Police Visibility: a host of golden daffodils?

In the week where the media lambasted police for ‘persecuting’ child daffodil pickers and continue to suggest there are better ways to use police resources, the issue of the ‘police front-line’ and its visibility is in the news again. Even the Home Office don’t know what frontline means…

As many will know who read my thoughts and comments, I’m not one who generally (or easily) agrees with the ethics and methodology of many senior police officers. For too long a large proportion have simply aquessed to government led initiatives and politically designed processes, simply to further their own career path. It therefore makes a refreshing change for me to find some thoughts and Comments that I (mostly) agree with from a senior officer…

Superintendent Mark Payne: You do not have to look very far at present to find a small group of people having a regular knock at the Police. At the top of the list of issues that they frequently repeat is the lack of visibility from Police officers. The issue is then picked up and repeated by the media, in places like Twitter and quickly becomes accepted as fact… Read More

Mark is a West Midlands Police Superintendent who provides some excellent examples of why the public don’t always see the police they actually want to see. Apparently he and the West Midlands Police are “committed to using social media” as a valuable tool for public engagement. If that is the case, and I have read nothing to make me think otherwise, all power to his elbow. As I’ve already said, it makes a refreshing change to see any senior officer who has the confidence to actually adhere to their professed ethics and beliefs.

It’s a great shame that much of policing, and the deployment of limited resources, actually involves difficult monetary decision making process. Ones that aren’t usually well understood to any degree by the public. Although you don’t often see a host of golden officers pounding the beat in your neighbourhood today, spare a thought for those in your area who, spend the majority of their time wandering lonely as a cloud, trying to do the best they can for you!

Related Articles

• Does it really need 60 police officers (including a lion vet) 30 hours to round up two dangerous dogs? (dailymail.co.uk)
• The police are right to stop children picking daffodils (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
• You: Police swoop on daffodil-pickers (guardian.co.uk)
• Family warned over daffodil pick (bbc.co.uk)