I haven't put fingers to keypad for a long time. I guess it was a mix of apathy and distractions in other forms of social media that took me away. I don't know if I'll take up regular posts over here again or not, but a friend of mine posted a link to this yesterday and I felt it worthy of re-posting here. It is by someone who is a `Borough commander` in the Met., which probably makes him a superintendent.
It's not often you see an officer of this rank blogging. I haven't checked him out but what he's written is so familiar that I suspect he is legit - one can usually always tell. I have been told that these days a person with the required credentials (not sure who exactly it is who has set these `credentials`) can join the Metropolitan Police at the rank of superintendent and start managing issues at that rank, without having to pass `GO` on the cruel streets. If that is so, then those that do will spare themselves the experiences that I had during my twenty year climb to the rank that could be described as a `deputy Borough commander`, although I had transferred out of the Met many years before my first promotion. I think this author has been privileged to see life in the Met on all levels and appears, thankfully, to have the heart and soul of a constable, my kind of guy.
Over the last couple of years I have watched as the current Home Secretary presided over the systematic dismantling of the job I once knew intimately. Some things needed dismantling and rebuilding, but what I have witnessed was more akin to a `wrecking ball`. A week spent at a police rehabilitation centre last year revealed to me young officers suffering some terrible injuries, but by far the biggest shock was their severely damaged morale. I left after my five days of excellent physiotherapy feeling anger, dismay and desperately sorry for those officers who were way to young to be feeling like they did.
Read the article here
3 comments:
That's an excellent blog HD. I'll be spending some time there!
Welcome back HD. I recently bumped into a DS I used to work with, he was a keen and knowledgeable officer. He told me he was really happy to retire, he told of an MPS where people are either counting down time until they can leave (if they are close enough to pensionable age) or actively looking for escape routes. The attitude amongst the MPS chief officer ranks is 'burn 'em out then turn them out'.
I do not know what TM hopes to achieve. Reports say that the 'angry youth' element actually believe she has banned S & S. It seems the government is abandoning any pretence that they care about security or defence, with cuts to the armed forces and now a plan to merge the defence and overseas aid budget.
From my stint at the Home Office I formed the belief that governments will tolerate any amount of crime as long as it does not directly affect them but public disorder terrifies them. TM has been very lucky so far, still I am confident G4 will step up to the plate.
Retired
Thanks Sarge, I keep an eye on your place, just haven't commented as such, but you know where I am ;)
Retired, thanks for keeping an eye out too. I always feel better when I avoid the news, especially job related, as it keeps my despair to a minimum. Saw prog 1 of "The Met" on iPlayer yesterday. Can't say too much as I know another case is probably running as we exchange these messages. I last spoke to the principle almost 20 yrs ago. We were having a Chinese,with others, after a day's joint training at Lippetts. Sound as a pound.
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