Just been reading a report of a drink driving offence and was struck by this which I've copied:
"Assistant Chief Constable Jim Green of Strathclyde Police, who is secretary of the Association of Chief Police Officers road policing business area said"
I think I know what each of the individual words "road", "policing", "business" and "area" mean, but put together like this I don't understand them.
In what sense is road policing a business? Is this just more evidence of how comprehensively the plot has been lost?
|
The answers to your questions should be in here ............. tinyurl.com/635a2w
Search for ACC Green within that site to find reference to the man himself.
Edited by L'escargot on 29/07/2008 at 15:38
|
|
|
|
Hi Optimist, of course policing is a business. The moment they introduced 'targets' they have to have a jobsworth to make sure the 'targets' are met. We are the customers of this little enterprise and the object of the 'targets'. If enough customers are caught in the 'target' area then the business plan is fulfilled. The word I take exception to is policing. Policing is supposed to be about a visible presence to reassure people and remind us that the law should be observed in the everyday spirit in which it is there for our general good. 'Targets' destroy that very essence and remove any discretion an officer had, which makes their job harder and less flexible, at the same time excluding any possibility of a sense of humour being applied to de-fuse a situation. Is it any wonder the police do not get the 'support they deserve'. I think they do get the support they deserve unfortunately and as long as over titled officers like the aforsaid Jim Green exist this situation will perpetuate. At least until the 'targets' are met. Concrete
|
It all went pear shaped when they fast tracked graduates into senior positions, without ever having got their hands dirty on the street.
Unfortunately, every senior officer regards it as a 'business'. Every front line officer just gets on with it and swims against the tide.
|
|
Just another name for Portfolio Holder for Community Cohesion and Streetscene.
|
this sort of tosh is like a parasite that has wormed its' way in, it is the ruin of the police force.... (note not 'police service')
trouble is it's endemic everywhere else as well
roads policing needs real cops with the brief of doing what they do best and using their own common sense to deal with the most important things as they occur, with obviously a management structure, filled with like minded people, to ensure the odd lazy sod gets a boot up the rear
targets are a scourge and encourage the easy option to fulfil the quota to keep some desk jockey happy
|
Targets are so yesterday! They are now Performance Indicators!
|
Targets are so yesterday! They are now Performance Indicators!
I thought it was KPIs. Key Performance Indicators.:-(
Plus of course the mantra" If you can't measure it then you can't manage it"
So lets get more managers and more systems to juggle figures and graphs.
Oh how I miss that world :-((
|
The point about a performance indicator should be that it's an indicator, not necessarily the overall goal.
Unfortunately, it's easier to home in on objective measures than to make a broader assessment of performance that also considers other factors.
|
You're one of the few people on here, Peter, who lets some detail about himself be made public. I see you're a management consultant.
Do you see how road policing can be compared with a business or isn't that just some load of old shoe repairers sold to the police by, ahem, management consultants?
No offence, but where else does nonsense like that come from?
|
|
|
The point about a performance indicator should be that it's an indicator not necessarily the overall goal. Unfortunately it's easier to home in on objective measures than to make a broader assessment of performance that also considers other factors.
And I am under..........................ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
|
But peterb's post is neutral on the subject. It just points out, in management-speak, that targets appeal to the powers that be because the results are easy to read and make claims about, whereas if they had to assess overall performance taking all factors into account and with a proper set of priorities, not one skewed by the need to set 'targets', they might have to do a bit of the work they ought to be doing.
Unless I have misunderstood peterb, you are shooting the messenger here...
|
|
PI's are easy to achieve (as an individual or organisation) its the quality of the service provided that's difficult to quantify.
|
|
|
|
>>Every front line officer just gets on with it and swims against the tide.
Why subject yourself to this pain? If you swum with the tide either;
a) it might all magically work - result, everyone happy
b) disaster! - result, changes quickly happen at the top, and the police are subject to some real reform, everyone happy
Swimming against the tide is either preventing the police being effective, or is keeping the people and structures in power who are thwarting the police, and in the medium and long term is helping no-one.
|
With all due respect, NC, and even a bit more than that, how can I put it? Er, it's a society, not a machine.
For those in positions of executive authority, political influence or honest basic functioning, the best analogy is that of making a working model of a Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine out of plasticine during a riot in a madhouse at the height of a heat wave.
That sort of thing often involves a bit of swimming against the tide. Not that it's any use of course. But it may well be better than the other thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
