What makes you feel worse than being told you're dying?

As you probably all know by now, the doctors told me I probably only had about a year to live. That was back in September last year. Like me, you probably can't imagine how you will feel in a situation like that and you go through a whole gamut of emotions as does your loved ones and in the end you feel all sorts of emotions particularly anger and frustration and so on but then you deal with it and get on with life.

Well today I learned that there is even something worse than being told you are going to die...... It's that moment when you realise that you have lost your frigging wallet which contains your whole life, practically. Bank debit and credit cards, cash, the lottery tickets you have just purchased and are probably winning ones at that, medical prescription cards, photos of the Grand Children, etc, driving licence paper and photo .....

Shit, shit and double shit your whole life starts to unravel especially as you suddenly realise also that for the first time in your life you actually have money in the bank and what happens if some 'clued up nefarious' person has gotten hold of it and manages to rob you of what you have before you get a chance to cancel all of the cards, shit, shit and double shit again.....

And of course the financial institutions while trying to be helpful, I suppose, add to your growing anger at yourself and frustration by being complete arseholes when trying to report it.

Both Barclays and Santander make you pay for the call MBNA you get a free call. You get through to the first two and it is an automated message put in your credit or debit card details, you ain't got them to hand, "say you don't have it". "I don't have it". "We'll put you through to an agent". And you are duly put through to a Barclays agent who is a foreigner, but only after we get a long automated message ....... I want to report my lost fucking card I don't want to hear you are regulated by the fucking financial services authority, and then when Mr non speaking first language English gets on, even when you spell your details phonetically, he still doesn't understand you ... As Penny would say (well maybe not a correct quote, but close enough) 'Holly Crap on a Fucking Cracker', what is wrong with you people, I want to report my lost bank card that I was stupid enough to be careless with, give me someone who can understand me and get rid of the automated crap WHEN REPORTING A LOST CARD, is it too much to ask for, I think not.

Santander was just as bad with the automated message, what is it with financial institutions, when you press the option to report a lost card SURELY this is an urgent call and you should be put through to a PERSON IMMEDIATELY and a person who speaks the same language as you, but maybe in my own anger directed at myself I am being too critical? MBNA, which I consider to be the worst of my credit cards at least give you a free number to phone and there is only a short message before being put through, no details no problem, a couple of security questions and you are done with a new card on the way, so that was better. Except the other three card providers say I can continue to use my pin number but MBNA issue a new one, ah well, can't have everything.

And then you phone the police in the vain hope that someone has found it and handed it in... You have to phone Essex Police cos your local station only works part time and Sunday is not a working day for the local South Ockendon station. Having said that, the young lady at Grays was most solicitous taking my details with the minimum of fuss and my number in case it was handed in, reminding me to call my bank and credit card companies to immediately cancel the cards, bless her.

Then, having done all that but still in panic mode: A loud knock on he door and standing on the door step is a smiling young Essex policeman with wallet in hand. Some lady has just handed it to home outside the local closed station..........

Can you check the contents: Credit and bank cards, check, in fact everything was there, including the new lottery tickets, except for the £40.00 in cash. To describe my relief as ecstatic, would be an understatement. Even with the missing cash and now having to wait a few days for replacement cards it was still a huge relief and I do not begrudge the finders fee being removed unilaterally, as I would gladly have paid anyway, maybe not £40 but certainly £20 but I am not going to quibble over that.

Needless to say it has thrown my routine out a bit for the day, but like death, which I am still avoiding like the plague, I live to fight another day, week, month or year or years, and although this is only the second time in my life where I have lost my wallet, the first time was on the Maid of The Loch on Loch Lomond, on a school outing when I was about 14, so there was really nothing in it back then and I certainly never gave it another thought, I shall be much more careful next time. And the thing is that it must only have been a few minutes between losing it and realising I had done so, when I rushed back into the shop in a panic, that someone has picked it up and walked out with it.

Life goes on and I suppose I should be grateful I lost it here and not in Spain last week.....

Essex PCC wants more money - A Response

There I was minding my own business this morning took a quick break from work to see what was happening in the big bad world and saw this tweet from one of my favourite local Policemen;

Marc Jordan ‏@InspMarcJordan"@EssexPCC: PCC Nick Alston makes the case for an extra 40p a month to pay for policing and community safety work.http://www.essex.pcc.police.uk/ "

So I followed the link to our new PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner - feel I had to point that out as many people will still not have a clue to who or what that is or what good they are to us), but anyway Mr Alston has been busying himself with getting to grips to what I liken to as, a Government sponsored Quangoess type position.  And for those of you not aware of what a Quango is,  here is the link to Wikipedia, but I think my explanation is easier to understand, which is this;

A Quango is something set up by the government of the day that costs the tax payers £millions to set up.  It is an organisation the taxpayers didn't know about, care about or needed.  It is funded by government out of central taxes (PCC's Local taxes I think)  but those involved with running it quickly become demigods ignoring the needs or wants of the local populace and or councils, and they run roughshod over local opinion while continuing to spend £millions of tax payers monies on expenses and salaries with no one seemingly, able to reign them in, in my opinion........ Same, I suspect, as a PCC....

Mr Alston goes on to make his case as to why he thinks tax payers in Essex should be asked to spend an extra 0.40 pence per month towards Policing in Essex.  Now, right of the bat please let me make it perfectly clear that 40 pence is not a big amount to ask for policing, it's not, but;

He starts of by telling us that "The simple truth is that the amount of council tax we each pay to fund policing services in our county is the lowest in the country." 

Nice, let's get that in there first, that we are already the most tight fisted tax payers in the country, but lets not forget that the previous budgets were set by those elected in the borough with dear old 'I'm resigning Chief Constable Barker-Mcardle', who handed in his papers days after Mr Alston was elected!

Mr Alston goes on to inform us that since budget cuts were introduced that, "All the evidence suggests that Essex Police is already a lean, efficiently run force, with over ninety percent of officers deployed on the front line and the seventh highest police officer to police staff ratio in the country.  This means that most of our money is spent on “front line” policing."  

He also informs us that,  "This is the context in which to judge the impact of the budget savings that the force has already made.  Compared with the levels of 2010, Essex Police will soon have lost 875 posts: 353 police officers (around ten percent of officers); 112 PCSOs (around 24 percent of PCSOs); and 410 police staff (roughly 19 percent of the total).  It is also the case that the four year plan agreed for Essex Police to meet over £42 million in budget cuts included a 2.5 percent increase in the portion of council tax paid to fund policing in both 2013-14 and 2014-15."

But did you notice, and maybe I am misunderstanding it , but the last sentence in the previous paragraph seems to say that Essex Police are already in line to receive a 2.5 percent increase from the council tax, over the next four years to give some amelioration to the £42 million they have been told to save? Is it me? Am I misunderstanding that. They have been told to make a £42 million saving, they say OK, but can we have an increase in our share of the council tax by 2.5 percent over the next four years to compensate us for that budget saving , and the powers that be say, yes you can!

He then goes back to the little bit of moral blackmail that he started off with by stating, "One further striking fact is that if we, the people of Essex, paid the equivalent to the national average for policing from council tax, it would fund 470 extra police officers.   We are at the bottom of the pile and will only fall further behind if we don’t take steps now to invest in our police."

So, hang on, we have lost 353 POLICE OFFICERS but he wants an increase to give him back 470 POLICE OFFICERS. Now he breaks the losses down into, police officers, pcso's and police staff. So are the 470 all going to be front line police officers or is it going to be a mixture of, officers, pcso's and staff? Who knows he doesn't break it down or make it very clear.

Then just for good measure he throws in the scare tactic telling us that, "Ultimately, there must be a risk that continued cuts in the number of police officers will make Essex more vulnerable to crime."

Before finally telling us that he wants an increase in the budget, "Therefore, I have decided to ask for a 3.5 percent increase in the portion of council tax used to fund policing and community safety in Essex, which amounts to an extra £4.77 per year for a Band D council tax payer." 

But, and again, if Essex Police are already to get an agreed 2.5 percent increase over the next 4 years and Mr Alston is asking for a 3.5 percent increase, is that on top of the 2.5 percent making a total of 6 percent or is it 1 percent on top of the 2.5 percent?  It's as clear as mud, just like a Quango would be if making the same points!

Now I understand that Essex has decided to impose a freeze on the council tax for the third year in succession and let's face it the cost of everything else is going up, energy bills, food, fuel, travel and the government has imposed wage freezes on public sector workers and if you work in the private sector try getting a pay rise out of your employer.....

No Doubt Essex County Fire and Rescue will be looking for an increase too.  So they and the Police get their rise but the council doesn't put up the tax to the residents in the borough  where is the money to come from then?  Well it will come out of reduced spending on housing, road and street repairs and improvements, welfare and healthcare, education and the many other services that the councils are required to provide; we will all miss out because the police can't cope and make adjustments.

I'll say it again £4.77 is a ridiculously modest amount, when said like that, but put into cost, the total they are asking for becomes an immodest and large amount of money.  I am not saying they don't need it, I'm not saying that it won't be spent wisely but........

I am a great supporter of the Police, I also take them to task and they have a thankless job and I am glad they are doing it and not me, but I also see first hand how inefficient they can be.  Even before Essex Police started losing 'officers' the joke with us was that an incident report would turn up on my desk marked 'UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE' Observed Essex Police Officers out on patrol,  Front line Policing seems to mean two different things to the two groups involved, i.e the Police and the Public.  Not really sure what it means to the Police but to the Public, 'Front Line Policing' means seeing police officers out and about and on patrol or attending to an incident that has been reported.  And from my point of view, they have always been sadly lacking from both.

So, while it is your right and duty in your position of PCC to try and maintain a budget that can be worked with and not see any further deterioration to our policing, you need to do it in line with what you are given and stop trying to make us feel bad and that it's our fault that you don't have the funds.  Maybe, and I don't know if this is a reason why we have oner of the lowest 'police budgets' in the the country, but could it be that unemployment and the number of people on rent rebates and council tax exemptions are higher than other counties in the country, I don't know, maybe you or someone from Essex CC can tell us why it has been consistently lower than other regions.   Have your money but do it in line with the restraints that are being placed on all of us. Policing is special I want Policing and I want a strong well paid Police force, with men and women who are going to stand there on the front line protecting me from the moron anarchists and the every day criminals who make all our lives miserable  And at the end of the day the Justice system, lazy and incompetent magistrates and judges who are continually letting offenders off and back out on to the streets are all adding to the costs that you need, and that we end up being bled for....

The full text of Mr Alston's report is here

    

Related Posts:

These Green and Pleasant Lands

Jody McIntyre - Police Brutality

KETTLING - Is this Police Tactic Wrong?

Essex Police to Replace Human Cops with 'RoboCop Athena'

London Metropolitan Police - Baton Rounds

Private Policing in the UK, is it New?

Essex Police: Incompetent or just plain lazy

Essex Police: Incompetent or just plain lazy

Just how incompetent or lazy are ESSEX POLICE?

For a number of years now I have been asked by them to provide CCTV footage to assist in their investigations.  And for years I have burnt off CD's with the required information, of which at least 3 out of every 5 discs burnt to disc from the system are never collected.

Now burning off discs from images saved on the system is a relatively simple enough task but it does take time to do it and so, my time and effort is a wasted exercise initiated by ESSEX POLICE.

Now, when you think about it, no POLICE force would look kindly upon any person or group, who time after time, made a nuisance of themselves or wasted their time by phoning or contacting them on issues which were deemed to be time wasting.  In fact I would go as far as to say, that after a couple of time wasting calls or contacts the person wasting POLICE time would be arrested and charged for doing it!

So why shouldn't the POLICE OFFICER who phones me, not be treated in the same manner they would treat me, if I were guilty of that offence?

The most recent example of this was a phone call from an ESSEX POLICE Detective Sgt 'L' based in Rayleigh.  She called me on 31st August 2012, concerning a break in to a games shop in the market.

I had reviewed the CCTV but had no discs available to burn off, so suggested that if she wanted a copy that someone come down with a blank disc and I would do it for them.  I also explained that the two scrotes responsible for the break-in had originally turned up at the back of midnight to suss the place out and that during that visit there was probably at least two good facial images.  I further informed her that on their return to carry out the actual break-in at 2 AM they were on site for over an hour and that there was a couple of good facial shots during that time too!

She asked when I would have new disc to burn on to, and I told her Monday, she replied that they could wait until then. I suggested that she wait until the Tuesday as there was no guarantee what time the office ancillary items would be delivered by the courier.  I also informed her that I would be off from the Monday night, but that she would still be able to collect on the Tuesday, by visiting the office.

So, off I went on Monday afternoon 3rd of September, returning to the office on 10th September, and guess what, go to the top of the class if you guessed that the disc is still sitting on my desk 10 days later!   And this, after me informing her that someone in the POLICE force might well recognise the criminals if their images were emailed around the district to other stations, So just how much of a screw up are ESSEX POLICE?  You hand it to them on a plate and there is no hope of them actually following through, as I said this is not the first time, but it will be the last time.  I will not now be burning off CCTV footage for them unless they turn up with a Request for Disclosure of Personal Data Under Section 29 (3) of the Data Protection Act 1998 and there has to be an officer on site waiting for the disc to be burnt off.

On another incident recently a PCSO phoned me and said they wanted footage of another incident that had taken place, I asked why they needed it and she said in case there is an insurance claim, WTF! So I asked why, are ESSEX POLICE  now taking on the liability for insurance cover for the property? In the end a Sgt phoned me and when I explained my requirements he threatened to come to the site and seize it by way of trying to bully me into just burning it off for him.  So, not only do they appear incompetent and lazy, but if you do not give the item without complying with the rules, i.e. without the aforementioned 'request for Disclosure' which is a legal requirement, even for ESSEX POLICE to comply with, they try and bully you into submission..

On another incident today, after reporting that some of the local worthies had hidden a video recorder under a stall, after having been refused to have it bought from them by the local Cash Converters (pawn shop), two PCSO's from ESSEX POLICE arrived, caught up with them in one of the car parks and one of the PCSO's was eating her sandwich while questioning the 'suspects'! I know they have to eat, but in the street dealing with people. Maybe next time they'll pull out a fold down table and chair and invite the person being questioned to join them in a snack lunch!

So, I'll ask again JUST HOW INCOMPETENT and LAZY are ESSEX POLICE?

Private Policing in the UK, is it New?

I saw a re-tweet this morning from a twitter friend @EmmaGeraln pointing me in the direction of an article in the (on-line) The Telegraph Newspaper, with the headline:-

Security guards to form 'private police force' in city centre

You can read the full article here, the article goes on to report that,

Up to 100 officers could be employed by Securitas to patrol the streets of Manchester in a pioneering deal with local businesses. 

They will wear stab-proof vests, cameras to gather evidence and have radios on their utility belts, just like constables. 

The security guards will visit shops up to eight times a day and respond within 90 seconds if staff sound a panic alarm.

It is hoped that one team will patrol shopping areas during the daytime while another will keep an eye on bars and restaurants at night.

And although those in the “retail support unit” will not have the power of arrest, eventually they could be allowed to give out on-the-stop fines for offences such as littering.

A member of the Police Federation is quoted as saying,

Ian Hanson, chairman of the Greater Manchester branch of the Police Federation, said of the new security patrol scheme: “This is the sort of function that teams of police officers have performed for years until the cutbacks. 

“This is creeping privatisation and the public need to wake up to it before it's too late. Police officers need to be out there detaining people rather than withdrawing from the front line because of government cuts. 

"We have been warning for some time that policing is being sold off to the highest bidder. The public and the retailers are being forced into this because GMP quite simply hasn't got the resources to do what we used to do routinely.”

Well, I have news for Emma and Ian Hanson, this has been going on for years and not just as a result of the swingeing cuts currently being imposed on Police bodies up and down the country by our esteemed and current government.

Prior to my current position I was the Contracted Security and Safety Manager in London Docklands, from Shadwell to Gallions Reach (North Woolwich) on the North of the river Thames and Rotherhithe on the Southbank of the river.

We employed, directly around 200 security officers.  These were broken down to, Isle of Dogs and Shadwell, Rotherhithe and Royal Docks.  Each area had about 50 uniformed officers employed on static sites, dedicated patrol vehicles and foot patrol officers with the vehicle patrol officers and the foot patrol officers patrolling the streets in London Docklands 24 hours a day 365 days a year and in direct radio contact back to dedicated control rooms.  We also employed a 30 strong dedicated road safety unit, responding to any incidents on roads within these areas, again 24/7 and because we had the river and of course various docks within the area we had a marine safety unit too.

The Metropolitan Police obviously had stations in these areas, Limehouse, Isle of Dogs, Shadwell, (Leman Street) and North Woolwich, but we were the dedicated patrolling service from the late 80's to when I took over management of it in the early 90's and it was still there when I left in 98!

Police services in the UK have suffered through mismanagement, by their own Chief Constables and by Government for years, it has been a job for life for most, but policing has changed over the years, but the culture of policing has never been quick, if at all able, to keep up with these changes....

An example of this was in another recent post be me where I wrote,

instead of looking at more practical ways to make savings, Essex Police along with a bunch of other forces are spending around £32 million quid on a computer system that, as far as I can tell isn't self propelled, doesn't have a built in arsenal to injure, maim or kill the lawbreakers on our streets, and unlike the 'real' Robocop, probably has no sense of humour either!

Apparently, according to Essex Chief Constable, Jim Barker-McCardle, ".....this will significantly improve the lives of people in the communities we serve." We will be better able to investigate crime , support victims and reduce threat and harm to vulnerable people."

(that post can be read here)

So, there we have a bunch of Police authorities around the country spending all that money to replace bobbies with a computer because it will,

be better able to investigate crime , support victims and reduce threat and harm to vulnerable people.

And is it any wonder that there are not enough Police Men and Women on our streets getting to know the scroats and criminals on their patch, and then we wonder why we have  pot factories springing up and burglaries taking place, with seeming impunity.... not really hard to see then why private security companies are getting in on the act, is it.

I am with you though Emma, I don't want to see Private Companies taking over the policing of our towns and cities, but if successive governments and Chief Constables are incapable of managing this much needed public service, what choice do we have?  Maybe, the government, with the introduction of American style Police Commissioners ( I'm sorry but I keep thinking Commissioner Gordon from Batman and we all know what a bit of tit he is /was - when I here that phrase) that they also want to see the proliferation of Private Policing Security firms that they have in America too, and by that being introduced, they can then cut back even more, on proper and effective 'real' police forces!

One can only hope that checks on staff are stringent, but from what little I know of the SIA, who 'police' that I do not have a lot of confidence in them either as it is primarily ' a revenue raising service' on charges levied against 'security' companies.....

Firefighters and Policewomen

Two stories in the Basildon Echo caught my eye today for two completely different reasons.

The first was figures released under a 'Freedom of Information Act' request that show that Essex Firefighters have been ATTACKED 23 times between November 2010 and January 2012.

The first thing to ask about this report is, "What the f*%^ is going on, why are some people in society attacking firefighters at all?"

Surely there can be no reason on earth why people who have chosen to put their lives at risk in tackling fires and attending the most horrific crash scenes imaginable, with the resultant views of the dead and the dying, should be attacked by anyone at any time.....  I am at a complete loss to explain this, can you?

I have gone on the record in the past stating that all things being equal we would all live in a utopian society, where everyone was born equal and where we would all be gifted with the same level of intelligence as well as all the other gifts that such a society would bestow on us but, and it is a big but.  We don't live in such a society and not all people are equal in terms of intelligence or with the ability to determine even from the simplest right or wrong action, and clearly there are a number of moronic people living in the Essex area, and I am sure other parts of the country and indeed the world, who are so unintelligent or are so morally corrupt that they just do not see the stupidity of their actions.

Sure, we have all sat in front of the TV and witnessed images flashed to us from across the world where a demonstration has taken place and that demonstration, like so many of them, has resulted in violence and arson attacks and the demonstrators have attacked the fire crews and even ambulances going to the aid or assistance of the injured and the flaming car and buildings. Incomprehensible, but in the context of what is happening during these riots, you can see and vaguely understand why it is happening!

But Essex, or anywhere else in this country or the world, Why on earth would you attack a firefighter for attending an emergency near you?

And finally! Why does it need a request under the 'Freedom of Information Act' to get this information, are Essex County Fire and Rescue Services not reporting these incidents to the police at the time and are the police not asking for witnesses. And of course one way of asking for information is to release these incidents to the press! And are then the people who produce the Echo in Essex not doing their job at the time of the incidents, reporting them at the time to see if their readers can come forward with information that might lead to the arrest and conviction of these morons. Or is it a case of let's jazz this story up a little for the titillation of our readers who probably aren't very bright anyway.... just asking.

The second story to catch my eye was on Policewoman's Bra's!  Yes, bra's.

I know where you think this is going, but you will be completely wrong.  For those who know me, they will all know that I have been known to have a slight interest in matters Health and Safety, I can hear the groans now, but believe me people someone has to do it to look out for your safety as, sometimes you are all just a little bit silly when it comes to keeping you and yours safe, so, you need people like me and Andy Williams, no not the singer, but Andy, formerly of some outfit in South Africa but I think his over zealousness resulted in him being repatriated a few years ago to inflict pain and misery on our lives........,

Anyway, it is to the Basildon Echo once again we turn to for this wonderful piece of journalism that highlighted once again my lack of observational skills.

You see in my day to day life I have been known to sit with my thumb up my bum and my mind in neutral, day dreaming of what could be, if only I were rich and famous and not having to put up with tedious boring mundane life of the daily drudge of  9 to 5 worker that I have become.  A few months ago Essex Police (and I nearly did a blog on this but resisted the temptation) changed from white shirts and woolly jumpers to black T-shirts.  Today's article tells me that one un-named WPC states that if she is not wearing her 'stab vest' on top of this T-shirt she must wear a padded bra as the T-shirts are so tight that you can see her nipples.  Well I do meet a lot of Police officers from Essex in my daily wanderings and instead of concentrating on what they have been saying to me and looking at their faces when talking to me, I clearly should have been half paying attention to their utterances and looking at their nipples, I promise to do this in the future so that I can report back on the various sizes and colourisations of the  areola,  etc. But before I do that, can I be arrested for staring at a Police officers nipples, I wonder......

As to the safety aspect of the story, woman PC's have been told not to wear under wired bra's in case they are shot in the chest as the wire in the bra may cause more damage to them when hit by the bullet, I agree, sound health and safety advice at last.......

Essex Police to Replace Human Cops with 'RoboCop Athena'

In these times of great austerity Essex Police in the UK are leading the way with the introduction of 'new' technology to downsize the number of police officers and Police Community Support Officers.  The latter, in a way I could do without, if only they were replaced be real Police men  and woman.  Don't get me wrong I know a number of PCSO's and they are all extremely nice people, and all said and done they do do a valuable job, even if it is only to radio, which is much quicker than a phone, for a response team of actual Police officers, if they come across a crime!

But times are hard in the UK as they are across the world.  The Government has told Local Authorities to once again freeze the Council Tax, the source of income for Police, Fire, Health, Education, Cleansing and so on and so on within our Local Authorities, and in the case of Essex County Council to enable them to pay excessive salaries to the brightest and best, yeah right, to that last one......

So, anyway, with the council tax being frozen again, there is not so much in the pot to be shared out to all those services that we pay, including the Police.  So, rather than reducing the number of car movements, for example - and you have to bare with me on this as my fingers fly over the keyboard and I just make this up as I go along and I have no idea what Essex Police spend on petrol and vehicle costs in terms of maintenance, insurance, etc., but, if they put all those officers rolling about in cars out patrolling the streets, think how much money that would save each year, must be the cost of a couple of Officers, at least.

But no, instead of looking at more practical ways to make savings, Essex Police along with a bunch of other forces are spending around £32 million quid on a computer system that, as far as I can tell isn't self propelled, doesn't have a built in arsenal to injure, maim or kill the lawbreakers on our streets, but like the 'real' Robocop, probably has no sense of humour either!

Apparently, according to Essex Chief Constable, Jim Barker-McCardle (never trust a man with a double barrelled name he is either a pretentious prat or is a hangover from a silver spoon family of old), 

".....this will significantly improve the lives of people in the communities we serve."  We will be better able to investigate crime , support victims and reduce threat and harm to vulnerable people."

Oh, will it now!  How will it do that Jim, it's a box that sits in a room that needs information fed into it by people sitting on their backsides.  It doesn't have a blue flashing light, enabling it to speed to the scene of an incident or a pair of legs that helps it to run towards an incident or the assistance of some poor bugger being mugged in the street, for gods sake it probably can't even jump on a push bike, like a PCSO,  and set off in hot pursuit of the graffiti lout they just spotted as they were wandering about giving us, however slender it was, some sense of safety, as we see them meandering through our streets, can it do any of that Jim?  No it bloody can't.

Don't get me wrong I love technology, I hardly understand any of it, but hey look, it allows me to vent like this and bore a lot of other people rather than just the few in my small social circle, so it does have it's benefits in that respect.  I am sure that the benefits of 'Robocop Athena' in sharing information between Police forces, will prove to be immense, until it is hacked and then we are crying for the head of the people in charge of it........

  

BUT, Policemen and Policewoman, and even PCSO's,  who put on their uniforms everyday and who then go out on our streets every day to be abused and assaulted by the low life in society are the ones that we put our trust in Jim, not some bloody computer, so You, Local Authorities and Central Government, really do need to pull your heads out of your asses and stop frigging about with our lives by reducing the number of Police Officers that we need to protect us from all the crap that is out there.....

Just saying

Link to Essex Police page on Project Athena here.