ChatterBank4 mins ago
A necessity or an embarrassment?
20 Answers
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=511492&in_page_i d=1770
Is it not time now to get rid of these so called "plastic policemen" before they cause more embarrassment to themselves or the Police Service?
Is it not time now to get rid of these so called "plastic policemen" before they cause more embarrassment to themselves or the Police Service?
Answers
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The holy Daily Mail seem to have pulled that story, maybe it wasn't true.
The problem with (P)SCOs is when on purpose or not, they are presented as being the police. The are not.
The public want Police on the beat, it reassues them Unfortunately, that is a poor use of man-power. A beat officer is unlikely to encounter any crime for several weeks and when he/she does, they will call for backup. The CSOs were seen as a way of providing this function without taking away valuable resources and time.
They are little use, but then again, real police on the beat are of little use.
They do have some powers which are listed here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Community_ Support_Officer
They should not be presented as or seen as a replacement for the Police. To do so is to mislead the public. All that said, they do serve a useful function (not policing), and I know elderly residents near to where I live like the fact they are around.
The problem with (P)SCOs is when on purpose or not, they are presented as being the police. The are not.
The public want Police on the beat, it reassues them Unfortunately, that is a poor use of man-power. A beat officer is unlikely to encounter any crime for several weeks and when he/she does, they will call for backup. The CSOs were seen as a way of providing this function without taking away valuable resources and time.
They are little use, but then again, real police on the beat are of little use.
They do have some powers which are listed here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Community_ Support_Officer
They should not be presented as or seen as a replacement for the Police. To do so is to mislead the public. All that said, they do serve a useful function (not policing), and I know elderly residents near to where I live like the fact they are around.
Ill-trained, ill-equipped, and an absolute laughing stock to real bobbies.
PCSO's are, on the whole from the ones I have seen in Sussex, Gloucs and London over-weight, useless, so-badly want to be policemen, dykey, powerless to55pots who need to resign and get a proper job.
Blunkett was wrong to introduce an ill-divided two tier level of community based policing.
Bring back community bobbies, expunge the strain of political correctness which blights most officers and reclaim the streets with FORCE which the Police Service once did and was once called!!!!
PCSO's are, on the whole from the ones I have seen in Sussex, Gloucs and London over-weight, useless, so-badly want to be policemen, dykey, powerless to55pots who need to resign and get a proper job.
Blunkett was wrong to introduce an ill-divided two tier level of community based policing.
Bring back community bobbies, expunge the strain of political correctness which blights most officers and reclaim the streets with FORCE which the Police Service once did and was once called!!!!
We had two of these community policemen call at our house recently. They look like the real thing. They were investigating a burglary that had occured next door and were looking for witnesses.
This must be an improvement as it is very difficult to get a policeman round nowadays and so hope they continue with the good work.
This must be an improvement as it is very difficult to get a policeman round nowadays and so hope they continue with the good work.
An embarrassment - and confirmation, if any were needed, that this pathetic government is not in control, is flailing around to find easy options to society's problems, and is failing miserably to deal with essential issues effectively. Nero fiddles whilst Rome burns.
Kwicky, "This must be an improvement as it is very difficult to get a policeman round nowadays." A sad indictment indeed.
I dread to think what the next 'initiative' from this motley crew will be.
Kwicky, "This must be an improvement as it is very difficult to get a policeman round nowadays." A sad indictment indeed.
I dread to think what the next 'initiative' from this motley crew will be.
The idea is sound enough, the problem is that the sort of people that want to do the job are those that are desperate to be police but failed to make the grade. So what you have are hobby bobbies who get some sort of kick out of the uniform with very little talent. If's a bit like the old Billy Connelly specification for MP's. Anyone who wants to be a hobby bobby should be automatically barred!
Where do you lot get off on personally abusing those people that do this job. They are not all overweight idiots who couldn't get into the police service, they are not people who were bullied at school and want revenge on the world or any of the other things that have been thrown at them throughout this thread.
The fact you might disagree with the system in place is fair enough but to personally attack those carrying out a frustrating job which is supposed to be a support function to the police service and also a link between them and the community highlights the flaws in your own characters and not in theirs!
The fact you might disagree with the system in place is fair enough but to personally attack those carrying out a frustrating job which is supposed to be a support function to the police service and also a link between them and the community highlights the flaws in your own characters and not in theirs!
So do you like wearing the uniform then gevs?
Sorry mate but I have to concur with those above. I used to live in the same block as one of the "specials" as they where previously known and he'd like nothing more than wearing his uniform at every opportunity, he just loved it! He just seemed to need it for self esteem. Still that's a fairly minor thing compared to the general plonkerism they demonstrate.
there where a couple round here who threatened to arrest me once because I gave them a rollocking for cycling on the pavement!
Sorry mate but I have to concur with those above. I used to live in the same block as one of the "specials" as they where previously known and he'd like nothing more than wearing his uniform at every opportunity, he just loved it! He just seemed to need it for self esteem. Still that's a fairly minor thing compared to the general plonkerism they demonstrate.
there where a couple round here who threatened to arrest me once because I gave them a rollocking for cycling on the pavement!
Well I could give you quite a few examples of PCSOs that are the complete opposite of all the above insults. I am not one myself and do not work for the police or government etc etc but I find it disgraceful when people who are undertaking a difficult job with little thanks or reward have their characters assasinated by over opinionated, under educated fools based on an individual experience.
I wonder how many of those who have criticised others would be so quick to judge their own performance at work in the same way.
Oh and R1man, the Specials were a voluntary service and different to the PCSO system. There are also many different people who like wearing their uniforms for whatever reason!! ;o)
I wonder how many of those who have criticised others would be so quick to judge their own performance at work in the same way.
Oh and R1man, the Specials were a voluntary service and different to the PCSO system. There are also many different people who like wearing their uniforms for whatever reason!! ;o)
And they would be back on the streets, Lonnie, if they weren't so busy filling in forms to meet this ridiculous Government 's stupid initiatives and targets.
I was talking to a senior police officer at a meeting last night, and the frustration he felt at the ever-increasing impossibility of the job, was very apparent.
Perhaps the 'plastic police' would be better employed confined to the office filling in the forms, allowing the real police to go out into the community and do the job they ought to be doing.
I was talking to a senior police officer at a meeting last night, and the frustration he felt at the ever-increasing impossibility of the job, was very apparent.
Perhaps the 'plastic police' would be better employed confined to the office filling in the forms, allowing the real police to go out into the community and do the job they ought to be doing.
Lonnie
The whole emphasis of policing at the moment is biased towards sorting out the aftermath of a crime rather than preventing it in the first place.
Own towns are festooned with CCTV cameras. They do not prevent any crimes but record them as they happen.
PCSO are just a roving equivalent of a CCTV camera. They have very limited powers to prevent anything.
The whole emphasis of policing at the moment is biased towards sorting out the aftermath of a crime rather than preventing it in the first place.
Own towns are festooned with CCTV cameras. They do not prevent any crimes but record them as they happen.
PCSO are just a roving equivalent of a CCTV camera. They have very limited powers to prevent anything.
Well I'm sorry, but overall, I have the greatest of respect for the police and their "plastic" counterparts. They can all only do so much, and their hands are tied. They have a difficult enough job to do as it is, and we should be supporting ANYONE who's in the business of trying to fight crime - in however small a way.
Gromit,
As far as sorting out the aftermath of crime is concerned, surely the emphasis should be on deterrent, which the PSCO's aren't, but real police, (beat bobbies are).
As things stand, they took away the real police, and put on the streets these psco's, if they weren't initially meant to replace them, why have them at all?.
And as far as cctv's go, surely their main purpose now, is to catch traceable people, ie, gernerally law abiding citizens.
As far as sorting out the aftermath of crime is concerned, surely the emphasis should be on deterrent, which the PSCO's aren't, but real police, (beat bobbies are).
As things stand, they took away the real police, and put on the streets these psco's, if they weren't initially meant to replace them, why have them at all?.
And as far as cctv's go, surely their main purpose now, is to catch traceable people, ie, gernerally law abiding citizens.
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