Monday
Good news this morning on our Pubwatch scheme to tackle alcohol-related, anti-social behaviour in towns at night. With Shropshire council we’ve put on a course for people banned from pubs, which, if they attend, can reduce the length of their ban. It’s similar to the speed awareness scheme and its evaluation shows that the people who spend money and time to go on the course are much less likely to get back in trouble.
I met with a member of staff who had recently returned to work following an illness as we are concerned about sickness levels. At attendance reviews we look at whether there are long-term issues at play and how we can help manage them.
A chief inspector from our HQ at Worcester came in to talk about an information-sharing system that a lot of businesses are starting to use called Facewatch. It’s an online reporting system that allows groups of businesses and the police to share CCTV images of shoplifters and report crime. It’s new to us and we’re looking at its implications.
Wednesday
A different sort of a day as I’m covering for the Pace [Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984] inspector. These are inspectors attached to the 24/7 response teams that allocate resources to incidents and emergency calls. The inspector has to ensure that the right people are sent out with the right advice, information and level of supervision.
An elderly lady had gone missing in the evening and her husband was very concerned because she has dementia. By 9pm she still hadn’t returned and it was getting very cold. If she had fallen over somewhere there was every likelihood that if we didn’t find her in time she would not survive the night.
I ordered resources to the area to start a structured search. I sent a supervisor and officers to walk all the routes that she may have taken from her home. (My next course of action would have been to call in a helicopter and contact local taxi firms.)
I’m pleased to say that she arrived back in a taxi while we were searching. She had got lost and taken a taxi for the first time in her life.
Making the decision to send resources to an area is a responsibility because normal policing has to go on so your decisions have to be proportionate.
Friday
I’ve always had a strong sense of public duty and gain a lot of satisfaction from things that although aren’t that exciting from the outside, actually play a big part in protecting the public from the risk of threat and harm. Today I’ve been answering questions on behalf of the police force at a meeting concerning Syrian refugees and how the community could help these families coming to the area.
The meeting was well attended with about 85 people present and varying agendas expressed, from people wanting to help to those concerned about the impact that the refugees would make on their own lives locally. There were also others who simply wanted to gain some political advantage.
There were many emotive and searching questions such as who was going to pay for the refugees and whether they would be taking places in schools from local children. I answered that the money is coming from the foreign aid budget and our partnership cross-party working group on refugees has checked that there are school spaces available in the areas where they will live.
Several asked why the police weren’t preventing people saying bad things about the refugees. I explained that in our country we should be proud that we have freedom of speech and, quite rightly, the police can’t stop people voicing an opinion unless they are inciting hatred.
Learn more about applying for Direct Entry to the police service at inspector level.
