart and ask if he can bring his team with the baton guns and water cannon and clear the town for me.

I had a chat with Marcel over croissants and hot chocolate and he wasn't as happy. He was puzzled by the intricacies of PACE and was horrified that in his opinion the criminal had more rights than the Police and victim. He was appalled at the sentences handed out by our courts and outraged at how people who assault officers were treated. In his words "In France they wouldn't do that as they know they will be shot!" He did however agree with me that how Pamela Somerville was treated in custody was out of order no matter how abusive or uncooperative she had been. We both agreed that allowing your own personal feelings to cloud your judgement just gave offenders an excuse to get away with their crimes.
National Gendarmerie coming to a town near you.......

The original post can be found http://thedutysgt.blogspot.com/2010/09/wrong-email-grommit.html

Pamela Somerville – UK Police Brutality *SHOCK!*

Published on September 5, 2010 in Racist, abusive or excessively liberal comments will not be tolerated. Thank you.. Closed

written by inspectorgadget from POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG

There were probably at least eight police officers involved in the ugly and violent treatment of Pamela Somerville in 2008. One was the offender, Sgt Mark Andrews.

The others were the officers who investigated and prosecuted him for the assault, starting with PC Rachel Webb (seen in the video) who immediately reported what had happened.

As a front-line policeman, I hugely sympathise with Ms Somerville. There have been over 370 assaults resulting in serious injury and 3000 other attacks committed on police by members of the public this year. There were something like 50,000 assaults on NHS staff and 8,500 on teaching staff too. So we know what it’s like.

Watching the video of what happened in the Melksham custody area last night, the whole shift here in Ruralshire were of the same opinion; Andrews had clearly gone insane. The whole thing looks so unlike any policing I am used to that I had better refrain from further comment, other than to disappoint the tinfoil hat brigade by writing how genuinely sorry and embarrassed I am that this happened.

Get exclusive new, large size ‘Scrap The Pledge Now’ wristbands here!


The original post can be found http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/pamela-somerville-uk-police-brutality-shock/

Free bikes for criminals

Published on September 3, 2010 in The Job - General. Closed

written by 200 from 200 Weeks

Suffolk Police are planning to give free bicycles to prolific offenders as part if a scheme to help former offenders get jobs.

The force will give stolen bikes to crooks who wil be expected to use them as transport so they can go off find work.

Detective Inspector Richard Crabtree said the bikes would be on loan would only be given to prolific priority offenders who could be helped.

So they won’t be giving many out, then?

The original post can be found http://200weeks.police999.com/archives/3248

Is It Time To Announce The Death Of Politics?

Published on September 3, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by allcoppedout from Allcoppedout's Blog

Nietzsche announced the ‘Death of God’, Foucault the ‘Death of Man’ – both bored me until my slow brain got round to working out how much I had failed, dismally, to grasp just how much change we need in our thinking.  I believe a programme of consistent thought is possible and that we do not have one.  The complexities are beyond me here and I’m interested in whether others ‘feel’ the same.

I really want little part of a world that doesn’t try to escape ‘evolution’ – I once wanted escape from religion but know now this was a small and misguided part of a much bigger quandary about whether we are broadly an irrelevance waiting for the next big rock to hit us or other attack that puts paid to humanity in favour of other, more meaningful or random existence. I want a politics of this, not barmy ‘buggers’ hiring handsome young men with no particular qualifications to share bedrooms with them, or pratting about over an economics that only ever suits those in existing power.  It’s pretty clear now we have technology that has changed work and how much of it we need to do.    Politics is dead because it doesn’t address anything I want.  This would be fine if I could believe it was just something about me.  I could then just be pissed off and get on with my own life.  I’ll probably do that anyway.  I just sense we are on the route to war and politics needs to be dismantled.  I know Chomsky goes on about this and have seen ‘radical politics’ in a number of forms.

Obama is clearly something we’ve seen before, and so is our dumb ConDem arrangement.  We need much better ways to ignore them and our feeble media.  It will be something like sticking flowers down gun barrels.


The original post can be found http://allcoppedout.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/is-it-time-to-announce-the-death-of-politics/

Basics

Published on September 3, 2010 in The Job - Experience. Closed

written by 200 from 200 Weeks

Our call-takers are a constant source of amusement & frustration.

They are responsible for taking the calls from the public then filtering & distilling the information into a computer log which leads the way Me & my officers deal with an incident.

There are some pretty essential constants we, as controllers & subsequently officers, need to know with almost every job; the location we need to send the officer to is pretty key, who we need to see when we get there & where they are is also important, we also like descriptions of the offenders, what they look like,  where they are or where they are heading.

If the call-takers took these simple bits of info on every call our lives would be easier.

If only.

The problem is that this type of information is omitted so often that it is not surprising or unusual to have basic detail missed off a log.

This means we either have to send an electronic message back to the call-taker asking for the missing info, or we have to ring the informant back ourselves – which, quite often, is faster &  simpler but takes us away from what we should be doing.

Quite often it’s the same people who make the same omissions, time & time again. One wonders what their supervisors do when they are made aware of continuing problems because sorting it out doesn’t appear to be on the list.

And some of them have several years’ service, you’d have thought they’d have grasped the principle by now.

I had a job today where someone called in to say their house had been burgled & their car had been stolen.

Name, telephone number &  address of informant – check. Location of burglary informant – check. Details of car – er…

When a car is nicked, we need to put a stolen report on the Police National Computer so that if it is seen or goes through an ANPR camera it comes up as stolen  & we have a fighting chance of getting it back  & arresting someone. It might even be driving off from the burglary while officers are driving to the scene, but if we don’t know the registration plate let alone what type of car it is what chance have they got of spotting it?

As it turned out I couldn’t assign the burglary for a while as we had all our officers tied up at domestics, so a quick message to the call-taker asking if she took vehicle details was met, 15 minutes later, with the response that they’d tried to call the victim back  to get the details (because they forgot to ask the first time) but couldnt get a reply. The car could be driving up &  down the police station car park for the next 2 hours & nobody would know it was nicked.

I had another call this week. A gamekeeper was reporting youths setting fire to a car out in the rural area. The location was a forest, not one of the proportions of the New Forest or something out on the wilds of Yorkshire, but the forest was actually bigger than the town it was outside.

I kid you not, the location the call-takers had given for where the offenders were setting light to the car was “in the forest, near some trees”.

The original post can be found http://200weeks.police999.com/archives/3207