Tweeting about life, random stuff or my dog. #Cockerpoo Used to tweet a lot about work, now I just tweet about anything and everything but mainly my dog 🐶
Ok so how has @metpoliceuk recruited 1465 Police Officers, but lost 1381 Police Officers in the last financial year?
Let’s take a little deep dive and look into multiple contributing factors that have led us to this point…🤷🏼♂️
We’ll go back just over a decade to the year 2012. ⌚️
London is hosting the @Olympics 🇬🇧
In the build up The Met has deployed a team of Officers to escort the Olympic Torch safely around the country until it reaches the opening ceremony. It goes off without a hitch, in fact the only security issue for the Olympics is the company selected by The Government paid to provide security; @G4S have been a complete shambles and the military have to be brought in to supplement what is otherwise an excellent Policing plan.
Police Officers numbers are so good, you can’t join The Met in 2011 or 2012 and you can only just become a Special Constable.
The workforce is motivated as it has a big task ahead of it which everyone understands; protect the Olympic Games. We’re in a world prior to Social Media hysteria and whilst pay is still disputed, the Pension hasn’t been messed with.
The Met Police’s the countries most iconic event in decades without incident and is proud of itself. But not for long. Change is coming.
Somehow The Met owes the Government £450 Million, then Home Secretary Theresa May tells Policing nationally they are ‘Crying Wolf’ about Officer numbers and public safety and a short time later the pension is meddled with.
The retention problem begins. Those on the old pension realise if they stay, they’re going to lose money - drastically, so they begin to leave in their droves. Leadership aren’t worried though, there is a huge back log of applications from before and during the Olympics.
Numbers dip, but they’re bolstered quickly, however training isn’t what it used to be. Hendon has been sold, as are other ‘regional learning centres’. The training is sped up and delivered mostly on digital platforms - mandated by @CollegeofPolice 👀
Across London 2/3rds of Police Stations are shut, thousands of Police Staff; shift roster builders, case file builders, communications staff are all laid off, but their work still needs doing. So Police Officers step into the void. Taking more and more Police Officers off the streets.
To save more money, instead of 32 Policing Boroughs, they are merged into 12 super boroughs or ‘Basic Command Units’. The trials for this are catastrophic, but it achieves the objective of saving money, so it carries on.
Years of history and identity for those Policing London’s boroughs have been eradicated in the name of ‘efficiency’.
Retention is terrible. Thousands more leave and those that are joining are not all vetted properly.
Those who have stayed mostly leave Frontline Policing and move anywhere away from it that they can. The demand is ridiculous and stress off the scale.
The only reprieve comes briefly in the days after Terror attacks, where the public remember what we do so admirably.
Then a global pandemic hits. The Met must enforce garbled and complicated social distancing legislation that quite rightly inflames tensions with communities.
During this period, one of our own, not vetted properly; Kidnaps, Rapes and Murders Sarah Everard.
Every decent, hard working, Police Officer in The Met questions how the public will trust us again.
Then Commissioner Ma’am Cressida Dick is bullied out of Office.
Everything becomes a priority. The cost of living in London is a joke and Police Officers are overloaded with work to breaking point. @policeconduct too have taken it upon themselves to destroy faith in the disciplinary process.
And we wonder why we have a retention crisis when we’ve just been told to save £450 Million all over again…
#ThinBlueLine 🚨
Police Leavers Survey: The toll on family life is significant... 63% of those who left pointed to the job’s negative effect on their family and personal life as a critical factor. Officers often face long/irregular hours, high stress & no work/life balance https://t.co/LIhlYjOZyq
17% of #PolicePayAndMorale survey respondents from Sussex Police said they intend to resign from the police service within the next two years or as soon as they can. Wake-up call for the new Home Secretary https://t.co/37UY3N76Hv
Folks can I ask you a Question? Thanks; Is THIS👇 the sort of Chief Constable that YOU would like to see heading YOUR police Force? Please press RT if the answer is YES or Like if NO; as soon as I’ve posted this I’m pressing my own Tweet as YES as in RT🤷♂️
Very disappointed and disgusted with @AldiUK customer service, meant to be given a refund of £289.97 but only been sent £99, called this afternoon and agent NABSHA decided to hang up on me after I asked to speak with a manager #disappointed#poorcustomerservice 😡
@TheCDAGroup I have just called customer services to request a fitting diagram sheet that is supplied with your products, I was met with a very unhelpful call taker who then hung up on me. Please can I speak to a manager #wouldnotbuyagain#veryunhappy