Whilst doing the "Quotas" post, I started thinking about some of the training that our new officers get. I've noticed that quite a few of them are a little bit reticent about laying hands on people during arrests or they tend to freeze a bit during other confrontations.
This isn't because of them as individuals. The Police haven't started recruiting directly from the W.I.
I reckon it's because of the way their training is pitched.
Every lesson has a moral, and that moral is generally "If you do this, you'll get sacked".
During Officer Safety Training they're told that they have to justify their actions (quite rightly so too) but that if they receive a complaint of excessive force then they could, potentially, end up with a criminal complaint against them and lose their job.
It's all, "Do this, lose your job. Do that, get a complaint. Do the other, get disciplined. Do practically anything, and potentially all those could happen plus your picture will be shown to small children as a warning to behave themselves."
So when they're getting all this negative input, is it any reason that some of them end up thinking, "hang about, if I don't do anything then I can't get sacked..."
Instead of having confidence instilled in them, they instead have fear thrown at them.
Instead of being told, "In these set of circumstances, it's perfect reasonable to....", they are told, "Well, it's for you to justify. And if you can't then you're out on your ear".
I've had probationers stare at me in disbelief as I've grabbed somebody and thrown them across a garden and into a fence, before taking them to the ground and cuffing them face down. They've asked, "Er, Sarge. Are you sure it's OK to do that?"
And I've replied, "Well, yeah, he was trying to stab me with a screwdriver".
Even then they're not sure. I know because they'll say things like, "I'm not sure".
Our society needs a Police Service that is disciplined and only resorts to force when it's necessary. But, when it is necessary, those officers need to have the confidence and skill to act firmly and decisively without dithering. Otherwise they, their colleagues and any members of the public we're supposed to be protecting will get hurt.
When I'm tucked up in bed, I don't want to have some nutter with anger management problems looking after me. But, at the same time, I don't want a load of pseudo Social Workers worrying about the Human Rights Act either. In fact, I want Pat and Carl from Road Wars...
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7 comments:
I think them's me. Or, more accurately, That wuz me!!!
I love Road Wars, it's brilliant. :D
A good post. It drives me up the wall how much society has become driven by protecting the rights of the individual to the point where you hesitate in arresting them.
I remember reading an article a few years back about a thief suing the police when he broke his leg. The reason, he was shinning down a drainpipe to escape arrest. A crazy world we live in.
I want Pat and Karl from Road Wars...but thats a different story..xx
I totally agree, we had one probationer from our force who attended a mass brawl outside a nightclub and wouldn't get out of the van. She had done a dynamic risk assessment and decided that she might get hurt. The patrol sgt stuck her on only to be told she was right and that he was lucky that he wasn't being stuck on himself.
loving the clip. He was kakking himself, I love that look of fear on his face! Then the yes sir, no sir, three needles full sir!
how true,
i have 5 yrs in and even in my "basic"training i was told to always assume that you are being watched on cctv,video phone etc.not bad advice and i would always want to be able to justify my actions.
however in this health and safety world where no one seems to have to answer for thier actions (except us) i have to admit i have sometimes hesitated due to the warnings i have had about civil action.
i recently went on a refresher course for baton and cuffs only to be told civvies were being trained to assess our cuffing of prisoners on arrival at custody.if it was not in the approved,trained manor the prisoner may be able to sue us (me) for upto 12 years afer the incident!!
i wont go on about what you have to do at times on the street,or civvies,9-5 (sorry 8-3) weekday desk jockies with 100% hindsight
but i'm getting a bit worried.i do this job because i believe in it and despite the perception of shift response officers as the lowest form of life in the force,we are the life blood and at the sharp end.i don't want to do anything else.
but do i want to be in a position 12 years after i retire that some scrote who i had to grapple with when he was high on alcohol/drugs etc gets large chunks of my hard earned money because i didn't use an acpo approved handcuffing technique while he was trying to take my head off?
an office job producing pye charts 5 days a week sounds inviting.
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