Daughter (London paramedic) & son in law (Kent policeman) were both on shift new years eve.
Bec was on 6pm to 6am as bronze medic, managing the foot patrol teams around the embankment. Between 1am & 3am the number of calls reached
She eventually got home after a 15 hour shift.
Grant was on 3pm to 3am & just before his shift ended, arrested a murder suspect. He ended up working 19 hours.
Whatever we pay them, is ain't enough.
Sorry mate. He's a copper.
They start off with the best of intentions when they join but the police are corrupt bastards from the top to the bottom.
This one isn't.
I really doubt that. A few rotten apples make the news & have very malign effects. Maybe if we paid them more & treated them collectively with more respect, the non-corrupt ones (who I really think are the majority) would feel less loyalty to the corrupt ones.
I had a really nice friend who asked me for a reference to join the police. He was thoughtful, artistic and had just about every quality that you
*don't* associate with the average policeman. I thought he was probably unsuited to the job but if that was what he wanted to do, then I was happy to provide the reference on the grounds that I thought the policeforce in general would be the better for more people like him.A few years later I met him at the party where he was smoking cannabis because, as he said "I have to drive later...". He wasn't the same guy I knew.
Tim
You do realise how much they get paid already don't you?
IMO we pay them plenty enough for what they do and the abuse that they are sometimes required to put up with.
I can't say I have personal experience of corruption but I have witnessed unthinking and blinkered persistence in pursuing a 'suspect' who couldn't possibly have committed the alleged offence and plenty of instances of bullying and institutional arrogance.
Underground train drivers (if we're having a go at occupations that are perceieved [1] to be overpaid)?
[1] I'm using the new official spelling.
My Grandad and his brother were two of the most honourable men I have ever met. They were policemen.
Sounds like poor management requiring them to work well beyond the end of their shift. It's one thing if in a true emergency - but neither of these classify. Of course some like being the martyr. ;-)
The police profession is just about the only one where criminal police behaviour is supported by the police federation. Just look at Plebgate, and the police federation even complaining when an officer is arrested after lying and making a false statement.
If the rest of the police force endorse lying and officers without integrity, then they deserve to be tarred with the same brush.
By all means pay them more, but make them work till 67 and fund their own pensions like the rest of us.
MBQ
it's be better to employ more of them rather than a few working long hours.
For a top band 5 paramedic about £27K basic.
Highly trained, dedicated, experienced.
All London Ambulance front line staff are issued with stab vests. How much would you want to face a druggie with an attitude problem at 2am ?
Assuming you don't mind paying some extra tax, we could have many more paramedics on the road - after all, it only takes 20 minutes to train one.
A murder isn't an emergency? Where do you live?
Any physical abuse, walk away, let the druggie die. Let anyone die. It is not acceptable for anyone to abuse someone coming to their aid/assistance.
They do fund their own pensions. It used to be at 11% (higher than most people) but the rate has now been raised. Work till 67? You really don't understand the nature of the job, do you?
Whoops. Disciplinary coming up. (But I agree with you)
A murder isn't an emergency. It's too late.
A stabbing which might lead to the death of the victim if it's not promptly treated is an emergency.
Andy
Couldn't they move to a desk job when chasing fit criminals gets beyond them? Somebody must be doing the paperwork now.
>
Catching whoever did it is, in my book.
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