Leadership

Following problems at last year's ACPO conference, organisers ensure the route is clearly signposted.

Good old British Bigot Time!

This story appears to be dominating the headlines.

Gordon Brown entered into a discussion with a passing lady whilst on the campaign trail. He subsequently made comments about her. I am not a 'New Labour' supporter. The majority of politicians, much like senior police officers, are lying, self-serving careerists. However, the facts of the discussion are this: Gillian Duffy made reference to Eastern European immigrants. As Brown rightly said, there are similar numbers of people leaving the country as entering. We are part of the European Union which allows for free movement between member states. This rule allows the Brits to set up Churchill's Bars in Spain.

Brown offered a personal opinion. Does this not make him appear more human? Is it not about time that we recognised nationalism and tribalism along with organised religion and greed have caused most of the problems we complain so bitterly about? Is it not a demonstration that the bigots are succeeding when working class people are blaming other working class people who happen to have come from another country for their problems? Doesn't this allow those in power to snigger and gloat while the poor descend into civil war? Or shall we just use this as a headline opportunity for the Daily Mail so we can huff and puff over our breakfast?

Oh what a conundrum!

Although belated, I have the excuse of not being a blogger until recently. It seems a senior officer in the Met has been questioned re allegations of rape and assault. The story was broken by the Mirror and expanded on by Ealing Today.

What is interesting about this story is not a police officer being accused of criminal offences - this happens all the time. What is interesting is that Mr Taylor was not arrested. I appreciate that the allegation dates back to 2007, but many rape allegations have been dealt with that pre-date that time. I wonder how many other allegations of rape Herfordshire Constabulary have dealt with in the last ten years where the alleged suspect has not been arrested? In the last twenty years? I think it is a safe bet that this case is unique.

This raises a number of issues. The alleged victim in any case is supposed to be at the heart of the investigation, an area the police have been found wanting in previously. Rape is a sensitive area for the police. They have often been accused of insensitivity. Why is her case being dealt with in this way?

The police have also been accused many many times of protecting their own. Has Mr Taylor had preferential treatment because he is a senior police officer?

This case presents the Met with yet another headache. Mr Taylor is one of very few remaining senior officers from a visible ethnic minority. He was also one of the founding members of the Met Police Black Police Association. However Mr Taylor is treated, or whatever the conclusion of the investigation, the allegations will remain that Mr Taylor has been subjected to either favouritism or has been targeted because of his race.

Interesting fact: Until about a year ago, Mr Taylor was line managed by Ali Dizaei!

Watching the Electives

As election time approaches, my memory turns to my first incarnation as the WWD. Young, innocent days! How I used to skip merrily to my hefty old computer each morning to see what pearls of wisdom had been left under my inane ramblings! I remember the morning well when I booted up to find my stat counter had gone berserk! A blip? Something in the water of middle England? No. I had a link from the BNP website.

As I know now, this is a classic tactic. The BNP are targeting the working class, the group the Labour Party used to represent. They distort the views of others to represent themselves. They are parasites.

I was inundated with messages claiming me as one of their own. This soon stopped with a quick blog denouncing them peppered with some choice Billy Bragg lyrics. As soon as the mask fell away, I was bombarded with vitriol. One idiot, using the tag 'White Wolf' or similar, appeared to have spent the night sitting up drinking and posting increasingly racist and threatening posts to me. It seemed he sobered up somewhat in the morning when mummy came in with his Coco Pops. His last post was, hilariously, 'sorry.'

This experience had one positive outcome. It confirmed my belief that the BNP you see in the media is merely a front for the violent racist scum of the past. This may seem obvious, but without constant repetition we will forget the lessons of the past. Remember this when you cast your vote on 6th May.

SUPPORT THIS

The thorny issue of single patrol....

Our lords and masters, to whom we bow before because we are not worthy, have bestowed upon us the honour of reviewing patrol tactics. Praise be! If it was not for the Home Office and Senior Police Management (tm) I really do not know how we would all sleep safely in our beds at night. Thankfully, the careerists have enlightened us. It seems that the public find it easier to approach a single patrolling officer than two officer patrolling in pairs.

All well and good. Supervisors are now expected to post their officers patrolling alone unless the risk assessment dictates otherwise! Ah, the caveat of the ruling classes! So, to conclude: The Senior Police Management (tm) direct that single patrol is the default option. A police supervisor (Sergeant or Inspector, no higher) fails to post his officers singly. Said supervisor is subject to disciple. A police officer, patrolling alone is seriously injured. The police supervisor (please note, no higher than a Sergeant or Inspector) is subjected to discipline for failing to conduct an appropriate risk assessment! It's a win win for our Senior Officers!

A colleague I used to work with had what is often known as a 'run in' with a notoriously belligerent Detective Chief Inspector. Said colleague was being bombarded with meaningless statistics, performance indicator demands and allegations of failure. He stopped the DCI and informed him of the following fact: If all senior police managers went to Brighton for two weeks nobody would notice. If all PCs, Sergeants and some response Inspectors did the same, there would be anarchy. Apart from in Brighton.

Discuss.

Nighthawks

A world exists out there, just below the surface, a mirage, a trick of the light, people and places you don't see. This is not just the underclass, which contains a number of life's undesirables, but another world altogether. This is a world populated by the disappeared., the hidden. Every day, people go missing across the country. They come from all walks of life, all ages, backgrounds and professions. Most return, but many do not. Have they all been murdered and their bodies cleverly disposed of? Doubtful. Are they all locked up in mental health institutions. Unlikely. They are here amongst us.

Every night in the area where I work, a white man in late middle age walks the streets looking in bins. He carries a bag to which he adds his finds. His clothes are clean, and he does nothing to suggest he suffers from more severe mental health issues. He moves amongst the drunks and clubbers, between the minicab drivers and fast food salesmen without being seen. Occasionally he sees me watching him, and moves slowly away to disappear into the side streets.

Who is this man? What is his life story? What drives him to walk the city streets in the early hours of the morning, scavenging from bins? He exists in that hidden world, the world you walk through every day. The world you never see.

Diversity is Division

There is one issue, and one issue alone that obsesses the police. No it is not criminals, victims of crime or public safety as you would imagine. It is race.

The police service recognises that there are a huge variety of creeds and colours, particularly in our major conurbations. The Home Office demands that the police service is made up of a percentage of visible ethic minorities reflecting the community they serve. A bald and simple demand that ignores every other nuance of difference apart from skin colour. A black man living in poverty in a slum estate in south Manchester has a local officer who attended a private school in the home counties. Objective met. Box ticked. Promotion example obtained. You will be being policed by 'your own kind' who you will clearly be able to relate to better than someone more local. Because you have the same colour skin. You don't agree? Well sorry, but you're not a home office expert. Believe.

Internally, the police practise positive discrimination to reach these targets, in particular in the latest race obsession - promotion. Officers of colour who have been repeatedly unsuccessful in corporate promotion processes are given access to various groups and support services with a view to forcing them into senior positions. A number of such candidates have no shame, and will take every opportunity to further themselves. They are not the best candidates. The police service employs a large number of very capable and able officers from visible ethnic minorities who have the personal integrity to take no part in such falsehoods.

The police are doing themselves no favours by taking such action. Good candidates will not enter an organisation that will promote them purely because of the colour of their skin. Decent officers will not take part in false projects. This only leaves those without integrity to become the police leaders of the future.

The way of the world....

This blog was closed for the reasons shown in the last post. Since that time, the management board of the Met Police has changed - Ian Blair was sacked (but has had the audacity to write a book!) and the rest have slunk back under their stones. I no longer work for the Met, but remain a serving police officer. I am older and wiser, and won't be bullied by people who I have no respect for.

My name is John Brackenridge. I am the World Weary Detective.

I is coming back

Is there anyone still there?