Sunday 13 April 2008
Shabby Treatment
I have now become an infrequent blogger. Pressures of work is my excuse. I am not a regular reader of the Mail but decided this week that I will buy it, mainly because of the DVD's. I love the stiff upper lip war films with John Mills, Noel Coward et al in them. Today's Mail(Sunday) had the front page covered with the story about the treatment of the returning fallen servicemen and contrasting how differently they are treated here and in Canada. It seems that "ceremonial" matters are not a Force priority for Thames Valley Police, it should be! They cannot be bothered to provide and escort for the coffins from the border with Wiltshire (who incidentally not only do so, but also pause at the War Memorial in Wootton Basset where the locals gather to pay respects)to the Coroner's Office in Oxford. What kind of mad society do we live in! Why haven't our elected representatives stood up in Parliament and demanded that these fallen be afforded full respect. Why doesn't the Chief Constable of Thames Valley afford them the respect of one uniformed service to another. Our Courts have this week allowed Abu Quatada to stay here at our expense and yet we cannot spare a couple of cars and motorcycle outriders to ensure that our heroic dead are treated with proper respect. In life they may not have been heroes or carried out heroic deeds but their sacrifice demands that we treat them like returning heroes. If I was living in Thames Valley I would be demanding of my local councillors an answer to this question and a refund of the Police Precept from my council community charge. The Chief Constable isn't serving me in the way I wish her to.
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2 comments:
About a year ago I was in my car trying to get to my flat for an appointment. As I entered the city centre, there was a huge presence of police on foot and on motorbikes. They had blocked off a lot of roads and traffic was at a standstill. As I got to the road near the church it had also been blocked by police. I had to take a detour and lost my way. I called the client who told me what had happened. it was the funeral of a police officer who had lost his life chasing youngsters who were joy riding.
Whilst I have every sympathy for the officer's family, he was doing his job and for the police to block off all the roads without warning seemed to me that they have autonomy and I found that to be unacceptable.
The police are there to serve the community, not to please themselves.
I can completely understand that the Police would want to honour someone who has died in the line of duty, they should have given advance warning and blocking all roads is extreme. This not a rant against the Police in general. It is however a rant against the Chief Constable of Thames Valley for not getting her priorities right. I do also agree that the Police do seem to becoming more and more remote from the community they serve, in part this is fostered by the adherence to clear up rates and quotas. Police the streets, don't try and manage them as if it was a corporation.
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