Say goodbye to 'Plastic' Police.

[Acrylic-bob]

Reuters newsagency reports that the Chief Constable of Lancashire, Steve Finnigan, has said that PCSO's have been formally warned that they all face redundancy next year as part of the cutbacks following the spending review.

Do any of you think that this is going too far? Will you feel less safe on the streets? Should Mr Finnigan reconsider? Or do you think that he is not cutting nearly far enough nor deep enough?

[Neil]

I think Hyndburn will be worse off without them.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Neil

I think Hyndburn will be worse off without them.

If its a choice between real bobbies and plastic ones there's no contest

[cashman]

Originally Posted by jaysay

If its a choice between real bobbies and plastic ones there's no contest

Whilst that is true, its certainly very unlikely to be the case, the streets WILL be less safe "Fact".

[Ken Moss]

In Rishton we have an excellent team who are already having their effectiveness diminished by centralisation measures brought in by local management which are basically taking them out of the outer wards. To cut the actual police presence on the streets even more is an open invitation to criminals across the borough, I will be deeply disappointed to see this happen.

Trim the fat further up the ladder for pity's sake. All the public really want from the police is a quick response from actual officers rather than a top-heavy management team.

[Acrylic-bob]

I agree with you Ken, to a point, so don't get too excited, there are plenty of lumps of fat further up the chain of command that could be excised with little or no effect on so called 'front line' policing. But what about the two PCSO's who stood by while a ten year old boy drowned in a pond in Wigan a couple of years ago, because they were not trained to deal with such major incidents? Sure, it is nice to have people patrolling the streets, but should they not also have the powers and, more importantly, the training to act when action is urgently required? Otherwise are they of any more use than an ordinary citizen?

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

I agree with you Ken, to a point, so don't get too excited, there are plenty of lumps of fat further up the chain of command that could be excised with little or no effect on so called 'front line' policing. But what about the two PCSO's who stood by while a ten year old boy drowned in a pond in Wigan a couple of years ago, because they were not trained to deal with such major incidents? Sure, it is nice to have people patrolling the streets, but should they not also have the powers and, more importantly, the training to act when action is urgently required? Otherwise are they of any more use than an ordinary citizen?

Agreement in any form...I feel faint, Bob.

That's a prime example of the stupidly PC compensation culture that the country has slid into and is certainly not confined to the police force. I can only speak for Rishton but Steve Charnley and Jenny Hayes do a superb job in the village and it would be a tremendous loss if we suddenly found ourselves without them. I can't ever see them saying or doing anything so stupid as that 'pond' incident.

Given the cost of PCSOs compared to 'proper' coppers, I would like to see a few managers trimmed in favour of training more of them up to police officer level but how likely do we think that is?

[Acrylic-bob]

Okay, we are in agreement so far. Let's take it to the next level shall we? I'm in a dangerous mood today.

I notice that the Police Precept gives Lancashire Police £277 million this year, roughly £97 of the Council Tax bill for a band A property. Apparently the government is asking them to cut £50 million from the precept over the next four years. That, to my reckoning, is £12.5 million per year - from £277 million hardly suggests the 'frightening' scenario that the Chief Constable is fretting over. It is not what one might call 'wholesale butchery' for example nor indeed would it seem to invite comparisons with the 'night of the long knives' or 'death by a thousand cuts'. Does this not rather suggest that all Mr Finnigan is doing to meet the cuts is to make PCSO's redundant, otherwise it is business as usual - Police helicopter circling endlessly looking for lost cats, traffic cops whiling away their shifts parked up in laybys, more flash cars with extra uber-cool flashing lights and seriously radical sirens that not only go 'whoo-whoo' but 'beep-beep' too! and, of course, any excuse to get out the dressing-up box?

[Ken Moss]

I think that there is a bit of creative accounting going on there.

From what I can gather from speaking to Hyndburn police officers, the current wave of rationalisations are as much driven by the police force themselves as the government and the bobbies aren't happy because it is going to make their job ten times harder unnecessarily. We need a larger force on the ground instead of preserving the pen-pushers and showing off the shiny new livery of police vehicles.

Style over substance, springs to mind.

[Acrylic-bob]

Good grief! We are going to have to call a halt to all this agreeing malarky - people might start talking - pen-pushers are the saviours of humanity!

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

Good grief! We are going to have to call a halt to all this agreeing malarky - people might start talking - pen-pushers are the saviours of humanity!

You fiend!

I cannot agree with any man who subscribes to the 'Administration Saves The Nation' ideology.

Begone from Rishton!

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

pen-pushers are the saviours of humanity!

Bit much pen-pushers n humanity in the same sentence?

[Acrylic-bob]

Ahh thank God, back to normality.

[Less]

Originally Posted by cashman

Bit much pen-pushers n humanity in the same sentence?

There will be a great deal more than pens 'Pushed' on our streets when the thin blue line goes on it's anorexic diet!

[Acrylic-bob]

Do PCSO's prevent a lot of drug dealing, Less?