Police Scotland

[Threedoorsdown]

43 minutes ago, Daktari said:

Quite likely. I 'm retired 11 years come October, although I left West Lothian in 1996. As I said, we didn't move about as much back then so we knew each other better. Was he/she a Hearts supporter?

Referring to your earlier post. My opinion is that the main difference between policing now and maybe even 20 years ago is the amount of mental health call outs the police get.

 

Some officers I speak to say that it’s every other call out they deal with. The NHS is on its knees and there’s Kobe else to attend to these people bar the police.

Edited May 7 by Threedoorsdown

[EH11_2NL]

1 hour ago, Canscot said:

No. A big Rugby fan though. He ended up an Inspector before retiring. Not gonna give his name out on a public forum but his initials are J..T. 

If it's the same bloke I'm thinking of, he retired as a Supt. 

[Canscot]

1 minute ago, EH11_2NL said:

If it's the same bloke I'm thinking of, he retired as a Supt. 

Another clue. 
Likes his motorbike anaw😂

Think he was stationed in the Borders for a time too. His wife is from the Borders. Does any of that help?

[Daktari]

11 hours ago, Canscot said:

Another clue. 
Likes his motorbike anaw😂

Think he was stationed in the Borders for a time too. His wife is from the Borders. Does any of that help?

I'll message you  😁

[Daktari]

13 hours ago, Threedoorsdown said:

Referring to your earlier post. My opinion is that the main difference between policing now and maybe even 20 years ago is the amount of mental health call outs the police get.

Very true. Happened in my day too, but definitely not to the same extent.

[Threedoorsdown]

1 minute ago, Daktari said:

Very true. Happened in my day too, but definitely not to the same extent.

It’s an inevitable outcome of cutting services such as the NHS. 
 

It’s no coincidence the pandemic seen the biggest transfer of wealth from the many to the few. The whole system is rigged, sheer and utter greed and it’s effecting everyday people up and down the country 

[Ron Burgundy]

10 minutes ago, Threedoorsdown said:

It’s an inevitable outcome of cutting services such as the NHS. 
 

It’s no coincidence the pandemic seen the biggest transfer of wealth from the many to the few. The whole system is rigged, sheer and utter greed and it’s effecting everyday people up and down the country 

I phoned up on the 3rd of May for a doctors appmnt for my 9 year old daughter who had a sore foot and was in a bit of pain walking. After calling in bang on 8am and being 24th in the queue was advised the first appmnt was 27th May. I was honestly in disbelief.

 

[The Real Maroonblood]

6 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

I phoned up on the 3rd of May for a doctors appmnt for my 9 year old daughter who had a sore foot and was in a bit of pain walking. After calling in bang on 8am and being 24th in the queue was advised the first appmnt was 27th May. I was honestly in disbelief.

 

That’s brutal.

A lot has to do with which practice you are with as mine is fine and my sister in law’s practice is woeful.

 

[Threedoorsdown]

50 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

I phoned up on the 3rd of May for a doctors appmnt for my 9 year old daughter who had a sore foot and was in a bit of pain walking. After calling in bang on 8am and being 24th in the queue was advised the first appmnt was 27th May. I was honestly in disbelief.

 

I hope your daughter feels better soon mate. 
 

 

[Doctor FinnBarr]

On 08/05/2024 at 10:18, Daktari said:

Very true. Happened in my day too, but definitely not to the same extent.

 

As an ex policeman what is your view on the likes of Blackburn police station being sold off for housing and Whitburn and Bathgate stations only being open in daytime?

[muldoon74]

5 minutes ago, Doctor FinnBarr said:

 

As an ex policeman what is your view on the likes of Blackburn police station being sold off for housing and Whitburn and Bathgate stations only being open in daytime?

As as citizen I thinks its ****ing disgusting!! 

 

Penny pinching over citizen safety. Simple as that. 

 

The increase in crime, particularly in the "youth" type, is directly proportionate to the decline in local bobbies on the beat.. (IMO). 

 

[Doctor FinnBarr]

31 minutes ago, muldoon74 said:

As as citizen I thinks its ****ing disgusting!! 

 

Penny pinching over citizen safety. Simple as that. 

 

The increase in crime, particularly in the "youth" type, is directly proportionate to the decline in local bobbies on the beat.. (IMO). 

 

 

Its late at night, lets give Daktari time to answer.

[Daktari]

44 minutes ago, Doctor FinnBarr said:

 

As an ex policeman what is your view on the likes of Blackburn police station being sold off for housing and Whitburn and Bathgate stations only being open in daytime?

I think it's a shame, to say the least. I have to be careful because there's always a tendency to look at the past with the rose tinted specs firmly in place, and there will definitely be things that are better now in terms of transparency, openness, equipment, science, etc, etc. The service is definitely a more tolerant and inclusive place than the one I joined too, and that's a huge step forward.

 

However, the basis of the service I joined was the relationship between the police and their communities.  I mentioned in other posts that I worked with cops who had spent 20+ years at the same station. They knew everyone ( the good guys and the bad ones) and everything about the place, and everyone knew them . They knew where to find people, who was most likely to blame for a particular crime and how to speak to people to close something down. 'Ah ken yer faither' wasn't a cliche! As well as that, a good number of the cops actually lived in the towns where they worked. They were invested in the community.  As an example, there was no real trouble at Polkemmet doing the miners strike because both sides were local and knew we would have to co-exist when this was all over.  

 

There were always plenty of cops on duty. Places like Blackburn, Whitburn, Bathgate, Armadale, Linlithgow, West Calder and Fauldhouse had cops working from them 24/7.  They weren't just police stations, they were community hubs too, to a certain extent. The civilian station assistants were equally long serving in their stations, and people would come in just to talk to them. A lot of that localism has been lost I fear. I think it started when there was a push to have 'community cops', when in actual fact in my early time we were all community cops. The move towards more and more specialist units and the widening of the gulf between community and response policing has made that worse. There are physically more cops now than almost at any other time, but they are spread so thin that these stations can't be staffed like they were any more.  At the same time, there is an increasing tightening of funding on all public sector bodies. Look at the fire service now rationalising their fire stations and closing some, because their job has changed too. It makes financial sense to gather officers at central hubs to be deployed and close smaller stations, but it means that they're zipping about all over the place with no real sense of connection or belonging and no continuity to build up a relationship with he communities and even the criminals. I don't think there's a quick or easy answer to any of this because it has been a process of evolution over a long number of years, it's not a simple thing to reverse and indeed has become the developed normal to the point where it probably won't ever change now. 

 

As far as penny pinching goes, that's a fair point but the police can only spend the money they're given, and they're trying to serve many competing demands. The public want cops walking the beat, but they also want a police car at the door 30 seconds after they dial 999, and sadly they just can't have both. As I say, look at how long it takes for an ambulance to arrive or how few towns have fire stations now and it's clear that it isn't just a police problem. The police are the visible manifestation of it though because the fire and ambulance services don't patrol or do the myriad range of calls the police do. 

 

Going back to my original point, I think it's a shame but the world and communities, the public sector and expectations on them have all changed. I'm glad I joined when I did, but in 30 years time there will be someone on here typing about how 2024 was the good old days and look how bad it's got now.....

[Doctor FinnBarr]

2 hours ago, Daktari said:

I think it's a shame, to say the least. I have to be careful because there's always a tendency to look at the past with the rose tinted specs firmly in place, and there will definitely be things that are better now in terms of transparency, openness, equipment, science, etc, etc. The service is definitely a more tolerant and inclusive place than the one I joined too, and that's a huge step forward.

 

However, the basis of the service I joined was the relationship between the police and their communities.  I mentioned in other posts that I worked with cops who had spent 20+ years at the same station. They knew everyone ( the good guys and the bad ones) and everything about the place, and everyone knew them . They knew where to find people, who was most likely to blame for a particular crime and how to speak to people to close something down. 'Ah ken yer faither' wasn't a cliche! As well as that, a good number of the cops actually lived in the towns where they worked. They were invested in the community.  As an example, there was no real trouble at Polkemmet doing the miners strike because both sides were local and knew we would have to co-exist when this was all over.  

 

There were always plenty of cops on duty. Places like Blackburn, Whitburn, Bathgate, Armadale, Linlithgow, West Calder and Fauldhouse had cops working from them 24/7.  They weren't just police stations, they were community hubs too, to a certain extent. The civilian station assistants were equally long serving in their stations, and people would come in just to talk to them. A lot of that localism has been lost I fear. I think it started when there was a push to have 'community cops', when in actual fact in my early time we were all community cops. The move towards more and more specialist units and the widening of the gulf between community and response policing has made that worse. There are physically more cops now than almost at any other time, but they are spread so thin that these stations can't be staffed like they were any more.  At the same time, there is an increasing tightening of funding on all public sector bodies. Look at the fire service now rationalising their fire stations and closing some, because their job has changed too. It makes financial sense to gather officers at central hubs to be deployed and close smaller stations, but it means that they're zipping about all over the place with no real sense of connection or belonging and no continuity to build up a relationship with he communities and even the criminals. I don't think there's a quick or easy answer to any of this because it has been a process of evolution over a long number of years, it's not a simple thing to reverse and indeed has become the developed normal to the point where it probably won't ever change now. 

 

As far as penny pinching goes, that's a fair point but the police can only spend the money they're given, and they're trying to serve many competing demands. The public want cops walking the beat, but they also want a police car at the door 30 seconds after they dial 999, and sadly they just can't have both. As I say, look at how long it takes for an ambulance to arrive or how few towns have fire stations now and it's clear that it isn't just a police problem. The police are the visible manifestation of it though because the fire and ambulance services don't patrol or do the myriad range of calls the police do. 

 

Going back to my original point, I think it's a shame but the world and communities, the public sector and expectations on them have all changed. I'm glad I joined when I did, but in 30 years time there will be someone on here typing about how 2024 was the good old days and look how bad it's got now.....

 

Very interesting answer mate. When I grew up in Blackburn we knew all polis, Reidy, Paddy, Big Desperate, Purdie and the Ferret. All were liable to kick my arse then tell my parents. But now........