Wednesday 28 July 2010

Hostages To Fortune Cutbacks

So, the police ‘service’ needs to make cuts.

Hmmm, where to start? All those useless diversity monitoring groups? Some of the stats-monitoring people who ensure paperwork, not pounding the beat, takes up the most time? No, that will never do.

I know! Let’s get rid of those officers injured on duty!
Senior police officers are planning to cull thousands of injured officers as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Under plans being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), between 14,000 and 18,000 officers whose injuries mean they are no longer able to work on the front line would be offered severance packages.
‘Offered’ now. ‘Forced to take’ later?
The Police Federation, which represents 126,000 frontline officers, and the National Disabled Police Association (NDPA) say that any plan to force out injured officers could fall foul of disability legislation and promised to fight any move to target such a group.
Well, quite. Apart from anything else, it’s not going to improve morale amongst the remainder, is it? It’s not going to make the police service look like a good employer, or attract the best staff.

Unless...that's what they want? A workforce so on edge that they don't question orders?
Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and the Acpo spokesman on workforce development, stressed that it was not the intention to introduce compulsory redundancies, but Acpo wants the ability to seek voluntary redundancies.
And if not enough take them?

Hard not to see this as the thin end of the wedge.
Any move to target unfit officers would be particularly contentious, especially in the wake of the Raoul Moat incident in which PC David Rathband was left blind after being shot in the face.
Can’t really argue with that.

9 comments:

Man with Many Chins said...

Its about time that ACPO was disbanded. I am fed up with hearing about this bloody trade union/lobby group dressed up as something else.

Thats 10 million a year that could be saved straight away

MTG said...

If the intention is to cull the dross we must be sparing in our objections to tactful labelling.

microdave said...

If they're unfit for front line duties, re-deploy them to support or office roles. At least that will mean the money invested on their training won't be wasted. Get rid of the civilian workers instead.

Oh, and scrap ACPO which is the REAL problem.

English Viking said...

How can any organisation survive by employing 18,000 cripples?

Perhaps their 'injuries' (with notable, brave exceptions) are along the lines of sprained eyelashes and grossly deformed and inflated egos, and they are just benefiting from being 'employed' to do nothing, by an employer who won't even sack you if you kill someone on duty?

Anonymous said...

Standard procedure when told to save money is to immediately suggest cutting front line staff in the hope of causing a public outcry which they hope will lead to the govt backing down and then they can just go back to wasting money again.

Mark Wadsworth said...

What MWMC says, it's time that ACPO was banned, it's members disbarred from holding office and all state funding to it cut off.

Brian, follower of Deornoth said...

What English Viking said. We are FUCKING FED UP with worthless public sector vermin living off the sick because they have hurt fingernails.

Anonymous said...

It might be interesting to see if there is an affirmative action in disability.
After all policing might be nasty and rough at times so the more dainty females might retreat to the disabled for safety sake.

JuliaM said...

"Its about time that ACPO was disbanded."

I don't think that's a fight Teresa May wants to have just yet. But hopefully, it's in her long-term gameplan.

"If they're unfit for front line duties, re-deploy them to support or office roles."

That seems to be what they are doing, and for just that reason - so dispensing with the civilian staff instead would make far more sense...

"Standard procedure when told to save money is to immediately suggest cutting front line staff in the hope of causing a public outcry..."

Yup - 'Pay us the money or the nurses get it!'. It's getting old.

"It might be interesting to see if there is an affirmative action in disability. "

Interesting. Certainly, the example interviewee was male.