Have you ever tried to influence a Police Authority (formerly a Watch Committee)?
I'm afraid that, although they hold supposed public 'consultations' and meetings, the only people they have any regard to is the police trade union called ACPO. It seems that ACPO is THE body that decides police priorities, with very little local discretion...
Yep, but going by experience I have to say not unusual, never mind unknown. There's probably a butter side down ieffect as well, in that plod probably catches more of such muppets than the dealers who don't do this.
Police priorities are decided *much* more locally than that. Attendees at the North Area Committee, for example, will have observed the police leaving the meeting with priorities that weren't the ones they were expected when they arrived at the meeting.
Umm. I'm not at all sure that I, or anyone else, has told them they need to spend half their time or more filling in paperwork rather than rounding up the local villainry, or whatever the current figure is..
The problem is that every politician you have ever met or voted for will no doubt tell you that excessive bureacracy is A Bad Thing, but once they actually get into power they seem totally unable or unwilling to do much about it - except enact new laws that add to the existing mountain. Voting more money doesn't help; all that extra dosh needs administration, doesn't it, to make sure that it's spent properly?
It's not money that's the problem, it's the fact that cops are being paid to fill in forms rather than catching crooks.
Having spent time hanging around with police - go out on the streets, nick someone, spend the rest of the shift on the paperwork - it's impossible to disagree with that.
09:02:00 on Mon, 11 Jun 2007, Richard Meredith remarked:
What happens is that when in power governments enact ever more stringent measures, which they hedge around with ever more "safeguards", which are essentially and enhanced paper trail which is supposed to guard against abuse. Whether it's effective is another debate, but this is where the extra form filling comes from.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.