I can confirm that. I resigned from the police a little over 3 weeks ago. The job has gone down hill dramatically. Officers are leaving left, right and centre. There is just no incentive anymore. And the compensation culture of this country "You've broken my human rights brigade" complaining and the forces taking the complaints serious putting stupid amounts of stress and worry on us for them to say 6 months later its going nowhere. I just didnt need that. I dont mind a bit of stress, it keeps me on my toes and makes things interesting. But you've got back stabbers in every corners waiting for you in the nick plus all the public who want bash you around.
Then the paper work. You've got to complete a pocket book for every incident you attend. You pretty much have to write verbatum any conversation you make. The job is a joke, yes the pay wasnt bad and there was one or two other perks. but its not all roses. Yet it seems everyone who is telling me i'm mad probably dont have the foggiest about civ policing bar one or two.
Plus its getting worse. Forces now cannot afford to replace officers who are leaving because of the credit crunch. They get less from the government and pay more out in fuel costs. And they all seem hell bent on recruiting PCSO's who are the biggest waste of money ever. They earn a little less than a copper and cant do feck all apart from make situations worse because 90% of them are Walts who think they are Robocop.
Since leaving i am sleeping better, feel better and dont worry every time my phone rings (plus now it doesnt ring at 2am asking me if i want some overtime).
Its now happy days for me.
I've got 6 yrs in civpol having left the RAFP to join.....time for a different perspective perhaps?
1) Paperwork - Yes, plenty of it but with a BIT of experience it shouldn't take long to get to grips with thus allowing the Officer to get back out on patrol.
2)'Human Rights Brigade' - Been around for years these chaps (long before you or I) nothing new and nothing to worry about. Yes, they will scream 'I know my rights' at you at 2am whilst sh!tfaced but I also know my rights and powers under PACE etc allowing me deal with such people without problem.
3) Complaints - Been there, got the T-shirt, I've had stacks of these little feckers, as a copper, I understand and realise that I am (quite rightly so) fully accountable. If I use my asp, I expect to be investigated, I have no issues with this as I can always justify my actions/thought processes. I belive that it's largely due to our accountability that we are in the fortunate position of policing by consent. That's not to say that the beefier complaints don't cause concern, but with experience and an understanding of why complaints have to be investigated they do become less of a worry.
4) Backstabbers, yes they exist but then the RAF is no exception to this. With regards to the 'public that bash you around' some try it but then again nobody enjoys getting nicked! The vast majority of the people I come into contact with are generally supportive of the police - these are the people I serve by taking the bad guy off the sreet. Don't forget that by the very nature of the job in most cases we deal with the 'lesser welcoming part of society' rather than those who are supportive of police.
5) Lack of money/personnel - Yes, every public service needs extra cash/workers, but you're partially wrong on the basis that my force is currently recruiting new officers and transferees. None of my team have resigned by the way? I'm assuming you've read reports of funding shortages within HM Forces?
6) PCSO's - I think you're being a bit harsh there, yes some are 'Walts' (But then I know plenty of coppers of that ilk) generally they're in the job for the right reasons and can be very useful i.e house to house, crime scene pres etc, these were the mundane bits of the job that coppers used to whinge about, now it's pretty much gone and we still whinge ffs!
This post isn't meant as a swipe at anybody, I'm well aware of the frustrations of being a copper but, in my opinion, when all is said and done and all the bullsh!t is stripped away the job is about one thing - keeping the decent people of this country safe. I don't get paid to worry about CPS decisions/Court sentencing, I get paid to go out and get the criminal fraternity of this country locked up....and I like it. A 'can do' attitude is essential with civpol and the RAFP, perhaps this is an element that you'd do well to fine tune a little? The problems faced by civpol aren't in many ways too dis-similar to those experenced by the RAFP.
Best of luck with the RAFP.
DT_Xtremez_30:
