General Policing Discussions

With all the recent and upcoming cuts in public spending I often get annoyed when people moan about how services are going to suffer. I see the country as being in a bit of a mess, we've had the good times so it makes sense that when there is less money, we the public get less service. You tend not to hear this though, instead most agencies talk about 'efficiency savings' instead. I would rather hear an honest approach of what actual services will be cut, a simple 'we can no longer do x&y' In regards to the police if front line numbers drop it makes sense that we would have to stop dealing with some of the more low level calls. But here's the question, should the var…

OK, cutting a long story short, I was in mags court today giving evidence against an individual who decided to try and strangle me and then spat in my face earlier in the year (as I was attempting to arrest him for another offence, which incidentally he's pleaded guilty to). After I finished giving evidence the other Special who was with me at the time gave his evidence, and I watched from the public gallery. When my colleague had finished the magistrates broke for lunch and left the court. At this point the defendant began repeatedly swearing (not so) under his breath, and then to my surprise was allowed to just get up and leave at the same time as us. My colleague h…

hi, any specials cover the (a1) in their patch and are you allowed on it? im not having a dig at the current policy here just wanting a wider view and the variations, (disclaimer bit ) (this is accurate to my knowledge) we are not allowed to enter the a1 at any times , i have never obviously attended a rtc there on my own but now we are not allowed to drive there on our own or even if a fully trained reg is driving -no incidents involving the a1 will be attended by specials. we are not even allowed to drive on it to transport prisoners or to get to a other part of the division ,i guess if im with a reg and a grade 1 came in they would either have to return me to t…

Any officers trained in and use BSL whilst on duty? Just after your experiences

Do you have any specific "rules" or habits that you have when you're in a pair (specifically in a patrol car). Does the driver look for vehicle offences (VRM offenses, obvious defects etc) and the passenger look for things off the road (suspicious persons, anti social behaviour) or does it just happen naturally? If you're paired up with the same person for most of your shifts do you both do the same thing every day or do you take turns? I'm currently applying so I don't have any practical experience, but would love to hear what you guys do!

I hear it all the time on TV reality cop shows. We've probably used it before or after an arrest. But I heard a story today which made me wonder why the Police get a hard time sometimes. A lad who was lost on Rememberance Sunday was trying to get to work as they'd closed a lot of roads in Central London. He followed a diversion and was stopped by a Met patrol. The lad rolled down his window and said 'Mate, I'm sorry I am lost can you tell me how to get to Pall Mall'. The officer replied ' First of all , I'm not your mate!!!' A bit ridiculous when the lad was polite and needed help.

Hi guys, I'm a student at Strathclyde University studying my 5th year in product design engineering. For my final year project I'm attempting to improve the design of police stab vests and utility belts. I was wondering would anyone mind filling out a quick survey on the subject to help me identify the major problem areas? I understand it's a bit of a hassle, but any help or information on the issue would be really appreciated. The link is: http://www.surveypirate.com/Survey.aspx?surveyid=24390&sp.mac=fcpZTPnH8WEWwwjHP6Wliw%3d%3d I appreciate any help folks, I've been posting this survey on any relevant topics and online forums I can find, But im not intentionally…

POLICE have enlisted an unusual new tool in their fight against crime – an articulated lorry. For two weeks, officers from the Central Motorway Police Group turned truckers to patrol the Midlands motorway network. From the cab of the HGV they were finally high enough to see if lorry drivers were illegally using mobile phones, watching a DVD on a laptop or doing anything else dangerous. During the crackdown, the first of its kind, police caught a man driving a 44-ton articulated lorry and sorting through CDs at the same time. He was charged with careless driving. PC Angus Nairn said: “One police officer drives the truck while another sits in the passenger seat ar…

If a guy with a gun stopped your car, would you be comfortable with it pointing towards you?

In this week's local Hitchin (Herts) Observer, there's a story about another town centre fracas and the newspaper report outlining the incident says that "one man was arrested after picking up an officer's shoe which had come off in the struggle and throwing it into the pond". Apart from wondering how a boot could come off (!), what on earth would someone be charged with??

Dear All, I was just thinking about Police interviews with the people/suspects/criminals. Could it be possible to start a new thread where we can write about interviewing methods/ what to take care of/ what was the conversation in the interview? I just think it will help a lot to new recruitees like me to know how to interview a suspect/criminal. Thanks

Hi Folks. Just wondering, does anyone else get what seems like withdrawl symptoms if they haven't done an operational duty for a while? It's been a couple of weeks now since my last operational duty, i.e. getting kitted up and going out, but i did what i'd say is a non operational duty last week then a follow on from that on Saturday. I seem like i'm aching to go out and i would, except my head teacher would probably have something to say if i turned up all bleary eyed and tired, well more so than usual!! Definately going to go out this weekend though. thanks and sorry if this sounded like a rant!

In your opinion, what should the function of Security staff be? I am particularly interested in a leisure type environment, cinema, bowling alley, restaurants etc.

Just under two years ago I applied to be a regular and a few months ago having passed the A/C, Medical, and vetting I was informed (as were all in the system) that our applications were being culled because of lack of funding. I've now been a special for three years, and since the termination letter arrived have started to affected by a problem. When I go on duty and come across a regular who clearly is very poor at the job (most regs I work with though are fantastic and I can not praise more) I now get really strong feelings of annoyance and, frankly there is no other way to put it, jealousy. Recently it reached "fever pitch" when I found out from a section that a reg, …

As the title says, whats the deal with trasferring from one force to another? is it a complicated process or pretty simple, im guessing there may be some sort of cost involved for the force receving somebody? as its a sensitive issue i just thought id post it here first to see what people say! Thanks in advance for your replies!