It's true.
But then again - I was busy.
Very busy.
Single crewed at work (should be three of us - there's just me).
Builders finishing off.
Major marital problems becoming a need to go to Relate.
Plus the wearying busyness of 21st century British family life.
Having time to stare into the distance and scratch my arse idly has been a luxury.
Blogging more so - so got neglected - all the while thinking of more stuff to write..... Aaaargh!
But 2 weeks leave always helps.
Sgt C.
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Overtime
I noticed the other day that the the Independent discovered that some cops are raking in a small fortune in overtime. The reality is somewhat different.
Firstly, the article tells us that ’hundreds’ are earning fantastic sums - this against a total of about 120,000 police officers. ‘Tens of thousands of police earning flat rate pay’ isn’t exactly a gripping headline. Look closely again about the numbers involved - and the Met, which earns the Lions share - also has the DPG and Royalty Protection officers who travel, cover all sorts of events and get paid for what they do. An observation is made about the overall overtime bill - fair enough I suppose - then this is compared with Britons struggling under the credit crunch - taking pay cuts - or short time working. A thoughtful comparison perhaps - but what about the bankers in the City of London getting bonuses effectively paid by the taxpayer - much more money - spread far less widely - for less deserving workers?
That’s not to say that the current overtime regulations are perfect - but at least they are fair - even if the application is not. To explain properly - unlike the article - overtime is paid at four rates - not three.
The first is plain time for part time officers working above their agreed part time hours. The next rung is time and a third - less half an hour for the Queen - paid for working past finishing time. To illustrate, this is the rate paid if you were due to finish at say five pm, and you arrest a shoplifter at quarter to four. If you are still at work at half five, then the meter starts ticking - usually in fifteen minute chunks. After a ten hour shift, then some recompense to stay on is needed - there are times when we’d do it for free - no questions asked - such as a search for a misper. But to stay on and deal with standing at a ‘scene’ usually a doorstep or dull street, then bribery is the best motivator.
The next stage is the rest day rate - payable at time and a half with fifteen to five days notice, this is usually for a minimum eight hour shift (and occasionally much more or a bit less). This tends to be the big earner - to plug gaps in cover, to provide staff for events, football, concerts, demos, initiatives, operations, taking excess prisoners from the prison service (Operation Safeguard…. Of which more later…). Basically time and half overtime pays for much of the policing at say the G8, Old Trafford - anywhere where seas of yellow fluorescent jackets are to be seen.
The last rung is the premium rate, saved for the Bank/Public holidays, and for notice of less then five days. This pays for the cops on Christmas Day…. And the other days when you may find yourself stuck in an airport departure lounge or on a four lane rolling traffic jam. It is also the carrot dangled to get uniforms and boots on at short notice - I have on occasion answered the call to get changed and come into work for the promise of ‘double bubble’ - but the reality is that the SLT and the finance department are loathe to pay unnecessary double time pay.
I’m not convinced that police overtime is much of an issue as there are relatively few high earners. I’ve had precious few large pay slips and a flat month is the norm for me at the minute. The few earning more than an Inspector are few and far between, and I would suggest are working in very specialised units - and I doubt they are combining rest day working and stopping on - I suggest it’s one or the other. So while it makes for a gripping headline, - and the whole budget, shared out amounts to about £318 per month, per PC or Sgt, suddenly this is much less when factoring in Special Priority Pay and Competency Pay - so what’s all the fuss about?
Sgt C
Firstly, the article tells us that ’hundreds’ are earning fantastic sums - this against a total of about 120,000 police officers. ‘Tens of thousands of police earning flat rate pay’ isn’t exactly a gripping headline. Look closely again about the numbers involved - and the Met, which earns the Lions share - also has the DPG and Royalty Protection officers who travel, cover all sorts of events and get paid for what they do. An observation is made about the overall overtime bill - fair enough I suppose - then this is compared with Britons struggling under the credit crunch - taking pay cuts - or short time working. A thoughtful comparison perhaps - but what about the bankers in the City of London getting bonuses effectively paid by the taxpayer - much more money - spread far less widely - for less deserving workers?
That’s not to say that the current overtime regulations are perfect - but at least they are fair - even if the application is not. To explain properly - unlike the article - overtime is paid at four rates - not three.
The first is plain time for part time officers working above their agreed part time hours. The next rung is time and a third - less half an hour for the Queen - paid for working past finishing time. To illustrate, this is the rate paid if you were due to finish at say five pm, and you arrest a shoplifter at quarter to four. If you are still at work at half five, then the meter starts ticking - usually in fifteen minute chunks. After a ten hour shift, then some recompense to stay on is needed - there are times when we’d do it for free - no questions asked - such as a search for a misper. But to stay on and deal with standing at a ‘scene’ usually a doorstep or dull street, then bribery is the best motivator.
The next stage is the rest day rate - payable at time and a half with fifteen to five days notice, this is usually for a minimum eight hour shift (and occasionally much more or a bit less). This tends to be the big earner - to plug gaps in cover, to provide staff for events, football, concerts, demos, initiatives, operations, taking excess prisoners from the prison service (Operation Safeguard…. Of which more later…). Basically time and half overtime pays for much of the policing at say the G8, Old Trafford - anywhere where seas of yellow fluorescent jackets are to be seen.
The last rung is the premium rate, saved for the Bank/Public holidays, and for notice of less then five days. This pays for the cops on Christmas Day…. And the other days when you may find yourself stuck in an airport departure lounge or on a four lane rolling traffic jam. It is also the carrot dangled to get uniforms and boots on at short notice - I have on occasion answered the call to get changed and come into work for the promise of ‘double bubble’ - but the reality is that the SLT and the finance department are loathe to pay unnecessary double time pay.
I’m not convinced that police overtime is much of an issue as there are relatively few high earners. I’ve had precious few large pay slips and a flat month is the norm for me at the minute. The few earning more than an Inspector are few and far between, and I would suggest are working in very specialised units - and I doubt they are combining rest day working and stopping on - I suggest it’s one or the other. So while it makes for a gripping headline, - and the whole budget, shared out amounts to about £318 per month, per PC or Sgt, suddenly this is much less when factoring in Special Priority Pay and Competency Pay - so what’s all the fuss about?
Sgt C
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Through the looking glass...
One of the great aspects of the MP's expenses scandal and the credit crunch (TM, Robert Peston productions) is that the focus of 'publik opinon' has been away from the Police, and for that matter - social services, the NHS, dentists, doctors and so on.
But thanks to our dear friends in Westminster - guess what - the House of Commons Home Affairs committee has decided there were 'not enough trained Police at the G20'.
Check the BBC, it's all here folks - as apparently 35,000 demonstrators, 10,000 police and er... 4 complaints to the IPCC has led to th wise and learned to conclude - 'never again must untrained officers be placed in the front line of public protests' - as apparently 2 days per year of MAS/PSU etc.. training is not enough to drill into the front line cop... what exactly? Not to shove people from behind (if that is what happened to the late Ian Tomlinson) - not to slap mouthy people in the face? Not to refuse to give the demented your collar number? (You can have mine now.... I'm not bothered).
According to Keith Vaz, MP, 'What's acceptable, what's within the police rule book - the use of distraction tactics, for example, slapping or hitting people - shocked the public, therefore, they need to look again at these tactics and consult the public to decide whether or not such tactics can be used again."
Now, I could be wrong, but if I ask some of our parishioners as to whether use of force may be justified, what type of responses would I get?
Pete Krusti-Pantz (envioronmental protestor) 'Cops hitting me interferes with my right to demonstrate with a balaclava and scaffolding poles against the forces of captalism...'
Robert Whinjin-Krayon (Daily Mail reader) 'The police are just nu-labour fascist bully boys concerned with political correctness, they shouldn't even be allowed out of the station, lets have the troops home and on the streets now...'
Dean Benefitt-Chavscumm (unemployed) 'The five-o shouldn't be allowed to touch me, it messes up my grafting and how else can I sell my gear and score some green - my brief will sort them...'
So there you have it - G20 apparently was an unmitigated disaster - an MP is seriously questioning as to how police can defend themselves and others... do I expect to see OST (Officer Safety Training) courses delivered by the IPCC, or our local MP?
Proably not.
C.
But thanks to our dear friends in Westminster - guess what - the House of Commons Home Affairs committee has decided there were 'not enough trained Police at the G20'.
Check the BBC, it's all here folks - as apparently 35,000 demonstrators, 10,000 police and er... 4 complaints to the IPCC has led to th wise and learned to conclude - 'never again must untrained officers be placed in the front line of public protests' - as apparently 2 days per year of MAS/PSU etc.. training is not enough to drill into the front line cop... what exactly? Not to shove people from behind (if that is what happened to the late Ian Tomlinson) - not to slap mouthy people in the face? Not to refuse to give the demented your collar number? (You can have mine now.... I'm not bothered).
According to Keith Vaz, MP, 'What's acceptable, what's within the police rule book - the use of distraction tactics, for example, slapping or hitting people - shocked the public, therefore, they need to look again at these tactics and consult the public to decide whether or not such tactics can be used again."
Now, I could be wrong, but if I ask some of our parishioners as to whether use of force may be justified, what type of responses would I get?
Pete Krusti-Pantz (envioronmental protestor) 'Cops hitting me interferes with my right to demonstrate with a balaclava and scaffolding poles against the forces of captalism...'
Robert Whinjin-Krayon (Daily Mail reader) 'The police are just nu-labour fascist bully boys concerned with political correctness, they shouldn't even be allowed out of the station, lets have the troops home and on the streets now...'
Dean Benefitt-Chavscumm (unemployed) 'The five-o shouldn't be allowed to touch me, it messes up my grafting and how else can I sell my gear and score some green - my brief will sort them...'
So there you have it - G20 apparently was an unmitigated disaster - an MP is seriously questioning as to how police can defend themselves and others... do I expect to see OST (Officer Safety Training) courses delivered by the IPCC, or our local MP?
Proably not.
C.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Coming soon !!!
Sorry folks, but the blog has been neglected due to things at home - mainly builders, and their major works, some personal 'issues' (how i hate that word...), and the all pervasive business that infects modern day life.
But I do promise some musings on:
retirement, (not mine - not for a long while...)
the joy of incident reports, (which will be better than it sounds)
the many delights of custody, (too numerous to list in full)
and self defence training (and that's just for starters).
Not dead, not sleeping - just a different kind of busy.
And I won't be going the way of Nightjack (God bless 'im)
C.
But I do promise some musings on:
retirement, (not mine - not for a long while...)
the joy of incident reports, (which will be better than it sounds)
the many delights of custody, (too numerous to list in full)
and self defence training (and that's just for starters).
Not dead, not sleeping - just a different kind of busy.
And I won't be going the way of Nightjack (God bless 'im)
C.
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Another poster
Sums up my feelings about motivational posters. My thanks again to despair inc. .
Which ones are pinned up in your nick?
And who has 'made the best alteration'? (Because grafitti is criminal damage, and a crime, so therefore wrong.)
Report back.
C.
The Art of leading men (and women).
Since I have been in the police -there have been many changes, in fact the obsessive tinkering by Nu Labour meant that the rate of change increased rapidly after 1997, to the extent that 'change' itself is now seen as a four letter word.
'Shit, wank or toss' being the ones that fit most situations.
One of the changes brought in is an emphasis on 'leadership' (meaning management) and the role of being a 'leader' (meaning being a manager).
Go into any UK police force, and I would be surprised not to find posters, leaflets, online resources, training courses, and enormous volumes of hot air all about this 'leadership' thing.
This is something that has come in on the crest of the wave of introducing ideas and concepts from private industry (who else has 'customers','business partners','business cases' and so on) - I mean we are the public sector - monopoly suppliers of policing - there is no customer choice - I would argue that they are not customers as they have no choice and certainly aren't expected to pay... but that's a different rant.
With the posters, also came the motivational ones, spreading like the ravings of benign vandals across corridors and noticeboards and even the occasional office. I hate these with a passion. Below is an example - albeit a satirical one, but it gets the point across:
One of the changes brought in is an emphasis on 'leadership' (meaning management) and the role of being a 'leader' (meaning being a manager).
Go into any UK police force, and I would be surprised not to find posters, leaflets, online resources, training courses, and enormous volumes of hot air all about this 'leadership' thing.
This is something that has come in on the crest of the wave of introducing ideas and concepts from private industry (who else has 'customers','business partners','business cases' and so on) - I mean we are the public sector - monopoly suppliers of policing - there is no customer choice - I would argue that they are not customers as they have no choice and certainly aren't expected to pay... but that's a different rant.
With the posters, also came the motivational ones, spreading like the ravings of benign vandals across corridors and noticeboards and even the occasional office. I hate these with a passion. Below is an example - albeit a satirical one, but it gets the point across:
(For more - I suggest you get over to despair inc. )
Sadly, with the obsession over leadership/management, comes the jargon/bullshit that goes with it. Renaming the 'Senior Management Team' to the 'Senior Leadership Team' is an obvious one, but it does nothing apart from saving a small amount of ink. It's still the same bunch. With all their quirks, obsessions and habits. And if you have a Chief Officer who has been bitten by the 'Leadership bug', then expect it all to come from the top down.
So this is how come Sgt Custerd goes on a training course on 'Managing Change and Improvement'. Or, two days of twaddle. Harsh, but 'management' as a subject is based on the loose academic principles of some very soft and squishy social sciences - often contributed to in large parts by US academics or business people, working in US industry and firms. (And for what US business can teach the world -think Union Carbide, GM, Lehman Brothers & Bernard Madoff - but that was an easy swipe..) I prefer my academic subjects underpinned by solid scientific laws, or else weighty chunks of philosophy. For an example, think Hobbes' Leviathan as opposed to the outpourings of the Harvard Business School, which mainly relies on 20th century studies of organisations. Sun Tzu and Macchiaveli would probably haved burned the place down, Adam Smith would have had them all making pins.
'Change' is many things - but management training will tell you it is inevitable, a good thing, that organisations thrive on change an so on. Experience tells me that 'change' is inevitable, poorly thought out, often unnecessary, implemented for personal and self-promotional reasons, prone to being reversed. It is also politically motivated, sometimes follows changes in society, and the adage 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' works an awful lot of the time.
So when being told that the police are resistant to change - it's a fair comment - combine shiftwork, stressful situations, real actual crises, unusual working practices - and I defy anyone to greet a change in legislation, or procedure, or working practices with open arms and a happy smile. Try working in the grimier end of life for years and then resist being cynical and sceptical, world-weary and 'seen it all before'.
So at the end of a two day input from some very earnest management trainers, I had switched off a little. I found it intensely patronising, simplistic, and all to often geared to the world of commerce. Parallels were made with BT and the Prison Service - one being in private industry - the other part-privatised, so the examples didn't really hold. And it's not like I don't manage change - just getting on with it with minimal grumbling and making new systems work is all it's about. Normal working practices go out of the window with a murder, riot or other serious incident, so you can't accuse police officers of not being dynamic or adaptable.
So does knowing John Kotter's 8 point model for successful change help me in the slightest? - it's clearly an obsession for modern management - for example, Google gives nearly 36 million hits for 'managing change'. There are plenty of books or courses available to help executives 'create coalitions', 'communicate', 'express a vision', 'empower' and so on - in fact, I've noticed that the language of 'management' and the language of counselling often have a shared vocabulary (is this significant I wonder...?) - but in the long run - does it really help?
I may be wrong, I may be in a minority of one, but people who talk like professional managers, with 'vision' and a 'mission' come across as massive wankers. Not necessarily bad, evil or stupid - quite the reverse, but very often as misguided, naive, and deluded, and certainly anyone who wants to 'link in' with me, as opposed to come and 'speak to' me has already got my hackles up.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Sgt C.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Thank God for MP's
You couldn't make it up.
Just when the number of anti-Police coverage in the media was getting too much.
Just when the fall-out from the G20 summit was making all cops look like out-of-control bullies.
Just when the Met seemed to have totally lost the plot.
Both sides of the venerable House have joined their noses in the trough !!!
Hooray !!!
Meanwhile, back in Grim-on-th't-Moor, Sgt Custerd is still head of the trivial crime squad.
What this means, is that our 'customer' rings one of our call centres. Their complaint is graded from 1 to 5.
1 is serious - blue lights and sirens.
2 is fairly serious - a stripy vehicle will be with you in an hour.
3 is reasonably pressing - a stripy vehicle will be with you during the same day.
4 is trivial. Or has been regraded through a lack of stripy vehicles. Or we've been creative with the truth, and decided that there is no evidence to lose - or it's been lost - or else our 'customer' is happy with an appointment (within 48 hours - remember the Pledge).
5 is when a Police 'officer' will call you back and take details by phone.
The grading determines how quickly - and whether you will be seen. A grade of 4 means that one of my team will deal with your complaint.
'Deal' in this sense means we make an appointment for our customer - who comes in to see us. In the case of a recordable crime - with a line of enquiry to a named suspect, then a statement and crime report is taken. Which in turn now gets fed into the sausage machine of 21st century policing.
A crime is allocated to an officer - who arrests the suspect - brings them to a police station, books them into custody, where:
someone else takes fingerprints, photos and DNA,
someone else interviews them,
someone else decides if there is sufficient evidence to charge or refer to the CPS,
(in which case, someone else makes the decision to charge),
someone else puts together the file for Court.
On paper - all very simple - in practice, like herding cats, juggling eels, and nailing jelly to the ceiling. In the dark. With your feet on fire.
Respec'
Sgt.C.
Just when the number of anti-Police coverage in the media was getting too much.
Just when the fall-out from the G20 summit was making all cops look like out-of-control bullies.
Just when the Met seemed to have totally lost the plot.
Both sides of the venerable House have joined their noses in the trough !!!
Hooray !!!
Meanwhile, back in Grim-on-th't-Moor, Sgt Custerd is still head of the trivial crime squad.
What this means, is that our 'customer' rings one of our call centres. Their complaint is graded from 1 to 5.
1 is serious - blue lights and sirens.
2 is fairly serious - a stripy vehicle will be with you in an hour.
3 is reasonably pressing - a stripy vehicle will be with you during the same day.
4 is trivial. Or has been regraded through a lack of stripy vehicles. Or we've been creative with the truth, and decided that there is no evidence to lose - or it's been lost - or else our 'customer' is happy with an appointment (within 48 hours - remember the Pledge).
5 is when a Police 'officer' will call you back and take details by phone.
The grading determines how quickly - and whether you will be seen. A grade of 4 means that one of my team will deal with your complaint.
'Deal' in this sense means we make an appointment for our customer - who comes in to see us. In the case of a recordable crime - with a line of enquiry to a named suspect, then a statement and crime report is taken. Which in turn now gets fed into the sausage machine of 21st century policing.
A crime is allocated to an officer - who arrests the suspect - brings them to a police station, books them into custody, where:
someone else takes fingerprints, photos and DNA,
someone else interviews them,
someone else decides if there is sufficient evidence to charge or refer to the CPS,
(in which case, someone else makes the decision to charge),
someone else puts together the file for Court.
On paper - all very simple - in practice, like herding cats, juggling eels, and nailing jelly to the ceiling. In the dark. With your feet on fire.
Respec'
Sgt.C.
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