EIGHT? for the whole of the city? How oftern does that happen?
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Police Community Support Officers.
- Thread starter Bry Nylon
- Start date
EIGHT? for the whole of the city? How oftern does that happen?
Ninja Elephant
Doctor Elephant
- Feb 16, 2009
- 18,855
"Glorified traffic wardens".
How on earth are they?! They're not even remotely similar.
How on earth are they?! They're not even remotely similar.
mistahclarke
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2009
- 2,997
[image] picture of Cartman and "respect my authority" [image]
hitony
Administrator
A Labotomy?
BensGrandad
New member
To be able to remember what was never said in the first place and to be able to write a witness statement so that it says what they want it to say rather than what you want to say. Why is it that they will never let you write a statement they always say I will write it and you correct it. I would rather write it in my own words irrespective of my educational ability as it would say what I want it to say especially now with computers and word processors..
Teaching assistants don't do the same job as teachers, but used carefully are very valuable in schools. PCOs similarly can do very valuable work in the community. I'm sorry to hear that The Met regard PCSOs with contempt since it makes it impossible for them to perform any worthwhile function. I live in Hertfordshire about 1km north of the London area, and fortunately here the local police use PCSOs as an important resource. I don't expect PCSOs to be involved in preventing armed robberies but I do expect them to get involved when kids are throwing fireworks into shops and other small scale disorders. Look at The Albion would you sack Charlie Oatway because he's not as good as Gus Poyet?
The spelling mistake is deliberate?? Very ironic.
The French Mistress
New member
- Jun 24, 2007
- 1,279
Can believe it, although a lot of people boohoo the role of rural bobbies, sometimes, when I worked there could be two covering a massive square mileage, so the scrotes would make distraction calls to get our resources to be in the opposite end to where they wanted us ( the favourite being 'cattle or horses on the road ' at such and such a location). Doubt it's changed much.
I guess a Met applicant also needs to demonstrate arrogance and inherent but subtle racism?
I've just had a nose on the Internet machine and one only needs 4 basic GCSE grades. I assumed you'd need a bit more than this.
Barrel of Fun
Abort, retry, fail
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,641
Because statements ideally need to be in a certain format, and to include particular details, and if you asked the average member of the public to write down what they saw, 80% of the things that actually happened wouldn't get put down.
I GUARANTEE you, if I was to set something fairly simple up right now and then asked you to write about it, you would miss off huge amounts of stuff unless I went through it with you. And you'd also include totally irrelevant, inadmissible things. Police officers are trained to get that detail out of you and obtain the best evidence, rather than let you go rambling on about nothing in particular.
West Hoathly Seagull
Honorary Ruffian
I was at university at Buckingham for a couple of years. Apparently at night, Aylesbury Vale Division of Thames Valley Police had two officers on duty for the whole division. That extended right from Wendover in the south to Buckingham in the north, which included Aylesbury Town, which makes West Street on a Friday or a Saturday night look like a picnic.
As regards the PCSOs, they certainly do a good job on the South Bank, helping tourists, for which full-time coppers would be needed otherwise. They definitely have better things to do in London than that.
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BensGrandad
New member
Yes I can understand that but with modern word processors and computers etc could they not just let a person write it ion theior own words and then go through it and edit it with them pointing out what is inadmissable and then getting further information from them. At least it would be their own views but I can see the problems of a 'layman' just writing it. The bit about remembering what was never said came from a Bob Monkhouse reply to a police officer at Blazers in a cabaret, bit of a joke really.
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,641
It goes on
Surprised?Even if they started out with twelve or fifteen, it only takes a couple of arrests to take at least four of them out of the loop. Then you have all the non-emergency stuff that gets allocated- investigatory matters rather than grade 1 999 calls, and you'd actually have very few officers simply patrolling at any given time. Won't get any better over the next few years because of all the budget cuts.
Which can be where the PCSOs come in, as I said earlier. They are at least able to do some of the low level stuff that keeps normal PCs off the streets.
If you thought those numbers were bad for Brighton, at least they're all in a small area. You don't even want to know how many officers would be covering Mid Sussex (so Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, and all the outlying villages from immediately north of Patcham all the way up to Handcross. And people in villages wonder why they don't see officers patrolling on foot...that's because they are the only response to any emergency call that might happen in an area of 40 square miles, so it's not much use if you're half a mile from your car. Some of the PcSOs do a lot of rural patrolling & liaison work so again, they have their uses.
hitony
Administrator
At 2am and pissed as you like, i'm happy i did what i did.....................
Gully
Monkey in a seagull suit.
It goes on
If you thought those numbers were bad for Brighton, at least they're all in a small area. You don't even want to know how many officers would be covering Mid Sussex (so Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, and all the outlying villages from immediately north of Patcham all the way up to Handcross. And people in villages wonder why they don't see officers patrolling on foot...that's because they are the only response to any emergency call that might happen in an area of 40 square miles, so it's not much use if you're half a mile from your car. Some of the PcSOs do a lot of rural patrolling & liaison work so again, they have their uses.
This is no surprise at all to me. Before retiring and moving away from the county my parents lived in rural West Sussex, in a village that lost its Police Station during previous cuts, I understand that the officers were moved to larger stations elsewhere in the division. My advice to them was that if they suspected their house was being burgled to call the Fire Brigade...OK, so this would amount to a gross misuse of a public service...but they would have been guaranteed to have around a dozen men arriving noisily on the doorstep within five minutes, surely enough to frighten off even the bravest burglar!
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,641
Fair enough, but you're just going to have to trust me on this one. Personally I just ask someone the basic question "what happened" first up, let them talk while I make notes, then go through it all again, asking questions so i get all the information theyve inevitably missed. Then I stitch it all together so I get a complete account but in the correct format. Its always in that person's words, and I do stress that, because it's their statement not mine and they'd have to stand up in court with it, but if I just let them write what they wanted straight up, it would take twice as long and I'd only end up re-writing it all anyway. If you don't agree with what's been written then you shouldn't sign it, frankly, because it's a legal document once it's complete.
thejackal
Throbbing Member
The difference between a PC and a PCSO, as I understand it, is quite simple and touches on one of the most fundamental distinctions in law:
PCs swear an oath on the Bible, to the Queen, to uphold the Common Law of the Land. They have a LAWFUL DUTY to protect US, the citizens of this fine island.
PCSOs do not, so they have a LEGAL ABILITY to help, but that is all. They have the same power of arrest as you or I, i.e. citizens arrest.
They are, in truth, nothing more than corporate policy enforcement officers, enforcing some of the arbitrary, money-raising legislation such as parking restrictions, pushed through parliament by dodgy politicians, without regard for the common law or the wellbeing of this nation's inhabitants.
Now, if you ask a copper (or a PCSO) to explain the difference between lawfulness and legality they will, of course, give you a very blank look, but the lawyers and the judges understand this distinction very well - it's part of the smokescreen that protects them from the system, and not us.
PCs swear an oath on the Bible, to the Queen, to uphold the Common Law of the Land. They have a LAWFUL DUTY to protect US, the citizens of this fine island.
PCSOs do not, so they have a LEGAL ABILITY to help, but that is all. They have the same power of arrest as you or I, i.e. citizens arrest.
They are, in truth, nothing more than corporate policy enforcement officers, enforcing some of the arbitrary, money-raising legislation such as parking restrictions, pushed through parliament by dodgy politicians, without regard for the common law or the wellbeing of this nation's inhabitants.
Now, if you ask a copper (or a PCSO) to explain the difference between lawfulness and legality they will, of course, give you a very blank look, but the lawyers and the judges understand this distinction very well - it's part of the smokescreen that protects them from the system, and not us.
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Good question. It's a highly responsible position with immense power....so I loosely thought that only well rounded, educated and smart people need apply. A raft of academic qualifications plays a part in this but obviously there are a lot of other qualities and skills also needed.