Tuesday 24 October 2017

Oh, Is It That Time Of Year Again?

Poppy Day parades to honour Britain’s war dead are facing the axe because police chiefs across the country are refusing to send officers to block off roads.
Yes, it's the time of year when the police top brass get to use the nation's war dead as a stick to beat the government with...
Jock Bryson, 82, who runs the town’s Royal British Legion poppy appeal, said: ‘I feel disgusted that people went to war and gave their lives and now, all of a sudden, the police are saying they are not going to help us this year.’
You notice, Jock, they never say they won't help the Notting Hill Carnival? I do...
Frank Mullen, 80, who served in the Royal Signals, said: ‘It is ridiculous. It is going to be cancelled because the police can’t be there and we can’t by law stop traffic.
'We are one of the richest countries and they can’t even afford three or four police officers for an hour’s work.’
They can afford to make fools of themselves on social media all the day long, though....

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Several years ago, before I retired, my local force made the same decision. On the day, over 30 Police officers around the county, me included, turned up on our rest days, in uniform, to do road closures and escorts. The resulting dressing down may have been the point I realised I was not going to achieve high rank.
The Chief Constable was further shamed when shown a photo of an ex Army volunteer matching at the back, wearing a sign saying, "I'm doing this because the Police can't be bothered".
Thank goodness I'm out of it and, Police or no Police, I will he parading on 12th November, like many other ex Army and Police colleagues around the country.
Penseivat

Anonymous said...

Why do we pay them?

John M said...

Nick some cones, pop them down & carry on. Who needs the Police anyway?

microdave said...

Couldn't the RBL get some travellers to block the road? They seem to have carte blanche to do whatever they want...

Anonymous said...

Maybe half a dozen should put down mats and bob up and down, they won't be disturbed then.

Fahrenheit211 said...

It's actions like this that are increasingly causing the police to be held under suspicion and indeed to become hated by the law abiding general public. The fact that they can't be arsed or can't find the resources to police Rememberance Day and similar events whilst being able and willing to go and nick someone in Leominister, Herefordshire for an 'offensive' poem.

It's the dichotomy between the contempt with which the police treat things like Rememberance Day or people's hard won right to speak freely about various issues and the obsequious way that they treat certain special interest groups that is being noticed. This is causing a lot of people to be more pissed off with the police than they otherwise would be.

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2017/10/24/the-thought-police-come-to-leominster/

Anonymous said...

This. Story. Appears. Every. Year (with certain variations). Here is the original report in the Leicester Mercury http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/fewer-police-remembrance-parades-leicestershire-623730.
No hyperbole, no DM 'sadface' 'outrage' photos, just straightforward coverage. FYI during my time in the police when there was the capacity via Home Beats/Safer Neighbourhood Teams to cover events efforts were made to cover local parades as far as possible. Some will require no police input at all, larger ones in town and city centres would require more of a police presence but there it was a well practiced plan. The power to close roads for events is vested in the local authority, not the police. You may be interested to know that in the early 1990's the Sheehy report into the police did state that the police should not be delivering services to local events free but should charge where appropriate the going rate.
After all PMTM did say that the job of the police is to 'fight crime, nothing more, nothing less'. I for one look forward to the howls when policing is delivered by Sodexho.
I await the reports of cancelled events.
Retired

pc jagged said...


@ FarenheitEverone loves us except some people what is not educatid. so don't ring us when you as a problem mate cos we is busy

Greencoat said...

But who cares about a lot of dead white men? It’s the same with Shakespeare and Milton and all those other oppressive dudes who stole their ideas from Africa.

Get with the brief, Daddio - it’s called de-colonisation.

Anonymous said...

I see the blogs resident buffoon has been allowed internet access again.
Jaded

JuliaM said...

"The resulting dressing down may have been the point I realised I was not going to achieve high rank."

There are more important things than promotion. There's doing the right thing. You did that.

"Couldn't the RBL get some travellers to block the road? They seem to have carte blanche to do whatever they want..."

That's a splendid idea!

"Maybe half a dozen should put down mats and bob up and down, they won't be disturbed then."

And so is that!

JuliaM said...

"It's actions like this that are increasingly causing the police to be held under suspicion and indeed to become hated by the law abiding general public."

Spot on!

"I for one look forward to the howls when policing is delivered by Sodexho."

Well, I'll be happy of they just don't write 'policing social media' into the contract.