TOEING THE LINE
I was watching one of those regional topical / political TV programmes the other day and the subject was about PCSO’s in the south west, mainly Gloucester.
There were 3 MP’s on the show one from Labour, Liberal and the conservative party, all members of parliament for different parts of the west country. Also present was the head of the police federation for one of the West Country forces.
There were various clips shown, one of a PCSO on foot patrol in Gloucester area with a local beat officer, apart from the hat I had a job to tell them apart let alone a member of the public.
The topic of part of the programme surrounded how the government have decided to cut funding for PCSO’s from 24,000 to 16,ooo and how PCSO’s have been key in reducing crime in this particular area of the country.
There was a short interview with a Chief Inspector from this particular area who waffled on, and I quote “PCSO’s are a very important and valued part of the Police family”. He was so obviously towing the line and the words he was using were clearly not his real thoughts but a political spiel thought up by the SMT or press office.
The MP’s had their turn then and more political bullshit began to flow from their lips about the huge reduction in crime brought about by the presence of the PCSO.
Even the federation bloke was only firing on two cylinders when he said that the money would be better spent on sworn officers.
My point is, why are people willing to say what they are told to say? or say what will win brownie points rather than say it how it really is?
I know its no great shock to anyone to hear that a member of parliament is making claims with no proof to back their claims up. But my question is what sort of person does it take to speak publicly in a way that will pacify their chief or political figurehead.
I know I will never say something that I do not believe just to get my foot one more rung up the ladder and seeing it makes me want to hurl!!!
January 13, 2007 at 2:57 pm
People wont speak their mind if it will cause them problems later.
Only need to look at the anoninimity (sp) of bloggers to see this.
Big shame really
January 13, 2007 at 7:48 pm
toeing the party line, Southwest I fear you must be my brother for you cannot toe the line!
January 13, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Ambition minus ability is the key I’m afraid. Many great people have shunned conventional thinking and gone on to great things but if you don’t have a falir the easiest way to creep up the ladder is to please your masters. That usually means nodding enthusiastically whenever they speak.
January 16, 2007 at 9:49 am
Gonna have to agree with ExtraSpecialCopper on this one – there’s no way you would say most of the things on your blog to your Chief Constable, so why are you proclaiming that you’ll ‘never say something that (you) do not believe’? If you’re so passionate about your views then why not proudly display your name and address on this blog?
Oh yeah, you want to keep your foot on the rung.
I enjoy reading your blog, but on this point I don’t think any anonymous blogger can claim they’re any better, and nobody will blame you for wanting to keep your career intact. Surely this is just what the senior ranks and MPs are doing?
January 16, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Sorry but I have to completely disagree on this one. There is a massive difference between standing up and saying what will get you promoted, to not telling what will get you in hot water.
A lot of what I say here I would say and do say to senior officers at work.
But the point I am making is I will NOT say what I do not believe in.
We all know that we can not say exactly what we think to just anyone. It’s the people that spiel out all the buzz words and political garbage in order to impress someone that I object to. If you don’t believe in it then don’t say it what I am saying.
January 19, 2007 at 9:49 am
Sorry pc south west, didn’t mean to cause offence – I’ll admit I slightly missed that point so fair enough, and it’s refreshing to hear that you’re not afraid to speak up on the web and in real life (I bet you can’t say the same for many bloggers, police or not)
I’m not saying you should put your hand up whenever you do something wrong – that’s just natural self preservation – but if a colleague was getting stiffed then hope I wouldn’t just sit in silence squirming in my chair in the vain hope that by not raising my head above the parapet that I’ll get one up on the ‘troublemakers’. I’ve experienced that mentality in my previous career, where people disagreed with the actions of our superiors but wouldn’t dare comment for fear of being looked down upon. I always hated it then and I hope I won’t exhibit the same behaviour when I get sworn in.
I know that’s not the point you were making, but I tend to see it as two sides of the same coin – saying something you don’t believe is in some ways the same as keeping anonymous when you should stand up and be counted.
However, perhaps my viewpoint will change very quickly when I start next month!!
January 19, 2007 at 5:50 pm
No offence caused, honest.
You will see things a little different after years of service, but things have changed greatly over the years and not for the better.
You say that putting your hands up when you do something wrong is not easy.
I think it’s quite important in this job that you do put your hands up if you get something wrong. I just don’t think speaking your mind is wrong.
I hope you get what I mean.
January 25, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Because they value their jobs and pensions?
The sad thing is, PCSOs could make a real contribution to police work by freeing up sworn officers from securing crime scenes or directing traffic after RTCs, low-level crowd control at concerts etc and even a bit of patrol work; giving them the power to issue parking tickets might be a worthwhile expansion of their duties, but the high-visibility stuff is exactly the kind of situation that demands full powers of arrest!
January 25, 2007 at 4:08 pm
With full powers of arrest come full PPE and training. And with those come Policing on the cheap or so the government would want.
Trouble is the union will then demand a pay rise in line with the extra responsibility. Sorry James but not if I have a say in it.
February 2, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I am a journalist and I’m very interested in doing a story on community police officers – and whether they are “police on the cheap”. Is there anyone who’d be willing to do an interview on the record?